Opera and Gender

The first excerpt I will discuss is Anna Caterina Antonacci, Carmen - Habanera. This was originally written by Georges Bizet in 1875. To me, this opera features a pretty stereotypical plot from what you would imagine this time being like. Not to discredit Bizet or Anna Antonacci as I think the opera is both written and performed phenomenally. Anna portrays a woman who seems to be like a gypsy. she is a free spirit flowing with the melody and chorus. This is metaphorically fitting as the songs translated as love is a rebellious bird. I think you can get a sense of this rebellious bird in the way she portrays herself and her mannerisms displayed during the performance. It features a backdrop of underprivileged youth and a united front of cigarette smoking woman. To me, this was all apart of the start of women's rights and feminism. I often think music has a way of pushing forward an agenda or idea and any of the major movements in recent history have songs and artist that join the movement and make songs as their way of contributing to the project or goal. Anna also plays the role of caring for the orphans giving bites of an apple to some of the kids gathered around. This also plays into the free-loving carefree nature of the role.

In the second excerpt, "Non so più, cosa son, cosa faccio". This opera was written by Wolfgang Mozart in the classical era. It features a woman doing a pants role. This was because of the costrata role used during this time. I am missing the point of why this role needed to be played by a “man” either way. The last verse was executed perfectly as she showed her vocal range ascending in scale. To me, this part would never have sounded right with a male vocalist doing this part.

The third excerpt is Richard Wagner's Siegfried. This is a solo horn act in the beginning. An opera about a man named Siegfried. The beginning is a lively and youthful horn. Seemingly on an adventure, the trumpet wanders. As the deeper winds kick in you can sense trouble has arrived. Siegfried then confronts a dark deeper voiced dragon before engaging him with a sword. In the end, Siegfried is victorious. Siegfried meets another and engages in a dual of sorts vocally this seems to be more of a friendship as the background instruments play a lighter tune with the melody. This seems to try and portray what one would think as a burly man. But as Siegfried eases into a lighter tune when the man dies it shows a softer side, the winds play softer as well. This is his goodbye as he walks off into the woods to not be seen again. From here the winds pick up dancing back and forth as they discover the body. The play is erratic and wild as one man is upset over the body with the other seemingly trying to calm him down.

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Jordan Palmer

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