Main opera genres. Comic opera. Famous opera singers

Instructions

Opera-ballet appeared in France in the 17th-18th centuries as a form of court art. It combines dance numbers with various opera forms. The opera-ballet included several scenes that were not related to each other by plot. By the 19th century, this genre had practically disappeared from the stage, but individual ballets appeared over the following centuries. Operas include “Gallant India” by Jean Philippe Rameau, “Gallant Europe” and “Les Fêtes de Venice” by Andre Campra.

Comic opera finally emerged as a genre at the beginning of the 17th century and met the needs of the democratic part of the audience. It is characterized by simple character characteristics, focus on folk song creativity, parody, dynamic action and comedy. Comic opera has certain... Italian (opera buffa) is characterized by parody, everyday plots, simple melody and buffoonery. The French comic opera combines musical numbers with spoken parts. Singspiel (German and Austrian variety) also contains dialogues in addition to musical numbers. The music of the Singspiel is simple, the content is based on everyday subjects. Ballad opera (an English type of comic opera) is related to English satirical comedy, which includes folk ballads. In terms of genre, it was primarily a social satire. The Spanish variety of comic opera (tonadilla) began as a song and dance number in a performance, and then developed into a separate genre. The most famous comic operas include Falstaff by G. Verdi and The Beggar's Opera by G. Gay.

The opera of salvation appeared in France at the end of the 18th century. It reflects the realities of the times of the Great french revolution. Heroic plots and dramatic expressiveness of music were combined with elements of comic opera and melodrama. The plots of rescue operas are most often based on the rescue of the main character or his beloved from captivity. It is characterized by civic pathos, denunciation of tyranny, monumentality, modern subjects (as a contrast to the previously dominant ancient stories). The most prominent representatives of the genre: “Fidelio” by Ludwig van Beethoven, “Horrors of the Monastery” by Henri Montand Berton, “Elise” and “Two Days” by Luigi Cherubini.

Romantic opera originated in Germany in the 1920s. Its libretto is based on romantic plot and is characterized by mysticism. The brightest representative romantic opera is Carl Maria von Weber. His operas “Silvana”, “Free Shooter”, “Oberon” clearly express the features of this genre as a national German type of opera.

Grand opera established itself as the main direction in musical theater in the 19th century. It is characterized by large-scale action, historical plots, and colorful scenery. IN musically it combines elements of serious and comic operas. IN grand opera the emphasis is not on performance, but on vocals. Major operas include Rossini's William Tell, Donizetti's La Favorite, and Verdi's Don Carlos.

The roots of operetta go back to comic opera. Operetta as a genre of musical theater developed in the second half of the 19th century. It uses both typical operatic forms (arias, choruses) and spoken elements. The music is of a pop nature, and the plots are everyday, comedic. Despite its light nature, the musical component of the operetta inherits much from academic music. The most famous are the operettas of Johann Strauss (Die Fledermaus, Night in Venice) and Imre Kalman (Silva, La Bayadere, The Circus Princess, The Violet of Montmartre).

Each of the arts has specific genres in which creators express their artistic ideas. Some of them in the best possible way suitable for the implementation of grandiose, as they now say, projects, for large scales and monumental forms, others - for expressing intimate feelings. The wrong choice of genre or form in which he wished to embody his idea can result in disappointment for the creator. Of course, it’s wonderful when a small form contains great content. In such cases, it is customary to say: brevity is the sister of talent, or - as Shakespeare says in Hamlet - “brevity is the soul of the mind,” but it is bad if, on the contrary, there was not enough content for the chosen large form...

Alexander Maikapar

Musical genres: Opera

Each of the arts has specific genres in which creators express their artistic ideas. Some of them are best suited for the implementation of grandiose, as they now say, projects, for large scales and monumental forms, others - for expressing intimate feelings. The wrong choice of genre or form in which he wished to embody his idea can result in disappointment for the creator. Of course, it’s wonderful when a small form contains great content. In such cases, it is customary to say: brevity is the sister of talent, or - as Shakespeare says in Hamlet - “brevity is the soul of the mind,” but it is bad if, on the contrary, there is not enough content for the chosen large form.

Parallels can be drawn between individual genres of different types of art. Thus, an opera in a certain sense is akin to a novel or a dramatic work (more often a tragedy; and we can give examples of operas based on the texts of famous tragedies - “Othello” by Shakespeare and Verdi). Another parallel - musical genre foreplay and lyric poem, and in the visual arts - drawing. Comparisons can easily be continued.

It is important for us to pay attention here to the fact that such parallels contain similarities in forms and even technical techniques, the identity of working with volumes and masses: for a composer - sounds, for an artist - colors. In the proposed series of essays on musical genres, we will try to avoid complex musical concepts and terms, but still without revealing some specific musical features we can't get by.

Many classic and romantic operas Since the time of Lully, they have had inserted ballet scenes. One of these episodes was depicted in his painting by E. Degas. The ephemeral dancers on stage contrast sharply with the orchestra musicians and spectators in the stalls, among whom are the artist’s friends - the collector Albert Hesht and the amateur artist Viscount Lepic, whom the artist depicted with almost photographic precision. Impressionism and realism were closely connected. For all their differences, they could be combined in one picture.

The Egyptian theme of Verdi's opera Aida is graphically illustrated in title page the first edition of the opera, carried out by the company G. Ricordi e C.” in Milan. The company's publications were distributed throughout Europe. From the memoirs of Professor S. Maykapar about his musical youth in Taganrog (early 80s of the 19th century): G. Molla, an Italian teacher, “in addition to lessons, he really loved to come to me or invite me to his place to study with me only that new operas by Verdi were coming out. He ordered the clavierauszugi (piano arrangements) of these operas directly from Milan from the Ricordi publishing house itself. So we went through the operas “Aida”, “Othello”, “Falstaff” thoroughly with him.

The first production of Carmen was not successful. The author was accused of immorality. Tchaikovsky was one of the first to appreciate the music of “Carmen”. “Bizet’s opera,” he wrote, “is a masterpiece, one of those few things that are destined to reflect to the greatest extent the musical aspirations of an entire era. In ten years, Carmen will be the most popular opera in the world.” Tchaikovsky's words turned out to be prophetic.

