Introduction
Opera was first started in the western world as classical music. It is a skill form in which choral groups and performers act a stage show. Wordings known as libretto and melody gain are combined to form the opera. The drama comprises of speech and act such as panorama and set of clothes with some occasional dance. These acts are performed in an opera theater escorted by a band group or lesser musical collection. The origins of opera can be traced to 15th century Italy with early works being done on festive occasions. (Porgy & Bess, 1995)The later part of the 16th century saw the growth and expansion of opera music from Italy to other European countries.
This spread was seen in Germany, France and England, where local civilization was recognized in the 17th century. The conventional compositions constituted two styles of playing. One was the narrative where there is a scheme acted with no tune and aria where the actors articulate sensations with tune. Singers can play together in groups of two or three remarking on the drama. It creates a story that can be followed closely by the viewers. This distinction was later changed by a composer known as Richard Wagner. He used his novelty and merged the two styles of performance to produce what developed to be known as endless melody. Wagner’s style of opera came to be adored by opera lovers and other composers. (Lebrecht, 2009)
The word opera is derived from the Italian word opus which means to work. This in essence means that the actors need to work in different art forms. Wagner’s influence on many later day composers with his style gave opera a new image. However, not all opera took Wagner’s direction. In Italy, a producer by the name of Giuseppe Verdi composed an opera piece called Rigoletto on 11 March 1851.
This was his premiere which had a huge achievement with a good turnout at the Teatro La Fenice venue. Wagner, a German worked on a piece known as Tristan und Isolde performed at Bayreuth in 1876. This was done together with other compositions and they entertained audiences across Europe. Many other producers worked on pieces, namely Mozart, Weber, and many others. (Barnes, 2009)
Body
The two composers Wagner and Verdi were influenced differently in their compositions. They both had a bearing on their current social life situations, as it was shown in their works. Wagner had a love issue with his first wife and a woman he fell in love with later. This coupled with the story of Tristan und Isolde he composed an opera piece. Verdi, on the other hand composed Rigoletto, which is also based on a love story. In both dramas, the use of music is practiced but in a relatively diverse manner.
Wagner uses soprano on one character that is Isolde, while Verdi uses soprano in more than one actor. There is a major difference in the mixing of the voices by the two composers. In the opera, the soprano gives the audience a feeling of sympathy and attachment to the characters. Verdi uses bass on two characters, unlike Wagner, who uses it on one. The bass gives the character authority and in Rigoletto this authority is mixed. This distinction in the use of the voices shows how each composer appreciates the music they use. (ÄîMinneapolis Star Tribune, 2001)
Wagner’s opera has a harmony premise related with an individual, object, sensation, or notion in the stage show. This appearance is observed on the arena and the first instance the leitmotif is sung the terms point to its connotation. These crops up any time its character emerges or is referred to. The leitmotifs are smaller and more focused, revealing their entity at various planes of significance. They are the fundamental subject of the achievement of the opera drama.
This can be contrasted to Verdi’s style where the music and the characters appear interchangeably throughout the drama. In Rigoletto, there is a prolonged series of boogie melodies by a behind the scenes band at the beginning. This takes place while there is a relaxed chat by the characters on the stage. The harmony created by Wagner in his composition was unique and blended well with his work especially in acts as Tristan und Isolde. He uses both narrative and harmony to pass the story to his audience in the play. Verdi prefers to use a differential style separating the two parts in an opera as in the Rigoletto opera. (Barnes, 2009)
The difference in approach by the composers can be attributed to their society’s influence. Wagner, who was a German, moved to Italy where he found the opera music and was impressed. Tristan und Isolde was dramatized by his friend, and he did more work on it, giving it more detail and harmony. Verdi was performing using an organ in the house of worship and headed a concert. He had a different persuasion using a fast paced assembly with a preference of polite standard tune.
Verdi is influenced by early composers who had differentiated the two parts in opera. Wagner has been known to have fascination in his words and character formation. He describes the part of the character and blends it with the voice that emphasizes the drama. Wagner uses humble native personalities with a native resembling tune for a patriotic taste. He uses harmony, group flush and emphasis on inner voices as opposed to the stress on melody. Verdi uses melody more to direct his opera. This has given his piece lesser influence in modern opera works. (Lebrecht, 2009)
Wagner had a feeling that melody was meant to serve theatrical expressions from the onset. This helped him to develop works that were meant for theater performances. This brings out two aspects to the act; the inner using the voice and the outer using characters. Verdi’s bias on melody alone causes his work to be restricted to the inner aspect with little on the outer. The panorama, verse, theater and melody work collectively to form an entire theater presentation.
In a concert Verdi uses the orchestra to convey the major theme of the play while the drama depicts the external facet of the play. Wagner has used both orchestra and drama producing flawless pieces in his works. This is however not observed in Verdi as he concentrates on separating and keeping the two aspects apart. He focuses more on the theater part leaving the music to be just as an additional without the zeal. (mfiles.co.uk, 2009)
Wagner comprehends the orchestra to the peak of resulting to a music apparatus being made-up on principle for him. It later came to be known as the Wagner tuba. Verdi, meanwhile, was plain though never unsophisticated. He could be valuable while restrained and original like the account of the turbulent climate conditions in Rigoletto. Wagner required strength from his vocalists in order to match the orchestra in sound level. He had tact in the individual tones extremely well and is apparent in his choral parts in the theater show. Individual show of genius was not allowed, and nobody was to take autonomy with his song. Verdi pursued the Italian habits of singing opera over time but seldom let it meddle with the theater or reason of the song. This had a retrogressive effect on his opera. (Porgy & Bess, 1995)
Drama is a major part in the opera stage show as the human brain receives information faster when images or people are used. Wagner is known as a one of the pioneers to have ever existed. His stories have meaning beyond plain human being excitement, successfully shifting the complete look of opera. He had an exceptional vision of the world-changing the skill form, unearthing avenues for upcoming professionals and setting expert trends.
