Difference between revisions of "Operetta" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Operetta''' is a genre of light [[opera]], ''light'' in terms both of music and subject matter. It is closely related both to opera and also to other forms of lighter [[musical theatre]], and in many cases, it is difficult to assign a musical theatre work to a particular genre.  
+
'''Operetta''' is a genre of light [[opera]], in terms both of music and subject matter. It is closely related both to opera and also to other forms of lighter [[musical theater]], and in many cases, it is difficult to differentiate operetta between the two. The term began as a label for stage works that were shorter or otherwise less ambitious than full scale operas, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Operetta became hugely popular in America in the nineteenth century, in no small part thanks to works by the likes of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] and [[Johann Strauss]]. In addition, the operetta is the precursor of the modern [[musical comedy]].
 +
 
 +
Operettas have had a vast impact on western culture. They have made opera, a typically dense and epic style of entertainment, available to the common public and accessible and enjoyable to all. They have influenced the development of later musical styles and, especially in America, the history of the Broadway musical culture.  
  
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==

Revision as of 18:30, 28 July 2008

Operetta is a genre of light opera, in terms both of music and subject matter. It is closely related both to opera and also to other forms of lighter musical theater, and in many cases, it is difficult to differentiate operetta between the two. The term began as a label for stage works that were shorter or otherwise less ambitious than full scale operas, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Operetta became hugely popular in America in the nineteenth century, in no small part thanks to works by the likes of Gilbert and Sullivan and Johann Strauss. In addition, the operetta is the precursor of the modern musical comedy.

Operettas have had a vast impact on western culture. They have made opera, a typically dense and epic style of entertainment, available to the common public and accessible and enjoyable to all. They have influenced the development of later musical styles and, especially in America, the history of the Broadway musical culture.

Overview

Normally, in an operetta, some of the libretto is spoken rather than sung. Instead of moving from one musical number (literally so indicated in the scores) to another, the singers intersperse the musical segments with periods of dialogue, minus any singing or musical accompaniment (though sometimes musical themes are played quietly under the dialogue)—and short passages of recitative are by no means unknown in operetta, especially as an introduction to a song.

Operettas are often considered less "serious" than operas, although this has more to do with the often comic (or even farcical) plots than with the caliber of the music. Topical satire is a feature common to many operettas, although this is also true of some "serious" operas as well. Formerly, opera expressed politics in code in some countries, such as France; for example, the circumstances of the title character in the opera Robert le diable was a code for the parental conflict and resolution of king of France at its first performance.

Operetta is a precursor of the modern musical comedy. At the same time, it has continued to exist alongside the newer form—with each influencing the other. There is a fundamental but subtle distinction between the two forms—and this distinction is quite useful, provided one recognizes that nothing about the definition is clear, simple, or unambiguous.

Most operettas can be described as light operas with acting, whereas most musicals are closer to being plays with singing. This can best be seen in the performers chosen in the two forms. An operetta's cast will normally be classically trained opera singers; indeed, there is essentially no difference between the scores for an opera and an operetta, except for the operetta's lightness. A musical uses actors who sing, but usually not in an operatic style. Like most "differential definitions" that could be drawn between the two forms, however, this distinction is quite often blurred. W.S. Gilbert, for example, said that he preferred to use actors who could sing for his productions, while Ezio Pinza, a great Don Giovanni, appeared on Broadway in South Pacific, and there are features of operetta vocal style in Kern's Show Boat (1927), Bernstein's Candide, and Walt Disney's animated Snow White (1937) among others.

History

Operetta grew out of the French opéra comique around the middle of the nineteenth century, to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious opéra comique. By this time the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: Carmen (1875) is an example of an opéra comique with a tragic plot. Opéra comique had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique.

Though Jacques Offenbach is usually credited with having written the first operettas, such as his La belle Hélène (1864), Ernest Newman remarked that the credit should really go to one Hervé, a singer, composer, librettist, conductor, and scene painter, whose real name was Florimond Ronger (1825-1892). "But it was Offenbach who took up the genre and gave it its enormous vogue during the Second Empire and afterwards."[1] Robert Planquette, André Messager, and others carried on this tradition.