Works of the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini published the already mentioned G. Ricordi. “Tosca” (1900) is one of the most repertoire operas in theaters around the world. Creating medleys, paraphrases or fantasies on the themes of favorite operas is a tradition dating back to the 18th century.

"Wolf Ravine". Kaspar, while waiting for Max, enters into an agreement with the demonic hunter Samiel, to whom he sells his life. But then he offers Max instead. The ghost answers mysteriously: “Him or you.” At this time, Max descends from the top into the ravine, he is held by his mother’s shadow, but Samiel summons the ghost of Agatha, and Max, after some hesitation, goes down. Max sets about preparing seven magic bullets from the material supplied by Kaspar. They are surrounded by hellish visions. At the last, fatal bullet, the ghost of Samiel appears, and both huntsmen fall half-dead from horror to the ground.

A. Borodin did not have time to complete work on the opera.

This masterpiece of operatic art was prepared for performance and publication by the composer’s friends - N. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. Glazunov. The latter recorded the opera's overture from memory.

The opera was published by the Russian philanthropist M.P. Belyaev, founder of the music publishing house Edition M.P. BELAЇFF, Leipzig.”

From the memoirs of N. Rimsky-Korsakov: M. P. Belyaev “was a philanthropist, but not a philanthropist-lord, throwing money at art at his own whim and essentially doing nothing for it. Of course, if he had not been rich, he could not have done what he did for art, but in this matter he immediately stood on noble, solid ground. He became an entrepreneur of concerts and a publisher of Russian music without any expectation of any benefit for himself, but on the contrary, donating huge amounts of money for it, moreover, hiding his name to the last possible opportunity.”

Brief Definition

The world of opera...

How many composers, how many generations of listeners, in how many countries has this world captivated with its charms! How many greatest masterpieces this world contains! What a variety of plots, forms, methods of stage embodiment of one’s images this world provides to humanity!

Opera is by far the most difficult musical genre. As a rule, it takes full theater evening(although there are so-called one-act operas, which are usually staged two in one theatrical performance). In some cases, the composer's full operatic concept is realized over several evenings, each of which exceeds the traditional framework of an opera performance. We mean the tetralogy (that is, a performance of four operas) by Richard Wagner “The Ring of the Nibelung” with its four independent opera performances: the prologue - “Das Rheingold”, the first day - “Die Walküre”, the second day - “Siegfried”, the third day - "Death of the Gods." It is not surprising that such a creation in its scale is ranked among such creations of the human spirit as Michelangelo’s painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or Balzac’s “Human Comedy” (98 novels and short stories - “Studies on Morals”).

Since we've gotten so far ahead, let's talk about Wagner. In the book of the American musicologist Henry Simon “One Hundred Great Operas”, which we had the chance to translate and publish for opera lovers in our country, this tetralogy is said sharply and aphoristically: “The Ring of the Nibelung” - greatest work art ever created by one person, or - otherwise - the most colossal bore, or - even so - the fruit of extreme gigantomania. This is exactly how this tetralogy is constantly characterized, and these epithets are by no means mutually exclusive. It took twenty-eight years to create this creation - text, music and preparation of the premiere. True, during this period Wagner took a break from working on The Ring, partly to coincide with the creation of Siegfried. To distract himself a little and take a breath, during this period he also composed two of his masterpieces - “Tristan” and “Die Meistersinger”.

Before even briefly describing the historical path of the opera - a detailed story about the opera would take up a large book volume, or even more than one - let's try to give short definition of what is, or rather what opera has become as a musical genre.

Italian word opera comes from Latin and means in a broad sense “work”, that is, “creation”, in the literary and musical sense - “composition”. Long before opera, a musical genre, this word was used to designate a literary work, primarily philosophical and theological, when it was published in full - Opera omnia. Such works were the most complex literary genre (for example, the Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas). In music, the most complex work is precisely opera - a stage work that combines music (vocal and instrumental), poetry, drama, scenography ( fine arts). Thus, the opera rightfully bears its name.

Start

If we set out to outline, at least in dotted lines, the stages of development of opera as a musical genre, our essay would turn into just a listing of the names of composers, the names of their operatic creations and the theaters where these masterpieces first saw the light of the stage. Moreover, from the names, as one can easily guess, the greatest would be named: Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Lully, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Richard Strauss... These are only Western composers. And the Russians! However, we will talk about them later.

But it is still necessary to say about the first opera and the first opera composer who turned out to be such... by accident. To do this, we need to mentally transport ourselves to the homeland of this musical genre - to Italy, more precisely, to Florence at the end of the 16th century. Opera was born here and at this time.

At that time, Italy was dominated by an extraordinary passion for academies, that is, free (from city and church authorities) societies that united philosophers, scientists, poets, musicians, noble and enlightened amateurs. The purpose of such societies was to encourage and develop the sciences and arts. The academies enjoyed the financial support of their members (most of whom belonged to aristocratic circles) and were under the patronage of the princely and ducal courts. In the XVI–XVII centuries. There were over a thousand academies in Italy. One of them was the so-called Florentine Camerata. It arose in 1580 on the initiative of Giovanni Bardi, Count of Vernio. Among its members are Vincenzo Galilei (father of the famous astronomer), Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri, Pietro Strozzi, Girolamo Mei, Ottavio Rinuccini, Jacopo Corea, Cristofano Malvezzi. They were particularly interested in the culture of antiquity and the problems of the style of ancient music. It was on this basis that opera was born, which was not yet called opera (the term “opera” in our understanding first appeared in 1639), but was defined as drama per music(lit.: “drama through music”, or, more precisely in meaning, “drama (set) to music”). In other words, the composers of the Florentine Camerata were carried away by the idea of ​​​​reconstructing ancient Greek music and drama and did not think at all about what we now call opera. But from attempts to create such a (pseudo) ancient drama, opera was born in 1597 or 1600.

