MUSIC OF THE 20TH CENTURY
LESSON ONE: The Last of the Romantics.
![Puccini](/uploads/1/8/5/5/18552840/_2539891.jpg?473)
CUE THE EXPECTED YEAR 8 RESPONSE:
"Romance? Eyeeeew!?!"
Yes. Half our male audience just switched off and checked for Facebook notifications.
Romanticism is actually NOT that bad, and if you stay tuned, we'll explore it in more detail. (And as a bonus, you'll pass this class! WIN?)
Whilst 'Romantic' sounds like a not-so-macho genre of music, DID YOU KNOW that the most prominent composers of the Late-Romantic Period were men?
The dates of the ROMANTIC PERIOD are 1815-1910, so you can see it only lightly dusts the start of the 20th Century... but this incredible genre of music ranks a mention, because it helped set the scene for the music that was to come throughout the rest of the 1900's.
#THISguy (in the photo) will provide the centre of our enquiry this week.
GIACOMO PUCCINI - Last of the Romantics
Strap yourself in for some Opera loving.
ITALIAN OPERA IN THE EARLY 1900's
Giacomo (Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Notenoughmiddlenames) Puccini wrote GIANNI SCHICCHI (the final opera in an intended trilogy) between 1917-1918. It was first performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in December 1918 and received rave reviews. (Although, the other two operas in the trilogy, Il Tabarro (The Cloak) & Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) didn't excite the audiences as much as Gianni Schicchi did).
One of the most well-loved operatic soprano arias of all time, O Mio Babbino Caro, is from Gianni Schicchi, and if there's a scene from an opera in a movie today, there's every chance it's Puccini getting another moment of glory. Have a listen to the recording below of Anna Netrebko singing this piece of Puccini awesomeness, perhaps with your eyes closed even... try to think what it might be about.
How does it make you feel? What emotions do you think are being expressed?
RESEARCH TASK:
Your task is to figure out the storyline of the opera Gianni Schicchi and hand-write your summary of the synopsis on the Gianni Schicchi print-out worksheet below (or as handed out in class). Try and imagine where the song O Mio Babbino Caro might fit within the story, write that on your sheet also. Then read the libretto (libretto is the Italian word for the 'text of an opera') and see if it was close to what you thought.
Giacomo (Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Notenoughmiddlenames) Puccini wrote GIANNI SCHICCHI (the final opera in an intended trilogy) between 1917-1918. It was first performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera House in December 1918 and received rave reviews. (Although, the other two operas in the trilogy, Il Tabarro (The Cloak) & Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica) didn't excite the audiences as much as Gianni Schicchi did).
One of the most well-loved operatic soprano arias of all time, O Mio Babbino Caro, is from Gianni Schicchi, and if there's a scene from an opera in a movie today, there's every chance it's Puccini getting another moment of glory. Have a listen to the recording below of Anna Netrebko singing this piece of Puccini awesomeness, perhaps with your eyes closed even... try to think what it might be about.
How does it make you feel? What emotions do you think are being expressed?
RESEARCH TASK:
Your task is to figure out the storyline of the opera Gianni Schicchi and hand-write your summary of the synopsis on the Gianni Schicchi print-out worksheet below (or as handed out in class). Try and imagine where the song O Mio Babbino Caro might fit within the story, write that on your sheet also. Then read the libretto (libretto is the Italian word for the 'text of an opera') and see if it was close to what you thought.
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