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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Unifying Text And Music: Applying Shurtleff's Twelve Guideposts To Operatic Arias For Soprano, Jamey J. Wright May 2022

Unifying Text And Music: Applying Shurtleff's Twelve Guideposts To Operatic Arias For Soprano, Jamey J. Wright

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the present culture of operatic performance, artistry is measured not only by singers’ musical interpretation and vocal technique, but also by their ability to communicate compelling characterization. This monograph explores a helpful technique for dramatic interpretation in opera. The discipline of musical performance provides helpful guides to characterization through elements such phrasing, rhythm, harmony, and instrumentation. Techniques borrowed from the spoken theater, particularly those pioneered by Constantin Stanislavski, include the Magic If, objectives, actions, and tactics. The literature on auditioning for the theater is useful for synthesizing these techniques for singers, because audition techniques emphasize compelling characterization with …


Decolonizing And Enriching Opera: A Nigerian Folktale One Act Opera, Miracle O. Amah May 2022

Decolonizing And Enriching Opera: A Nigerian Folktale One Act Opera, Miracle O. Amah

Dissertations, 2020-current

Aligned with the decolonial aims of this project, this English and Yoruba language opera promotes an international understanding of African operatic styles which reflect literary, musical, instrumental and dance cultural traditions. This paper addresses some of the issues faced by people of color in the opera world, ways that people of color have been resilient in this genre and ways to enrich the opera world with the aim of decolonizing and deframing the white racial structure. This opera was first performed on March 29th, 2022 and was created as a workshop for performances in high schools, colleges, music institutions, and …


Òpera, Diversitat, Inclusió: Una Reflexió A Partir D'Una Estrena A Nova York, Antoni Pizà Dec 2021

Òpera, Diversitat, Inclusió: Una Reflexió A Partir D'Una Estrena A Nova York, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

La inauguració de la temporada d’òpera a qualsevol ciutat important sol ser un gran esdeveniment i el Metropolitan Opera de Nova York (MET) no és cap excepció. És, lògicament, una nit de gala i tots els rituals de le grande monde es despleguen amb rigor litúrgic. Hi ha autoritats polítiques, naturalment, però sobretot lluminàries del món de les altes finances, la cultura i la ciència. Hi ha, també, sectors de la societat que no s’ho voldrien perdre per res del món: un petit univers d’estudiants de música tan ambiciosos com pobres i alguns grups com, el col·lectiu LGBTI+, molt discrets …


The Challenges And Limitations Of Adapting Mozart's Così Fan Tutte For A Small University Setting, Christopher Lovely Dec 2018

The Challenges And Limitations Of Adapting Mozart's Così Fan Tutte For A Small University Setting, Christopher Lovely

Dissertations

In this dissertation, challenges and limitations related to presenting Così fan tutte within a small university setting are conveyed, as well as offering innovative ideas to create a manageable presentation. I recall my personal experience as Korepititor/Vocal Coach for The University of Southern Mississippi’s 2014 production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte. This document presents topics on the various workings of an opera production: pre-rehearsal preparation, language issues, rehearsal preparation, selection of singers, and production issues. It offers practical solutions to overcome various challenges a small university may encounter. Smaller university opera programs were surveyed regarding their adaptations of …


Hansel And Gretel On The Page And Stage: Literary And Operatic Adaptations Of Grimm’S Fairy-Tale, Meilin Wei Jan 2018

Hansel And Gretel On The Page And Stage: Literary And Operatic Adaptations Of Grimm’S Fairy-Tale, Meilin Wei

Senior Projects Fall 2018

This project focuses on Brothers Grimm's fairy-tale "Hansel and Gretel," taking the original story, its musical arrangements, and its contemporary adaptations into consideration.


Expressions Of Madness In Coloratura Mad Scenes Of Bel Canto Operas, Rachel G. Christenson Apr 2017

Expressions Of Madness In Coloratura Mad Scenes Of Bel Canto Operas, Rachel G. Christenson

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will explore the musical innovations in the mad scenes of the bel canto composers in the 1800s. It will analyze Gaetano Donizetti’s mad scenes in Anna Bolena (1830) and Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), and Vincezzo Bellini’s mad scenes in I Puritani (1835) to discover how each composer expresses madness through the high and virtuosic voice of the coloratura soprano. The subject of madness is not a new idea in opera. However, the mad scenes of Donizetti and Bellini are the most successful and are often performed in opera houses around the world. Specific attention is given to the …


Zwischenfach – A Distinct Voice Type: A Study Of Fach Through Specific Roles In The Works Of Richard Wagner And Richard Strauss, Stephanie Weiss May 2015

Zwischenfach – A Distinct Voice Type: A Study Of Fach Through Specific Roles In The Works Of Richard Wagner And Richard Strauss, Stephanie Weiss

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The term Zwischenfach has been described in a small number of papers, with the emphasis on its paradoxes and its lack of research. However, in none of these papers is there concrete evidence that the Zwischenfach should be considered a separate voice category rather than simply an “in-between” Fach. The goal of this paper is to explore the thesis that the Zwischenfach should be considered a separate and distinct Fach. Supporting evidence includes studies on tessitura, range, vowel usage, and the orchestration of roles, as examined in the arias of five characters in the operas of Wagner and Strauss. Establishing …


Sources, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2014

Sources, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Sources of instrumental music and of non-dramatic vocal music are generally understood to include preliminary sketches and drafts, manuscript and printed scores, performing parts, and, in the latter case, materials related to the choice or development of the vocal text. Letters, diaries, administrative papers, and even journalistic reviews can also be considered sources. Opera, as a collaborative fusion of music and drama, expands this list to include such materials as set and costume designs, staging manuals, lighting plots, and prop lists. Technology has further augmented the inventory, first with still photographs, and later with audio and video recordings. This chapter …


American Institute For Verdi Studies, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2013

American Institute For Verdi Studies, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

The AIVS was founded in 1976, in response to a tide of scholarly interest in Verdi. Its first director, Martin Chusid, assembled an archive of materials at New York University's Elmer Holmes Bobst Library.