Different dates - because it all depends on what is considered the first opera: the year the first was created, but lost, or year one reached to from the opera. It is known that the lost one was “Daphne”, and the one that has come down to us is “Eurydice”. It was magnificently staged at Palazzo Pitti on October 6, 1600, on the occasion of the marriage of Marie de Medici and the French king Henry IV. The world musical community celebrated the opera's four hundredth anniversary in 2000. Beautiful numbers! This decision is probably justified. In addition, both of these operas - “Daphne” and “Euridice” - belong to the same composer Jacopo Peri (he wrote the second in collaboration with Giulio Caccini).

Just as in the case of listing the names of opera composers, boundless material awaits us if we want to describe the different types and directions of operatic creativity, to characterize all the innovations that each of the great creators of opera brought with them. We will have to mention at least the main types of opera - the so-called “serious” opera ( opera series) and comic opera ( opera buffa). These are the first opera genres that arose in the 17th–18th centuries; from them subsequently (in the 19th century) the “opera-drama” ( grand opera) and comic opera of the Romantic era (which then smoothly transformed into operetta).

How obvious and clear this evolution of operatic genres is to musicians is evidenced by the witty remark of one witty musician: “If “The Barber of Seville” [Rossini] is shown in the theater in three actions, please know that this was done for the purpose of the theater buffet.” To appreciate this joke, you need to know that The Barber of Seville is a comic opera, the heiress of traditions opera buffa. A opera buffa at first (in Italy in the 18th century) it was created as a fun performance for listeners to relax during intermissions opera series, which at that time it always consisted of three acts. So it's easy to understand that there were two intermissions in a three-act performance.

The history of music has preserved for us the circumstances of the birth of the first opera buffa. Its author was the very young Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. In 1733, the composer created his next “serious opera” - “The Proud Captive”. Like the other five operas series, which he composed during the four years of his career as an opera composer, it was not successful, in fact, it was a failure.

As two intermezzo Pergolesi, as they say, carelessly wrote a funny story, which required only a soprano and a bass, and one mime actor (such a cast has become traditional for such interludes). Thus was born the musical form that became known as opera buffa, which turned out to have a long and honorable history, and its classic example - “The Maid-Mistress” - had an honorable and equally long stage life.

Pergolesi died in 1736 at the age of twenty-six. He never learned that ten years later, when an Italian company staged this little work of his in Paris, it became the cause of an opera war that became known as the “Buffon War.” Widely revered, Rameau and Lully then composed majestic and pathetic works that attracted critical reviews from intellectuals such as Rousseau and Diderot. The "Servant-Mistress" gave them a weapon to attack the formal musical entertainment favored by the king. By the way, the queen then preferred musical rebels. The result of this war was at least sixty pamphlets on this subject, which became a success opera buffa Rousseau himself, called “The Village Sorcerer” (it became the model for Mozart’s “Bastien et Bastienne”), and almost two hundred performances of Pergolesius’ masterpiece.

Gluck's Basic Principles

If you look at opera from the point of view of the repertoire that can be considered traditional for the classical opera houses of the world, then its first lines will not contain the works of the classics of the 18th century, such as Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and their numerous, actively working contemporaries and followers, but a composer who resolutely directed his gaze towards the dramatic truthfulness of the stage action. This composer was Gluck.

It should be noted that, of course, when characterizing national opera schools, one should also say about Germany mid-18th century century, but here, whatever work you take that is worthy of being mentioned, it will certainly turn out that it is either an Italian composer who worked in Germany, or a German who studied in Italy and wrote in the Italian tradition and in the Italian language. Moreover, the first works of Gluck himself were just that: he studied in Italy and his early operas were written for Italian opera houses. However, at a certain moment, Gluck sharply changed his views and entered the opera with a banner held high, on which was inscribed: “Back to 1600!” In other words, once again, after many years of cultivating all kinds of conventions, opera was supposed to turn into “ drama per music».

Gluck's basic principles can be summarized (based on the author's preface to Alceste) as follows:

a) music should be subordinate to poetry and drama, it should not weaken them with unnecessary embellishments; it should play in relation to a poetic work the same role that brightness of colors and good distribution of light and shade play in relation to a good and accurate drawing, serving to enliven the figures without changing their contours;

b) all those excesses against which common sense and justice protest should be eliminated; the actor should not interrupt his passionate monologue, waiting for the absurd ritornello to sound, or break a word in order to demonstrate his beautiful voice on some convenient vowel;

c) the overture should illuminate the action for the audience and serve as an introductory overview of the content;

d) the orchestration should change in accordance with the interest and passion of the words spoken by the actor;

e) inappropriate caesuras between recitatives and arias should be avoided, which cripple the period and deprive the action of strength and brightness.

So, Gluck appears as a great reformer of opera. He was a German, and from him comes the line of development of opera that, through Mozart, leads to Weber, then to Wagner.

Double Talent

Perhaps best characteristic Wagner remains the words of Franz Liszt about him (which we present in translation by the remarkable Russian composer and music critic Alexandra Serova): “With an extremely rare exception in the field musical figures Wagner combines in himself a double talent: a poet in sounds and a poet of words, an author music in opera and author libretto, what gives extraordinary unity his dramatic and musical inventions.<...>All arts, according to Wagner's theory, should be combined in the theater and, with such artistically balanced agreement, strive for one goal - a common enchanting impression. It is impossible to discuss Wagner's music if one wants to look for the ordinary operatic texture in it, the ordinary distribution of arias, duets, romances, and ensembles. Here everything is inextricably linked, united by the organism of drama. The style of singing in most scenes is as far from routine recitative as it is from the measured phrases of Italian arias. In Wagner, singing becomes natural speech in the poetic realm, speech that does not interfere with the dramatic action (as in other operas), but, on the contrary, incomparably enhances it. But while the characters express their feelings in a majestically simple declamation, Wagner’s rich orchestra serves as an echo of the soul of these same characters, complements, completes what we we hear And we see on stage."