The most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899). His first work in this genre was Indigo und die vierzig Räuber (1871). It was his third operetta, Die Fledermaus (1874), which became the most performed operetta in the world and remained his most popular stage work. Its libretto was based on a comedy written by Offenbach's librettists. In fact, Strauss may have been convinced to write the operetta by Offenbach himself although it is now suggested that it may have been his first wife, Henrietta Treffz who repeatedly encouraged Strauss to try his hand at writing for the theater. In all, he wrote 16 operettas and one opera in his lifetime, mostly with great success when first premiered although they are now largely forgotten, since his later librettists were not very talented and he worked for some of the time independent of the plot. His operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches often have a strongly Viennese style and his great popularity has caused many to think of him as the national composer of Austria. In fact, when his stage works were first performed, the Theater an der Wien never failed to draw huge crowds, and after many of the numbers the audience would noisily call for encores.

Franz von Suppé, a contemporary of Strauss, closely modeled his operettas after Offenbach. The Viennese tradition was carried on by Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, Leo Fall, Richard Heuberger, Edmund Eysler, Ralph Benatzky, Robert Stolz, Emmerich Kálmán, Nico Dostal, and Sigmund Romberg in the twentieth century.

The height of English-language operetta (at the time known in England as comic opera to distinguish it from French or German operetta) was reached by Gilbert and Sullivan, who had a long-running collaboration in England during the Victorian era. With W.S. Gilbert writing the libretto and Sir Arthur Sullivan composing the music, the pair produced 14 "comic operas" together, most of which were enormously popular in both Britain and elsewhere, especially the U.S., and remain popular to this day. Works such as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado continue to enjoy regular performances and even some film adaptations. These comic operas influenced the later American operettas, such as those by Victor Herbert, and musical comedy.

English operetta continued into the twentieth century, with works by composers such as Edward German, Lionel Monckton, and Harold Fraser-Simson—but increasingly these took on features of musical comedy until the distinction between an "old fashioned musical" and a "modern operetta" became very blurred indeed. Old fashioned British musicals, in particular, retained an "operetta-ish" flavor well into the 1950s. More modern operettas include Candide and, some would claim, musicals like Brigadoon.

A late twentieth century renewal of the importance of recitative and through composing in some modern musicals, in fact, brings some such works closer (in some ways) to traditional opera than to operetta.

Structure

The exact structure of an operetta is difficult to pin down, mostly because of its loose definition. It is useful, however, to point out some of the differences between an operetta and a Broadway-style musical and a standard opera. In an opera, the drama is carried along by the music and singing. Operas usually emphasize an epic, grand style, with more emphasis on singing than acting. Operettas, on the other hand, tend to have dialogue broken up by musical numbers. An operetta is almost casual in comparison, and the singing style is very different. Some operettas can be performed by average of fair singers, whereas most operas cannot.

Operetta does not ask much of its audience, and has sometimes even been called "opera lite," though not without some insult taken. They are romantic, and nearly always promise a happy ending. The score was accessible and soaring, with the tenor and soprano taking center stage and a supporting cast that included comedians and a large male chorus. The setting was often an exotic European country or a mythic utopia—or often, a combination of the two. And the plots usually centered around aristocratic, farcical, love lives.[2]

Famous operetta writers

  • Paul Abraham
  • Edmond Audran
  • Ralph Benatsky
  • Manuel Fernandez Caballero
  • Frederic Clay
  • Charles Cuvillier
  • Roger Dumas
  • Ludwig Englander
  • Leo Fall
  • Richard Genee
  • Edward German
  • Jeronimo Gimenez
  • Walter W. Goetze
  • Bruno Granichstaedten
  • Richard Heuberger
  • Herve
  • Jeno Huszka
  • Leon Jessel
  • Emmerich Kalman
  • Rudolf Kattnigg
  • Gustave Kerker
  • Franz Lehar
  • Charles Lecoq
  • Louis-Aime Maillart
  • Oskar Nedbal
  • Robert Planquette
  • Sigmund Romberg
  • Victor Roger
  • Luois Roth
  • Gaston Serpette
  • Vincent Scotto
  • Dmitri Shostakovich
  • John Philip Sousa
  • Johann Strauss Jr
  • Oscar Straus
  • Arthur Sullivan
  • Jean Gilbert
  • Albert Szirmai
  • Ivan Zajc[3]

Notes

  1. Ernest Newman, in Louis Biacolli, ed. The Opera Reader (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953), 317.
  2. PBS, Operetta. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  3. The Guide to Light Opera and Operetta, Introduction. Retrieved July 28, 2008.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bordman, Gerald. American Operetta. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
  • Ganzl, Kurt. The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre. New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.
  • Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1983

External links

All links retrieved July 21, 2008.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.