Iago, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2013

Iago, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

An alternate title for Otello, used intermittently throughout much of its composition, possibly to avoid comparison to Rossini's opera of the same name.


Unni E I Romani, Gli, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2013

Unni E I Romani, Gli, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

A censored version of Attila first performed at Palermo's Teatro Carolino in 1854.


Otello, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2013

Otello, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Verdi's penultimate opera represents his first new work for the stage after a nearly sixteen-year hiatus. As battles raged over the future of Italian opera-whether it should remain rooted in song or follow foreign trends that assign a greater role to the orchestra-Giulio Ricordi and Boito patiently lured Verdi back into the fray. Boito's libretto, an ingenious and at times eccentric adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, inspired the composer to a highly personal fusion of tradition and innovation. At its premiere Otello was widely hailed as a masterpiece, an emphatic and fundamentally Italian answer to the debate over music and …


The Making Of Disgrace Kelly: Dragging The Diva Through Cabarets, Pubs And Into The Recital Hall, Caitlin Cassidy Jan 2013

The Making Of Disgrace Kelly: Dragging The Diva Through Cabarets, Pubs And Into The Recital Hall, Caitlin Cassidy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project investigates the synthesis of cabaret and recital performance as a way to re-invigorate the recital as a performance platform. As a curious classical singer with a passion for cabaret, I have explored cabaret in my own creative practice as a classically trained opera singer through the employment of practice-led research methodologies. This project includes research manifested in rehearsals, performance and exegetical writing, including a unique self-reflexive voice in the writing style, to encompass a practice-led research methodology. The culmination of these approaches was a final performance program entitled Diva Bites the Dust. A study of the diva …


Revising Cio-Cio-San, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2008

Revising Cio-Cio-San, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Some of the mast extensive and significant textual changes in all of Puccini's operas appear in the published revisions of Madama Butterfly. Many of these verbal modifications, together with cuts and additions to the score, influence the dramatic depiction of the protagonists. Changes to Pinkerton's character soften an insensitive and even offensive figure who, after all, needs to be convincing as the object of Butterfly's love. For Cio-Cio-San, three rounds of revision mean a gradual loss of complexity on any fronts, bringing an exotic, mercurial heroine closer to operatic convention. The Butterfly that we know today has a more …


Toscanini And The Myth Of Textual Fidelity, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2003

Toscanini And The Myth Of Textual Fidelity, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Changes in the public perception of performing artists make for fascinating study. There once was a time when the Three Tenors were considered mere mortals. And there was a time when a conductor, Arturo Toscanini, was considered the living embodiment of the composers whose music he performed. Largely through the efforts of the press and the National Broadcasting Company, Toscanini came to be known as the only musician with the integrity and modesty to perform a composition exactly as it was notated in the musical score. Thanks to the existence of recorded performances, as well as the reminiscences of some …


The Works Of Giuseppe Verdi: A Consideration Of Its Impact, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2002

The Works Of Giuseppe Verdi: A Consideration Of Its Impact, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

The rationale for preparing a critical edition of Verdi's works is by now well known. The unavailability of printed orchestral scores for some operas, disagreements among performing materials for others, and a proliferation of new scholarship illuminating the complex Verdian source situation all point to the need for a scholarly edition of the complete works of this extremely popular composer. In 1983 the University of Chicago Press and Casa Ricordi began jointly producing scores and other performing materials in a series entitled «The Works of Giuseppe Verdi» («WGV»). Rigoletto was the first volume to appear, followed by Ernani, Nabucco, …


Bibliografia Degli Scritti Su Giacomo Puccini: Aggiornamenti 1997-99, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 2000

Bibliografia Degli Scritti Su Giacomo Puccini: Aggiornamenti 1997-99, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Bibliography of studies about Puccini (1997-1999).


A Fragment From Act Ii Of Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 1999

A Fragment From Act Ii Of Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This manuscript transmits ten measures from the so-called "Sextet" in the opera's second act, corresponding to pages 207 (measure 2) through 210 (measure 1) of the current published orchestral score. The passage forms part of the middle section of a tripartite structure that begins and ends with the renowned "Musetta's Waltz" ("Quando m'en vo"). At this point in the plot, the inhabitants of Paris's Latin Quarter, gathering to celebrate Christmas Eve at the Cafe Momus, witness the spectacle of Musetta's successful attempt to win back her lover. The section as a whole presented a problem for Puccini's librettists, who had …


The Violin Director And Verdi's Middle-Period Operas, Linda B. Fairtile Jan 1997

The Violin Director And Verdi's Middle-Period Operas, Linda B. Fairtile

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

The operas of Verdi provide an excellent laboratory for studying the transition from violin director to conductor. By the mid 1860s, some two dozen of his works had been presented hundreds of times throughout Italy. Information on many of these performances is currently available in periodicals, theater histories, and other chronicles. In addition, the American Institute for Verdi Studies (AIVS) has microfilmed over sixty documents that offer a unique perspective on the role of the violin directors, namely, the parts from which they performed. These parts are enlightening both for what they contain and what they omit, suggesting in greater …