Russian school

In the 19th century, the Russian opera school reached maturity and independence. At this time, wonderful soil was prepared for its flourishing. The first Russian operas, which appeared at the end of the 18th century, were primarily dramatic plays with musical episodes during the action. Much was borrowed by Russian composers of that time from the Italians and French. But they, in turn, having visited Russia, perceived and assimilated much of Russian musical life in their work.

The founder of Russian opera classics was M.I. Glinka. His two operas - the historical-tragic "Life for the Tsar" (Ivan Susanin, 1836) and the fairy-tale-epic "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1842) - laid the foundation for two most important trends in Russian musical theater: historical opera and magical-epic opera.

Following Glinka, Alexander Dargomyzhsky entered the opera field. His path as an opera composer began with the opera “Esmeralda” after V. Hugo (staged in 1847). But his main artistic achievements were the operas “Rusalka” (1855) and “The Stone Guest” (1866–1869). “Rusalka” is the first Russian everyday lyrical and psychological opera. Dargomyzhsky, like Wagner, felt the need for opera reform in order to get rid of conventions and achieve a complete fusion of music and dramatic action. But, unlike the great German, he focused his efforts on finding the most truthful embodiment in the vocal melody of the intonations of living human speech.

A new stage in the history of Russian opera - the 60s XIX century. This is the time when works by composers from the Balakirev circle, known as the “Mighty Handful,” and Tchaikovsky appear on the Russian stage. Members of the Balakirev circle were A.P. Borodin, M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The operatic creations of these composers constitute the golden fund of Russian and world opera art.

The twentieth century - both in Russia and in the West - introduced significant diversity into opera genres, but we have to admit that the fourth century of opera’s existence cannot boast of works as great and in such abundance as it was in previous centuries. Let's see what happens in the fifth century...

How the opera begins...

Whichever artistic direction No matter what particular opera belongs to it, it always opens with an overture. As a rule, the latter contains the key musical ideas of the opera, its main motives, and characterizes its characters through purely orchestral means. Overture is " business card» operas. We conclude our conversation about opera with a discussion of how opera begins. And we give the floor to the wittiest of composers - Gioachino Rossini.

When a young composer asked him whether it was better to write an overture before writing an opera or after finishing it, Rossini listed six ways in which he wrote overtures:

1. I wrote the overture to Othello in a small room in which one of the most cruel theater directors, Barbaria, locked me with a plate of pasta; he said that he would only let me out after the last note of the overture had been written.

2. I wrote the overture to “The Thieving Magpie” right on the day of the opera’s premiere behind the scenes of the La Scala theater in Milan. The director placed me under the guard of four stagehands, who were ordered to throw the sheets of manuscript one by one to the copyists who were below in the orchestra pit. As the manuscript was rewritten, page by page, it was sent to the conductor, who rehearsed the music. If I had failed to compose the music by the appointed hour, my guards would have thrown me, instead of the sheets, to the scribes.

3. I came out of the situation easier in the case of the overture to The Barber of Seville, which I did not write at all; Instead, I used the overture to my opera Elizabeth, which is a very serious opera, while The Barber of Seville is a comic opera.

4. I composed the overture to “Count Ory” when I was fishing with a musician, a Spaniard, who was constantly chattering about the political situation in his country.

5. I composed the Overture to William Tell in an apartment on the Boulevard Montmartre, where night and day crowds of people smoked, drank, talked, sang and rang in my ears while I worked on the music.

6. I have never composed any overture to my opera “Moses”; and this is the simplest of all methods.

This witty statement from the famous opera composer naturally led us to a more detailed story about the overture - a musical genre that has provided wonderful examples. The story about this is in the next essay in the series.

Based on materials from the magazine “Art” No. 02/2009

On the poster: Boris Godunov - Ferruccio Furlanetto. Photo by Damir Yusupov

Contents of the article

OPERA COMIC, in the original meaning of the term: a set of national varieties of the opera genre that arose in the 1730s and existed until the beginning of the 19th century. Subsequently, the term lost its unambiguity; today it is often used in relation to various types of musical and entertainment performances with comedic content (farce, slapstick, vaudeville, operetta, musical, etc.).

The origin and features of the genre.

Comic opera developed in countries with a developed opera culture as an alternative to the court opera seria (Italian: opera seria - serious opera), the principles of which were developed in the 17th century. Italian composers of the Neapolitan school (in particular, A. Scarlatti). By the 18th century Italian court opera entered a crisis period in its development, turning into “costume concerts” - brilliant, full of virtuoso vocal effects, but a static spectacle. In contrast, comic opera had greater flexibility, characteristic of new, young forms of art, and therefore had greater dynamics and development potential. The new theatrical genre became widespread throughout Europe, and each country developed its own version of comic opera.

However, with all national characteristics, the general paths of development of comic opera were similar. Its formation was determined by the democratic principles of the Enlightenment. Thanks to them, new trends in music and operatic drama arose in comic opera: closeness to everyday life, folk melody (both in vocal and dance episodes), parody, and unique, “mask” characteristics of the characters. IN plot structures comic opera did not consistently develop the solemn ancient and historical-legendary lines, which remained a genre feature of opera seria. Democratic tendencies are also visible in the formal features of comic opera: spoken dialogues, recitatives, dynamic action.

National varieties of comic opera.

Italy is considered the birthplace of comic opera, where this genre was called opera buffa (Italian: opera buffa - comic opera). Its sources were the comedic operas of the Roman school of the 17th century. and commedia dell'arte. At first these were funny interludes, inserted for emotional release between acts of the opera seria. The first opera buffa was Maid-mistress G.B. Pergolesi, written by the composer as an interlude to his own opera seria Proud Captive(1733). Later, opera buffas began to be performed independently. They were distinguished by their small scale, small number of characters, buffoon-type arias, patter in vocal parts, strengthening and development of ensembles (as opposed to opera seria, where solo parts were the basis, and ensembles and choirs were almost not used). In musical dramaturgy, song and dance folk genres served as the basis. Later, lyrical and sentimental features penetrated opera buffa, shifting it from the rough commedia dell'arte to the whimsical issues and plot principles of C. Gozzi. The development of opera buffa is associated with the names of composers N. Piccini, G. Paisiello, D. Cimarosa.

