Opera -
Entertainment for Everyone ?
a talk by Wis Jablonski to Probus Club of Capri

The word opera simply means works in Italian and is a fruit of the late sixteenth century Italian Renaissance. Various musical art forms from other parts of the world,  some of them of ancient origins, could also be called opera. That could be prefaced with an adjective indicating the region or genre like the Chinese opera or the infamous 20th century invention of a soap opera. There is also a pop opera, another American creation.

Regardless of the definition one does not need to be a music lover, poet or artist to appreciate the gems that opera has to offer. There is an interesting example of how people may react to a performance. In the movie  Pretty Woman the main character Vivian played by Julia Roberts is taken to opera by Richard Gere. The opera is La Traviata about Violetta, a woman of loose morals. 

What was the reaction of Vivian, that young girl on the verge of moral decline herself? Without education, without a proper introduction (and opera is sung in Italian) she received a message from the performance - and she is crying. Crying for what? Her own miserable life without future or for Violetta who dies but not before she would experience a true love? No, she was crying because the opera had awakened in her some deep emotions.

Opera embodies the life we would like to have; great lifestyle, costumes, jewellery and admiration of peers. But opera can also reflect the darker side of life full of hatred and jealousy, treachery and murder. Sometimes it has a happy ending and sometimes a tragic one. In many ways opera emulates life. The only thing that differentiates life from opera is that in the opera, a person who is poisoned, stabbed or shot may continue to sing for a long time. 

A while ago Friends of Opera Inc, of which I am a proud Life Member, presented Massenet’s Werther. The main character commits suicide by shooting himself but continues to sing his sorrowful aria for fifteen minutes. Finally, the frustrated audience whispered: die, die, die.

So what is an opera? It is a fusion of the four important elements: music, libretto (the story), performers (singers, dancers, musicians and a conductor) and the settings. The music of opera can be alluring and we can sing it long after the performance (Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro, Bizet’s Habanera or Verdi’ Va pensiero). It can be also atonal, like in Wozzek, a brilliant opera by Berg about madness; actually almost all of the serious 20th century music has been atonal !

The same applies to libretti: they can be clear and thoughtful (like Wagner’s who wrote his own) but can also be messy. One of the most confusing libretti is Verdi’s Il Trovatore. When asked what this is all about the tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi said: ‘I sang it many times and still do not know’. However on the opening night in Rome in 1853, the Tiber River overflowed its banks and the public came wet and in muddy shoes but they loved it anyhow - because it was a work of Verdi. 
The greatest of the opera’s composers were from three countries: Italy, Germany and France. Later on they were joined by a plethora of composers from other countries. However the giants of the opera were only a few: Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Wagner, Donizetti (composed the opera Don Pasquale in seven days!), Borodin (of the famous Polovtsian Dances), Bizet, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Sullivan (lighter music) and Puccini. The new breed of composers included Richard Strauss, Franz Lehar, Bela Bartok, Sergei Prokofiev, Alban Berg, Gian-Carlo Menotti and Benjamin Britten. Surprisingly only three women reached the top of their profession. One was Dame Ethel Smith (died 1944).What really attracted the public to the opera houses were the Dive and Divi, female and male gods of opera and their voices. Some operas have been composed especially for them and with a good return.

Female: contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano with many subgroups.

The most famous female singers of 20th century: Maria Meneghini Callas, Renata Tebaldi , Montserrat Caballe, Victoria de los Angeles, Friderica von Stade, Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Renee Fleming and close to home: Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Cheryl Baker, Yvonne Kenny and Lisa Gasteen AO to name only a few.

Male: bass, baritone and tenor, again with many subgroups.

Interestingly, in the 17th and 18th Century many principal male roles in the Italian Baroque music were allocated to male sopranos or altos who were castrated singers. They were in great demand, like Farinelli who enjoyed fame and high fees. Castrato voice went out of fashion at the end of the 18th Century and has been replaced by the countertenor voice (similar but without the painful snips)..

The most famous male singers of 20th Century: Fiodor Chaliapin, Enrico Caruso, Tito Gobi, Mario Lanza, Franco Corelli to name only a few. And of course the three tenors: Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras.
We also must remember conductors: Arturo Toscanini regarded as the greatest conductor of the 20th century, Herbert von Karajan, Sir Thomas Beecham (famously absent-minded), Pierre Boulez (who disliked Italian composers), James Levine and Zubin Mehta.

Special thanks must go to von Karajan who declared that if there is a role for a young lady, he wanted to see a young lady to sing it. Thanks God, the trend continues!

New stars on the firmament of the opera are: Danielle de Niese (Aussie), Anna Netrebko, Cecilia Bartoli, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Jose Cura, Bryn Terfel, Andrea Bocelli and Rolando Villazon, again to mention only a few. For a few centuries opera was a place of enjoyment for everybody with no dress code required. Opera houses were often boisterous and unruly. They were also lit by candles; their smoke combined with perspiration, drinks, food people brought in, perfume and a poor ventilation made opera night fairly pungent.

As the Western nations got more affluent and a middle class became prevalent, the standard of a performance and the price of attendance have been rising steeply and were prohibitive to the lower classes. These days staging of the opera is a very expensive business. Sometimes it takes years of planning, making of costumes, putting together singers, dancers and musicians, and then hours and hours of practice follow until the final opening night.

Behind the scene there is the whole machinery of advertising going on in order to secure funds. Ms Gillian French, my companion, briefly discussed the necessities of a wider public involvement and financing not only the productions but also to coach the brightest young opera singers and musicians in Australia. Gillian will write more on that important aspect of opera production and execution in a separate article. 

Which brings me back to the fundamental question: is the opera an entertainment for everybody? The answer is ambiguous but with a little reading on a subject and with a little coaching by the friends and the cognoscenti the answer would be YES, YES, YES!

Wis Jablonski

audience members

audience members

audience members

Wis with President Clayton (R) and Ms M.Riley (L)

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