Verdi was more apprehensive with what would electrify the community or permit the attention seeker to stand out. He would select his operating theme and what play came out of it. He stopped at nothing but drama filled scenes that attract the concentration of the viewers. Verdi liked drama and liked to focus on human life and the conditions. He was never idealistic or pious neither did he possess the novelty wishes as Wagner. Whenever he came up with a new concept, it was because he contemplated it as suitable. His works were a medium for human kind and not for romanticism or the appearance of something superior. He considered art to be impulsive, ordinary and uncomplicated hence something that was not to be interfered with. (Westervelt, 2007)
Evidently, both composers took much interest in the drama of their works. Wagner had more precision in the costumes to fit his set. The stories were staged in parts to facilitate the audience in following the script. Drama helped the composers to articulate their work and pass the message to their target audience. Verdi had little appeal on the costumes with his focus mostly on music. (mfiles.co.uk, 2009)
Music which is the other constituent in opera had contradictory meaning to Wagner and Verdi. Wagner received synchronization coaching from Liszt, his friend. These instructions made his music to become profoundly complex using concords to increase the idea of the leitmotif to new stature. He represented the peak of the naive practice and would steadily lead it to post-idealism. Verdi’s music continued to be trouble free and was his most cherished model. His music is considered as rude, which is at times true, but this does not mean it is of pitiable quality. He could still produce operas that were staged in theaters and accepted by many. Wagner required new appliances in order to perfectly illustrate his theatrical position. (Westervelt, 2007)
Verdi used earlier standards in fresh, exceptional ways that were not at all used by anybody else. The two composers used music differently with Wagner being more attached to the music and the way it fitted into the opera.
It can be said that due to his short scripts, the music covered the remaining effects of the drama. Wagner used music with the voices to tell the story more vividly than Verdi. It can be argued that Verdi was not inclined to music, but opera is a composition of music and recitation which brings out the drama. This has shown why most of the later day composers have been students of the Wagner style of opera. His early training helped him in accepting the various voices and how they could fit into drama. (Musicwithease.com, 2009)
There was more influence from society to both Wagner’s and Verdi’s composition of opera. Wagner had passion for the story of Tristan und Isolde and he got it while in exile in Switzerland in 1857. This was a typical romance story of the middle ages and the rebirth. He used the story to console himself from the happenings concerning his own life. Verdi however had to work with other composers before his break through in the 1840s.
He had to focus on the community ongoings as he had chosen the style. He was influenced by social situations like when he wrote about the Hebrews longing for freedom from Babylonians in the Old Testament. This was a parallel with Italians fighting for their independence and was received with awe in the country. This was an example of how Verdi thought opera should be, focusing on the society. This was attributed to acceptance by the audience as there was little exposure of theater and attracting viewers was challenging. (Alward, 2009)
The politics of the day controlled the composers to what they were to produce. The characters used in the stories were people around the palaces, and there was national struggle. In Tristan und Isolde, Tristan got injured while at war. In those days, battles were fought for freedom from colonialists. Isolde was a young lady who practiced medicine, and she used her medicine to treat Tristan after he had been injured. In Rigollet, the plot is around the palace of the Duke of Mantua. It is a story filled with love and curses. These scenes made the stories to blend well with the opera as they were daily happenings in the society. (FAQS.ORG, 2008)
Wagner needed a particular planned auditorium for the showing of his operas. The Bayreuth Festival Theater was put up and financed chiefly by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The building abides by Wagner’s most vital hassle. Verdi contributed in the national assembly after he appreciated that the nation’s alliance could not be attained through trendy revolution. The revolution situation in Italy during the time of the composers had sway on his works. (Alward, 2009)
Conclusion
Opera music was staged to entertain the society. The composers used music and drama to tell stories that they thought the audience needed to hear. At the time of origin, opera was meant to entertain the royals and their households. In later developments, the opera was moved to larger spectators in an auditorium. Some composers like Verdi even thought of opera carnivals.
The German composer Richard Wagner worked differently from the early musicians. He used a blend of acting and music to produce opera pieces. An incline by lots of modern opera composers to this innovation has been observed. His works present contemporary assembly panels where the producers can outline their thoughts. An individual analysis of the musician’s work can benefit from the efforts of Wagner. With advanced technology, competition for audiences to concerts has increased. Contemporary opera productions have embraced the Wagnerian way of opera masterpiece as it appeals more to the viewers.
List of References
Alward, M. (2009). Giuseppe Verdi: The Swan from Busseto. Web.
FAQS.ORG. (2008) Wagner’s Influence. Web.
Musicwithease. (2009). Tristan und Isolde: Synopsis. Web.
mfiles. (2009). Richard Wagner. Web.
Westervelt, B. (2007). Rigoletto – Verdi Opera Plot. Verdi’s Famous Opera Court Jester Rigoletto. Web.
Porgy & Bess. (1995). Modern Opera 1900-Now. Developments in Opera. Web.
Lebrecht, N. (2009). The Lebrecht Weekly. The Face of Modern Opera. Web.
Barnes, G. (2009). Amira: A Modern Opera. Web.
ÄîMinneapolis Star Tribune. (2001). Sound Stage. A New Music Theater work about making Music. Web.