The Spanish variety of comic opera became tonadilla(Spanish tonadilla – song, shortened from tonada – song). Like opera buffa, tonadilla was born from a song and dance number that opened a theatrical performance or was performed between acts. Later it formed into a separate genre. First tonadilla - Innkeeper and driver(composer L. Mison, 1757). Other representatives of the genre are M. Pla, A. Guerrero, A. Esteve y Grimau, B. de Lacerna, J. Valledor. In most cases, composers themselves wrote librettos for the tonadilla.

In France the genre developed under the name opera comedy(French - comic opera). It arose as a satirical parody of “grand opera”. Unlike the Italian line of development, in France the genre was initially shaped by playwrights, which led to a combination of musical numbers with spoken dialogues. Thus, the author of the first French opera comique is considered to be J. J. Rousseau ( Village Sorcerer, 1752). The musical dramaturgy of opera comique developed in the works of composers E. Douni and F. Philidor. In the pre-revolutionary era, opéra comique acquired a romantic orientation, rich in serious feelings and topical content (composers P. Monsigny, A. Grétry).

In England, the national variety of comic opera was called ballad opera and developed primarily in the genre of social satire. Classic sample - Beggar's Opera(1728) by composer J. Pepusha and playwright J. Gay, which became a witty parody of the morals of the English aristocracy. Among others English composers who worked in the genre of ballad opera, the most famous is C. Coffey, whose work had a serious influence on the development of the genre in Germany .

The German and Austrian varieties of comic opera had a common name Singspiel(German: Singspiel, from singen - sing and Spiel - play). However, the German and Austrian singspiels had their own characteristics. If in Germany the genre was formed under the influence of English ballad opera, then in Austria - under the influence of the Italian commedia dell'arte and the French opéra comique. This is due to the cultural uniqueness of the capital of Austria, Vienna, which became by the 18th century. an international center where the musical art of different nations was synthesized. The Austrian singspiel, unlike the German one, along with verse and ballad numbers, includes large operatic forms: arias, ensembles, well-developed finales. The orchestral part also receives greater development in the Austrian Singspiel. Most famous composers Singspiel - I.Standfuss, I.A.Giller, W.Müller, K.Dietersdorf and others.

Transformations of the genre.

By the end of the 18th century. the development of national genres of comic opera in their “pure” form began to decline. However, on their basis, new principles of several types of musical and entertainment art forms were formed. And here the leading role again belongs to the Viennese music school.

On the one hand, comic opera in general and singspiel in particular contributed to the reformation of classical opera, in which W.A. Mozart played a huge role. Following the path of internal renewal and synthesis of previous musical forms, Mozart created his own concept of opera, enriching the rather simple scheme of singspiel and opera buffa, introducing into them psychological persuasiveness, realistic motives, and also supplementing them with the musical forms of serious opera. So, The Marriage of Figaro(1786) organically combines the form of opera buffa with realistic content; Don Juan(1787) combines comedy with a real tragic sound; The Magic Flute(1791) includes a variety of musical genres in the classical singspiel: extravaganza, chorale, fugue, etc.

In parallel with Mozart and on the same principles in Austria, an innovative reworking of the opera was carried out by J. Haydn ( True Permanence, 1776; Lunar world, 1977; Soul of a Philosopher, 1791). Echoes of the Singspiel are clearly audible in L. van Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio (1805).

The traditions of Mozart and Haydn were comprehended and continued in the work of the Italian composer G.A. Rossini (from Promissory notes for marriage, 1810, before Barber of Seville, 1816, and Cinderella, 1817).

Another branch of the development of comic opera is associated with the emergence and formation of the school of Viennese classical operetta. If in the 18th century. operetta was often called a type of comic opera (Italian operetta, French opérette, lit. - small opera), then in the 19th century. it has emerged as a separate independent genre. Its principles were formed in France, by the composer J. Offenbach, and received their formation in his Bouffe-Parisienne theater.

The Viennese classical operetta is associated primarily with the name of I. Strauss (son), who came to this genre late, in the fifth decade of his life, when he was already famous author numerous classical waltzes. Strauss's operettas are characterized by melodic richness and variety of musical forms, exquisite orchestration, extensive symphonic motifs of dance episodes, and a strong reliance on Austro-Hungarian folk music. In all this, undoubtedly, the traditions of comic opera can be read. However, in the development of operetta as a genre, the main emphasis was placed on musical and performing (both orchestral and vocal-choreographic) skills. The textual line of dramaturgy, which successfully developed in English ballad opera and French opéra comique, came to naught and degenerated into primitive dramatic crafts - librettos. In this regard, of the 16 operettas written by Strauss, only three have survived in the repertoire of subsequent theaters: Bat, Night in Venice And Gypsy Baron. It is with schematic librettos that the traditional classification of operetta as a light entertainment genre is associated.

The desire to return depth and volume to the synthetic musical entertainment theater caused the further formation and development of the musical genre, in which text, plastic and musical dramaturgy exist in an indissoluble unity, without the predominant pressure of any one of them.

Comic opera in Russia.

Development of musical theater in Russia until the last third of the 18th century. was based on Western European art. In particular, this was facilitated by Catherine II’s special penchant for “foreign” artists. If in Russian drama theater By this time, the names of domestic playwrights A. Sumarokov, M. Kheraskov, Y. Knyazhnin, D. Fonvizin and others were already well known, then the performances of ballet and opera troupes were based only on the works of foreign authors. Along with Russian amateur and professional groups, the French opera comique and the Italian opera buffa were invited by the cabinet secretary of Catherine II, Ivan Elagin, who was responsible for the theatrical “staff,” to tour in the court theater. This was largely due to the non-theatrical interests of influential courtiers of Catherine II (Prince Potemkin, Count Bezborodko, etc.): having affairs with foreign actresses at that time was considered good manners.

