Opera 101

Okay, so I just finished Opera 101 by Fred Plotkin, which was really long, but Plotkin's writing style made it easy to read, and the book is designed and geared towards newbies to opera. I think I will just talk about my favorite parts. The book discussed a 400 year history of opera, including some of the most innovative and important composers of the last 400 years, like Verdi, Mozart, Schubert, Bach, and Beethoven. He also talked about some of the most important operas. Of course, he mentions that these are just the operas that he feels are very influential. He not only chose particular operas but particular productions with particular casts of particular operas. He mentions how many applauded his choices as well as scorned his choices. However, this illustrates one of his main points: everyone has an opinion about opera. So, I thought I would talk about my favorite opera chapter: Don Giovanni.

Don Giovanni was written by Mozart, and it is heralded as one of his greatest and most revolutionary operas. The characters are Don Giovanni, Leporello, Don Pedro, Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Masetto, Zerlina, and of course the under appreciated though extremely important chorus. "The story is not quite realistic: although many of the characters have emotions and responses like those of everyday people". I think this statement explains why people still love opera; because it's true, not many of the story lines themselves are relatable for the average person. However, the emotions are very real to many people, and that is why people are so drawn to the stage.

One thing that is stressed throughout the book but namely with Don Giovanni, is how the views of a scene have changed so drastically from the initial 18th century audience to the 21st century audience. For example, when Leoporello dresses as Don Giovanni to seduce Elvira, previously seduced and relinquished by Giovanni, the 18th century audiences looked at this as a comic scene against Elvira. She was poor woman who was fooled again. However, modern audiences look at this as a cruel trick against Elvira. This shows the political changes that have occurred since the 18th century, and how we look upon cruelty to women with a more unforgiving eye.

Plotkin also stresses the highly political nature of Don Giovanni, in comparison to its predecessors mentioned in the book: Rigoletto, Tosca, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and  Lucia di Lamermoor. Of course all of these operas are enigmatic and politically relevant with characters of deep emotional turmoil and multifaceted layers, however, Don Giovanni much more politically adept. With the political turmoil erupting at the end of the 18th century, Don Giovanni is a product of just that facing the issues of the old aristocracy versus the rights of the everyday people, both in France and America.

Another thing that Plotkin does, is seamlessly weave the operas together, showing how each predecessor affects a later opera; they are intertwined. He notes that there is, "An impending sense of doom coupled with festivity that one finds in Rigoletto.There is sexual blackmail and ferocious frama, as in Tosca. There is a hysteria and presence of ghosts and apparitions, as in Lucia di Lamermoor. There is brilliant comedy as well as harpsichord-accompanied recitative, as in Il Barbiere di Siviglia." This is one of the greatest things about this book. It not only tells the story of one opera, but it weaves them together, and it shows how each affects each other, allowing the reader to build upon their knowledge of opera more easily.

He also chose specific casts for each of the operas who he thought best displayed the music and lyrics. He chose the film version of Don Giovanni, including Rugero Raimondi as Don Giovanni, Kenneth Riegel as Don Ottavio, Donna Anna by Edna Moser, Kiri de Kanawa as Donna Elvira, Teresa Berganza as Zerlina, and José van Dam as Leporello. Raimondi was chosen for his ability to be aristocratic, elegant, seductive, cynical, dangerous, and musical.  The difficult mastery of Don Giovanni brings the rest of the superb cast together. While all of the cast members, excluding Don Ottavio, were excellent, none were as well rounded and enchanting as Raimondi.

In one of the most key scenes in the opera, when the statue begins speaking to Don Giovanni, many audiences have trouble giving themselves over to this form of reality. Plotkin notes that in modern times we have no trouble adhering to false senses of reality displayed for us in movies or televisions shows. It is all in the mind of the viewer he insists. The statue tells Don Giovanni he will die in the morning. This brings up the universal theme of life and death and whether or not God punishes us for our sins; is there a divine hand in our fate, or can we chose it? This is a huge theme of the opera.

I have not really explained the plot line of the opera because I feel that is the busy work nature of book like this. The beauty is comparing it to other works, observing it's relevance throughout the centuries, and speculating on its themes. So, in the end Don Giovanni is presumably swallowed up by hell in the last chords of the opera. This leaves the audience to decide for themselves why his fate ended so, and whether or not it was an act by God. Also, interestingly Don Giovanni accepts his fate, instead of fearing or fighting it. This opera is a direct product of the enlightenment, asking questions such as: Are the bad always punished? Are the virtuous always rewarded? Should we live in fear? Is fidelity desirable or even possible? These are the questions that make Don Giovanni great.

Finally, this chapter offered an interesting fact about Mozart, who composed Don Giovanni, he finished most of the music for this opera only a month before it was due, which shows he was greatly inspired and worked incredibly quickly. He also waited until the last minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF4grLVtoNs

Here is a link to Rugero Raimondi singing "Deh Vieni Alla Finestra" as Don Giovanni. This occurs when Leporello is pretending to be Don Giovani and seduces Elvira, while Don Giovanni goes to seduce a maid from outside her window with a mandolin.