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Music as
a Dramatic
Character
‘Opera is the embodiment of
an essential human instinct:
telling stories through music…
Since the principal language
of opera is music, and music
is essentially an abstract
language, it cannot be a
tool for explicit political or
even emotional ideas, but it
does express emotional and
imaginative truths that lie
behind material realities.’
David Poutney, Opera Director
Opera is considered to be the most thrilling of art forms, with its
immersive combination of music, drama, storytelling, dance and design.
At its best, opera is wonderfully powerful and emotionally direct,
offering the audience reflections on what it means, individually and
collectively, to be human.
Music plays an integral role in opera. From the very first moment of
a live performance, it is music that connects us with the characters
and setting, music that moves us, that drives the story forward and
supports our emotional journey as the plot unfolds. In opera, it is the
music that provides the seamless transitions between scenes, between
conversational and reflective moments, and between recitative passages
and arias.
The expressive potential of text set to music is significant. Composers
have a huge degree of control over the emotional flow of the storyline,
and make careful musical decisions in order to move beneath the surface
of what is being expressed lyrically, so deeper emotional terrain is
explored. As the audience follows characters on their various journeys,
the music provides moments of pause, allowing for an exploration of
challenging human emotions – love, despair, jealousy, fear, hope.
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Carlo Lepore as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro
© Bill Cooper/ROH 2012
Anita Hartig in Le nozze di Figaro
© 2015 ROH. Photograph by Mark Douet
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