Against this background, the formation of the Russian opera school and the composing school of the secular direction came from the formation of the national comic opera. This path is quite logical: it is comic opera, due to its fundamentally democratic nature, that provides maximum opportunities for the manifestation of national self-awareness.

The creation of comic opera in Russia is associated with the names of composers V. Pashkevich ( Misfortune from the carriage, 1779; Stingy, 1782), E. Fomina ( Coachmen on a stand, or Play by chance, 1787; Americans, 1788), M. Matinsky ( St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor, 1782). The music was based on the melody of Russian songs; Stage interpretation is characterized by free alternation of recitative and melodic singing, lively realistic development folk characters and everyday life, elements of social satire. Comic opera was the most popular Miller - sorcerer, deceiver and matchmaker to a libretto by playwright A. Ablesimov (composer - M. Sokolovsky, 1779; from 1792 it was performed to the music of E. Fomin). Later, Russian comic opera (like its European varieties) was supplemented with lyrical and romantic motifs (composers K. Kavos - Ivan Susanin,Dobrynya Nikitich,Firebird etc.; A.Verstovsky - Pan Tvardovsky,Askold's grave etc.).

Russian comic opera began its formation in the 19th century. two directions of the national musical and entertainment theater. The first is classical Russian opera, the rapid development of which was caused by the talents of M. Glinka, A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky and others. However, in this branch musical art only some reduced features of the original genre remained: reliance on folk melodies and individual comedy episodes. In general, Russian opera organically entered into the general world tradition of opera classics.

The second direction more clearly preserved the specific features of comedy. This is a Russian vaudeville, in which dialogue and entertaining action, built on amusing intrigue, were combined with music, couplets and dances. In a certain sense, Russian vaudeville can be considered a type of “light genre” of European operetta, but it has its own distinctive features. The dramatic basis of vaudeville is not the libretto, but a well-made play. For example, one of the first Russian authors of vaudeville was A. Griboedov ( Your own family, or a married bride, in collaboration with A. Shakhovsky and N. Khmelnitsky, 1817; Who is brother, who is sister, or Deception after deception, co-authored with P. Vyazemsky, 1923). A. Pisarev worked in the vaudeville genre, later - F. Koni, D. Lensky (his vaudeville Lev Gurych Sinichkin is staged to this day), V. Sollogub, P. Karatygin and others. Thus, the basis of Russian vaudeville is not musical, but literary drama, and music is given an auxiliary role in inserted verse numbers. In the second half of the 19th century. A. Chekhov made his contribution to the development of vaudeville ( Bear,Offer,Anniversary,Wedding etc.), taking it out of the static framework of the genre and enriching the characters of the characters.

Attempts to develop the genre of comic opera based on a combination of operetta traditions with detailed psychological development of characters were made in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, including by the Moscow Art Theater. Thus, V. Nemirovich-Danchenko in 1919 created a Music Studio (Comic Opera) and, with its actors, staged the Moscow Art Theater Ango's daughter Lecoq and Pericola Offenbach, resolved as a “melodrama-bouffe”. In the early 20s, Nemirovich-Danchenko staged here comic operas Lysistrata Aristophanes, 1923; Carmencita and the soldier, 1924.

IN Soviet era, which proclaimed socialist realism as the main principle of art, the frivolous genre definition of “operetta” was increasingly masked by the neutral “musical comedy.” In fact, within the framework of this general term there were many varieties - from classical operetta to no less classic vaudeville; from jazz approaches to musicals to Brechtian zong operas; even “pathetic comedy”, etc.

The interest of Russian dramatic artists in musical theater has always been very great: they were attracted by the opportunity to try themselves in a new genre, to reveal their vocal and plastic abilities. At the same time, undoubtedly, the synthetic musical genre was especially attractive: traditional Russian acting school consistently cultivates psychologism, which is not too necessary for operetta or vaudeville. The destruction of the “Iron Curtain” and joining the global flow of culture gave Russia new opportunities to develop the synthetic genre of the musical, which by that time had conquered the whole world. And today, few people remember that the history of the world’s most popular musical genre began in the first half of the 18th century. from a comic opera.

Tatiana Shabalina

Before considering the genre of opera and ways of working with it in a music lesson, I would like to give a definition of what opera is.

“Opera, and only opera, brings you closer to people, makes your music related to the real public, makes you the property not only of individual circles, but, under favorable conditions, of the entire people.” These words belong to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer.

This is a musical-dramatic work (often including ballet scenes), intended for stage performance, the text of which is sung in whole or in part, usually accompanied by an orchestra. An opera is written based on a specific literary text. The impact of a dramatic work and the acting of an opera is infinitely enhanced by the expressive power of music. And vice versa: music in opera acquires extraordinary specificity and imagery.

The desire to enhance the impact of a theatrical work with the help of music arose already in very distant times, at the dawn of the existence of dramatic art. In the open air, at the foot of the mountain, the slopes of which, processed in the form of steps, served as places for spectators, festive performances took place in Ancient Greece. Actors in masks, wearing special shoes that increased their height, reciting in a sing-song voice, performed tragedies that glorified the strength of the human spirit. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, created in these distant times, have not lost their artistic significance even today. Theatrical works with music were also known in the Middle Ages. But all these “ancestors” of modern opera differed from it in that they alternated singing with ordinary spoken language, while the distinctive feature of opera is that the text in it is sung from beginning to end.

Opera in our modern understanding of the word originated at the turn of the 16th and 18th centuries in Italy. The creators of this new genre were poets and musicians who admired ancient art and sought to revive ancient Greek tragedy. But although in their musical and stage experiments they used plots from ancient Greek mythology, they did not revive tragedy, but created a completely new art form - opera.

The opera quickly gained popularity and spread throughout all countries. In each country it acquired a special national character- this was reflected in the choice of subjects (often from the history of a particular country, from its tales and legends), and in the nature of the music. Opera quickly conquered the major cities of Italy (Rome, Paris, Venice, Florence).

Opera and its components

What means does music in opera have to enhance the artistic impact of the drama? In order to answer this question, let's get acquainted with the main elements that make up an opera.

