Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

Glossary of Opera Terms
acoustics
act
area lights
aria
arioso
azione teatrale
atonality
artistic director
backdrop
backstage
ballad opera
banda
baritone
baroque
bass
bel canto
bravo (a) (i)
bravura
The science of sound; qualities which determine hearing facilities in an auditorium, concert
hall, opera house, theater, etc.
A section of the opera, play, etc. usually followed by an intermission.
Provide general illumination.
(air, English and French; ariette, French). A formal song sung by a single vocalist. It may be in
two parts (binary form), or in three parts (see da capo) with the third part almost a repetition
of the first. A short aria is an arietta in Italian, ariette or petit air in French.
Adjectival description of a passage less formal and complete than a fully written aria, but
sounding like one. Much recitative has arioso, or songlike, passages.
(It.: ‘theatrical action’, ‘theatrical plot’). A species of Serenata that, unlike many works in this
genre, contained a definite plot and envisioned some form of staging.
Lack of a definite tonal focus, all sharps and flats being applied in the score when necessary.
With no key and therefore no sense of finality, such music sounds odd to the conservative ear,
but with practice the listener can find pleasure in it.
The person responsible for the artistic concept of the opera – the overall look and “feel” of the
production.
A large, painted surface at the rear of the stage, associated with old-fashioned stage settings,
two-dimensional, but often striving with painted shadows and perspective to suggest a third
dimension.
The area of the stage not visible to the audience, usually where the dressing rooms are located.
A play with many songs; the number has ranged from fifteen to seventy-five. In the early
eighteenth century its music was drawn from popular folk song or quite sophisticated songs
appropriated from successful operas.
A group of musicians who perform onstage or slightly offstage.
The male singing voice which is higher than a bass but lower than a tenor.
A style of art and music characteristic in particular of the Louis xiv period in France and the
Charles II period and after in England. Baroque pictorial art is associated with theatrical
energy and much decoration but nevertheless respects classical principles. The music theater
of the Baroque, highly pictorial, developed the opera seria, with comic intermezzi between the
acts.
The lowest male singing voice.
Although meaning simply “beautiful song,” the term is usually applied to the school of
singing prevalent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Baroque and Romantic) which
gave much attention to vocal purity, control, and dexterity in ornamentation.
An acknowledgement of a good performance shouted during moments of applause (the ending
is determined by the gender and the number of performers).
Implying brilliance and dexterity (bravura singing, a bravura aria, etc.). Intended for display
and the technical execution of difficult passages.
glossary of opera terms 103