Opera, Composers, and Musical Forms: A Concise Summary

Key Musical Terms and Concepts

• Arias: Songs for a solo singer and orchestra.
• Recitative: Sung conversation between characters to advance the story.
• Opera seria: Serious opera with heroic themes from history and mythology.
• Opera buffa: Comic opera with contemporary, down-to-earth stories.
• Verismo: Italian opera style with realistic portrayals of everyday life.
• Libretto: The text of an opera or musical, including dialogue and lyrics.
• Sonata: A work in several movements for one or more instruments.

Notable Composers and Their Works

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

The Erlking (Lied for piano and voice, 1815): A father and son ride a horse; the son, ill, imagines scary things and dies. The Erlking is the ghost calling to the son.

Hector Berlioz (1811-1869)

Symphonie fantastique (1830): Inspired by unrequited love, this program symphony expresses intense feelings. Later, Berlioz revised it, adding a dream sequence where the protagonist kills his beloved and is guillotined.

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition (1874): An instrumental (piano) tone poem inspired by an art exhibition, including "The Great Gate of Kiev".

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)

The Moldau (1874-1875): A symphonic poem depicting various river tributaries merging into one.

Il barbiere di Siviglia

Gioachino Rossini (born February 29, 1792, died November 13, 1868, in Paris) was a famous Italian composer known for his comic operas. The Barber of Seville is a comic opera in two acts, premiered on February 20, 1816, in Rome. Key characters include:

• Figaro: The barber
• Bartolo: A doctor and Rosina's guardian
• Lindoro: Count Almaviva
• Basilio: Rosina's music teacher
• Berta: A servant

The opera's plot revolves around Bartolo being the best barber in Seville.