One of the main parts of the opera is the aria. The meaning of the word is close to “song”, “chant”. Indeed, the arias from the first operas were close in form (mostly verses) and in the nature of the melody to songs, and in classical opera we will find many aria-songs (Vanya’s song in Ivan Susanin, Marfa’s song in Khovanshchina ).

But usually an aria is more complex in form than a song, and this determines its very purpose in opera. An aria, like a monologue in a drama, serves as a characteristic of a particular hero. This characteristic can be general - a kind of “musical portrait” of the hero - or associated with certain, specific circumstances of the action of the work.

But the action of an opera cannot be conveyed only by alternating completed arias, just as the action of a drama cannot consist of monologues alone. In those moments of the opera where the characters actually act - in live communication with each other, in conversation, argument, clash - there is no need for such completeness of form as is quite appropriate in an aria. It would slow down the development of actions. Such moments usually have no end musical composition, individual phrases of the characters alternate with exclamations of the choir with orchestral episodes.

Recitative, that is, declamatory singing, is widely used.

Many Russian composers paid great attention to recitative, especially A.S. Dargomyzhsky and M.P. Mussorgsky. Striving for realism in music, for the greatest truthfulness of musical characteristics, they saw the main means to achieve this goal in the musical translation of speech intonations that are most characteristic of a given character.

Opera ensembles are also an integral part. Ensembles can be very different in size: from two voices to ten. In this case, the ensemble usually combines voices of range and timbre. Through the ensemble, one feeling is conveyed, covering several characters; in this case, the individual parts of the ensemble are not opposed, but seem to complement each other, and often have a similar melodic pattern. But often the ensemble unites the musical characteristics of heroes whose feelings are different and opposite.

The symphony orchestra is an integral part of the opera performance. He not only accompanies vocal and choral parts, he not only “draws” musical portraits or landscapes. Using his own means of expressiveness, he participates in the construction of the elements of the production “at the outset” of the action, the waves of its development, climax and denouement. It also denotes the parties to a dramatic conflict. The capabilities of the orchestra are realized in an opera performance exclusively through the figure of the conductor. In addition to coordinating the musical ensemble and participating, together with the singer-actors, in creating characters, the conductor controls the entire stage action, since the tempo-rhythm of the performance is in his hands.

Thus, all the components of the opera are combined into one. The conductor is working on it, the choir soloists are learning their parts, the director is staging it, and the artists are painting the scenery. Only as a result of the common work of all these people does an opera performance arise.

