What Comes First, Words or Music?
Opera is an artform which is largely misunderstood by many people. Granted, it has always been a playground for the rich, but with the advent of DVDs opera is now available to everybody at reasonable cost.
If you are interested in developing an interest in opera and the great joys that it offers you need to understand some of the complexities of the artform. Take the story and the music line, for example.
One of Giuseppe Verdi's early operas was Macbeth, based on Shakespeare's great drama.
Just what would Shakespeare have said to Verdi after hearing the opera Macbeth? Of course, this would not have been possible. Shakespeare was well and truly dead by the time the opera was composed. However, would he have been satisfied with the manner in which Verdi used his text?
Yet, it brings to mind a rather interesting question. What comes first in opera. Words or music?
Logically, they should be integrated and the composer should work together with the poet or librettist. But this is not always possible.
Verdi was especially careful in preserving the spirit of Shakespeare in all three operas he wrote using the bard's poetry and verse. He admired the great writer for his sense of drama, his choice of language and brevity of expression.
If you like opera and if you want to really want to enjoy everything it has to offer, it is important to follow the text and relate it's significance to the original version of either the author of the story or the poet. Opera is a fusion of both beautiful music and fine text designed to enhance the story and reveal the true identity of the characters.
In this day and age and the availability of fine music through the electronic media, we are indeed fortunate to have the opportunity to spend some of our leisure time in such pleasurable circumstances.
With opera, greater enjoyment will be experienced when you follow the storyline and combine its relevance to the music.
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Source by Lloyd Masel
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