Opera is the highest genre not only of the dramatic family, but also of the entire type of interacting music. It combines a potentially large volume, versatility of content with a conceptuality that makes it somewhat similar to a symphony in pure and program music or an oratorio in the family of music and words. But unlike them, the full-fledged perception and existence of opera presupposes a material-volumetric stage incarnation actions.
This circumstance - entertainment, as well as the directly related complexity of artistic synthesis in an opera performance, combining music, words, acting and scenography, sometimes force us to see in opera a special phenomenon of art that does not belong only to music and does not fit into the hierarchy of musical genres. According to this opinion, opera arose and is developing at the intersection of different types of art, each of which requires special and equal attention8. In our opinion, determining the aesthetic status of opera depends on the point of view: in the context of the entire world of art it can be considered a special synthetic form, but from the point of view of music it is precisely a musical genre, approximately equal to highest genres other genera and families.
Behind this typological definition lies the fundamental side of the problem. The view of opera proposed here takes into account music as the dominant element of artistic interaction, which determines the focus of its consideration in this chapter. “Opera is first and foremost a work
musical” - these significant words of the greatest opera classic Rimsky-Korsakov are confirmed by the enormous heritage and practice of several centuries, including our century, which has a full-fledged fund of artistically worthy, truly musical operas: just remember the names of Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, Berg or Puccini.
The dominant role of music in opera is also confirmed by special modern forms of its existence: listening on the radio, in a tape or grammatical recording, as well as the recently more frequent concert performance. It is no coincidence that the expression “listening to the opera” is still widespread in everyday life and is considered correct, even if we are talking about visiting the theater.
The originality of artistic synthesis in opera under the auspices of music, according to the fair conclusion of V. Konen, “corresponds to some fundamental laws of human psychology.” This genre reveals the need for intonational empathy for “the subtext of a dramatic plot, its ideological and emotional atmosphere, accessible for maximum expression specifically and only to music, and stage reality personifies in a concrete, meaningful form a broader, general idea embodied in the opera score”9. The primacy of musical expressiveness constitutes the aesthetic law of opera throughout its history. And although in this story many different variants of artistic synthesis with greater or lesser weight of word and action have been encountered and are now being especially cultivated, these works can be recognized as opera in the precise sense only when their dramaturgy finds a holistic musical embodiment.
So, opera is one of the full-fledged musical genres. However, it is unlikely that in everything musical world there is an example of a genre that is just as contradictory. The same quality - syntheticity, which provides opera with completeness, versatility and breadth of impact, conceals an original contradiction on which crises, outbreaks of polemical struggle, attempts at reform and other dramatic events that abundantly accompany the history of musical theater depended. It is not for nothing that Asafiev was deeply worried about the paradoxical nature of the very existence of opera; “How to explain the existence of this form, monstrous in its irrationality, and the constantly renewed attraction to it on the part of the most diverse public?”
The main contradiction of the opera is rooted in the need for a simultaneous combination of dramatic action and music, which by their nature require fundamentally different artistic time. The flexibility, artistic responsiveness of musical matter, its ability to reflect both the internal essence of phenomena and their external, plastic side encourage a detailed embodiment in music of the entire process of action. But at the same time, the irreplaceable aesthetic advantage of music - the special power of symbolic generalization, reinforced in the era of the formation of classical opera by the progressive development of homophonic thematicism and symphonism - forces one to abstract from this process, expressing its individual moments in widely developed and relatively complete forms, because only in In these forms the highest aesthetic calling of music can be realized to the maximum.
In musicology, there is an opinion according to which the generalizing-symbolic aspect of opera, most generously expressed by music, constitutes “internal action,” that is, a special refraction of drama. This view is legitimate and consistent with the general theory of dramaturgy. However, relying on the broad aesthetic concept of lyricism as self-expression (in opera, primarily of the characters, but partly also of the author), it is preferable to interpret the musical-generalizing aspect as lyrical: this allows us to more clearly understand the structure of the opera from the point of view of artistic time.
When an aria, an ensemble or some other generalizing “number” appears during the course of the opera, it is impossible to aesthetically comprehend it otherwise than as a switch to another artistic-time plane, where the action itself is suspended or temporarily interrupted. With any, even the most realistic, motivation for such an episode, it requires a psychologically different perception, a different degree of aesthetic convention than the actual dramatic opera scenes.
Another aspect of the opera is also connected with the musical general plan: the participation of the choir as the social environment of the action or the “voice of the people” commenting on it (according to Rimsky-Korsakov). Since in crowd scenes the music depicts the collective image of the people or their reaction to events, often occurring outside the stage, this aspect, which is, as it were, musical description actions can rightfully be considered epic. By its aesthetic nature, opera is potentially associated with a large volume of content and multiplicity artistic means, is undoubtedly predisposed to it.
Thus, in opera there is a contradictory, but natural and fruitful interaction of all three generic aesthetic categories - drama, lyricism and epic. In this regard, the widespread interpretation of opera as “a drama written with music” (B. Pokrovsky) needs clarification. Indeed, drama is the central core of this genre, since in any opera there is a conflict, the development of relationships between the characters, their actions that determine the various stages of the action. And at the same time, opera is not only drama. Its integral components are also the lyrical beginning, and in many cases the epic. This is precisely the fundamental difference between opera and drama, where the line of “internal action” is not isolated, and crowd scenes, although important, are still private elements of drama on the scale of the entire genre. Opera cannot live without a lyrical-epic generalization, which is proved by contradiction by the most innovative examples of musical drama of the last two centuries.
The aesthetic complexity of the genre is partly related to its origin: the creators of the opera were guided by ancient tragedy, which, thanks to the chorus and lengthy monologues, was also not only a drama.
The importance of the lyrical-epic beginning for opera is clearly revealed in the composition of the opera libretto. Strong traditions have developed here. When processing into a libretto, the original source is, as a rule, reduced: the number of characters is reduced, side lines are turned off, the action is focused on the central conflict and its end-to-end development. And vice versa, all moments that provide the characters with the opportunity for self-expression are generously used, as well as those that allow emphasizing the attitude of the people to the events (“Is it not possible to make it so that ... the people are present?” - Tchaikovsky’s famous request to Shpazhinsky regarding the denouement "Sorceresses"). For the sake of completeness of the lyrics, opera authors often resort to more significant changes to the original source. An eloquent example is “The Queen of Spades” with its burning, painful feeling of love and suffering, which, contrary to Pushkin, serves as the initial stimulus for Herman’s actions, leading to a tragic denouement.
The complex interweaving of drama, lyricism and epic forms a specifically operatic synthesis in which these aesthetic aspects are able to transform into one another. For example, the battle that is decisive for the plot is given in the form of a symphonic picture (“The Battle of Kerzhenets” in Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Legend”): there is a transition from drama to epic. Or the most important moment of an action—commencement, climax, denouement—is musically embodied in an ensemble, where the characters express their feelings caused by this moment (the “I’m Scared” quintet in “The Queen of Spades”, the “What a Wonderful Moment” canon in “Ruslan”, the quartet in the last film “Rigoletto”, etc.). In such situations, the drama turns into lyrics.
The inescapable attraction of drama in opera to the lyrical-epic plane naturally allows for an emphasis on one of these aspects of dramaturgy. Therefore, musical theater, to a much greater extent than dramatic theater, is characterized by corresponding biases in the interpretation of the operatic genre. It is no coincidence that the lyric opera of the 19th century. in France or Russian epic opera were major historical phenomena, quite persistent and influenced other national schools.
The relationship between the actual dramatic and lyrical-epic plans and the associated quality of artistic time make it possible to distinguish the opera genre into two main varieties - classical opera and musical drama. Despite the relativity of this distinction and the abundance of intermediate options (which we will touch on below), it remains aesthetically fundamental. Classical opera has a two-plane structure. Its dramatic plan, unfolding in recitatives and through scenes, is a direct musical reflection of the action, where music performs a suggestive function and is subject to the principle of resonance. The second, lyrical-epic plan consists of complete numbers that perform a generalizing function and implement the principle of music autonomy. Of course, this does not exclude their connection with the principle of resonance (since at least an indirect connection with the action in them is preserved) and their performance of a suggestive function, universal for music. The specifically theatrical-reproducing function is also included in the musical-generalizing plan and, thus, it turns out to be functionally the most complete, which makes it the most important for classical opera. When moving from one dramatic plan to another, a deep switching of artistic time occurs, always noticeable to the listener.
The dramatic duality of the opera is supported by the special property of the artistic word in the theater, which distinguishes it from literature. The word on stage always has a dual focus: both on the partner and on the viewer. In opera, this double direction leads to a specific division: in the effective plane of dramaturgy, the vocally intoned word is directed; mainly on the partner, in musical general terms, mainly on the viewer.
Musical drama is based on a close interweaving, ideally a fusion, of both plans of operatic dramaturgy. It is a continuous reflection of the action in music, with all its elements, and the contrast of artistic time in it is deliberately overcome: when deviating towards the lyric-epic side, the switch in time occurs as smoothly and imperceptibly as possible.
From the above comparison of the two main varieties, it becomes clear that the number structure, traditionally serving as a sign of classical opera, is nothing more than a consequence of the distinction between its two plans, one of which requires the aesthetic completeness of its links, while the continuous composition of a musical drama is the result of its dramatic monolithicity, continuous reflection of the action in music. The comparison also suggests that these operatic types should be distinguishable from each other and from their component genres. As further presentation will show, this genre difference between the two types of opera is indeed significant and closely interconnected with their entire structure.
O.V. Sokolov.