The History of Opera free essay sample

A flourish or short tune played on brass instruments, used as a military signal, usually at a ceremonial event. ? Recessional: A hymn that accompanies the exit of the clergy and choir fter a service. [pic] An opera is a play in which all the conversation is set to music and the actors sing the words instead of speaking them. In Grand Opera, all the words are sung and the music is supposed to be of the finest kind, to be played by large orchestras and sung by the best singers. In light opera, or operettas, some of the conversation is spoken and some is sung. The songs are of the kinds that become â€Å"popular songs†. Grand Operas are usually tragedies with unhappy endings and light operas are usually comedies with happy endings, though this is not always so. In Grand Opera, the leading members of the cast sing a certain number of arias, which are solo songs. We will write a custom essay sample on The History of Opera or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There are recitatives, which are spoken words set to music but not actually songs. Usually there are large choruses that accompany the leading singers. Many operas have ballets, or dancing acts that are made apart of the story. Before the opera begins, the orchestra plays an overture that is made up of the best melodies used in the opera. The most popular writers of opera were an Italian, Giuseppe Verdi, whose operas include Aida, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, and several others that have remained popular for years. The most popular single opera is Carmen, by Georges Bizet, a Frenchman. Nearly all great composers wrote operas. The music is the most important thing in an opera; the writer of the words is seldom remembered. There are many famous opera houses or theatres, where operas are presented, throughout Europe and the Americas. Among the most famous are La Scala, in Milan, Italy; The Operas of Paris, Rome, Berlin, and other great European cities; and the Metropolitan Opera Hose in New York City. The most elaborate scenery and costumes are used in presentations at these opera houses. Movies Containing Opera The Phantom of the Opera From Russia with Love [pic] Mary Poppins Famous Opera Singers Renee Fleming One of the most famous modern day sopranos in the world of opera is Renee Fleming, who is from the United States. The singer is a Grammy award winner. Her most popular recording is Sindarin, which is from the soundtrack The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In addition to the standard collection, Ms. Fleming has performed many world premieres, including Andre Previns A Streetcar Named Desire and Conrad Susas The Dangerous Liaisons with the San Francisco Opera, and at the Metropolitan Opera, John Coriglianos The Ghosts of Versailles. She also sang Carlisle Floyds Susannah in its first productions at the Metropolitan Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In addition to her many appearances at New Yorks Metropolitan Opera, her voice has resounded throughout the distinguished venues of Paris Opera Bastille and Palais Garnier, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Barb-ican, La Scala, Bayreuth, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Grand Theatre de Geneva, Glyndebourne, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera and Carnegie Hall, among others. Placido Domingo This Spanish opera singer is another one of the most famous in the world. He is a tenor. One of Placido Domingo’s most famous recordings is in the movie Tristan Isolde. He also made an appearance in the musical Moulin Rouge. Placido Domingo has done duets with a wide variety of talented and well known singers, such as Josh Groban and Vanessa Williams. Dmitri Hvorostovsky Hvorostovsky opera singer is a baritone from Russia. He is very well known for the work that he did in Rigoletto and in The Queen of Spades. Interestingly, he was also at one point named one of People magazine’s most beautiful people. This singer is very well known and accomplished. Many regard Hvorostovsky as one of the best opera singers in history, let alone one of the best opera singers who is alive at the moment. Anna Netrebko Another one of the most famous sopranos in the world is Anna Netrebko, who is Russian-Austrian. She sang in Romeo et Juliette, which received a lot of positive feedback. She has also worked alongside Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The singer is one of the youngest on this list and has already made some wonderful contributions to the world of opera. It is expected that there will be many more to come. Anne Sofie von Otter This Mezzo-soprano is from Sweden. Although she is somewhat lesser known than the other opera singers mentioned, she is known to be incredibly talented. The main reason that she gained a lot of popularity is because she did an album with Elvis Costello. Some of her work has gained some controversy because it involves the Nazi concentration camps. It focuses on Auschwitz concentration camp in particular. In 2003 she received the Schock Prize awarded by a committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. These are just five of the best opera singers the entire world. Each of these singers are very different in their own way, but all of them have contributed to the opera genre throughout the years.

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buy custom The Good Life essay All people want to have a good life. However, different people perceive good life differently. For some, good life means having material wealth, while for others it is related to virtue and morality. Achieving the state of good life is based on actions, which people take in order to improve the way they live. I was always striving to have a good, virtuous life. The person has to act prudently and wisely, and to constantly work on oneself, in order to learn the truth about what virtue and prudence is (Plato 92). While trying to understand what prudence and virtue is, I tried to make all my actions more virtuous, and thus, to make myself more virtuous. For 24 hours in a row, I was thinking about everything, which I was doing, from the virtuous point of view. When I was taking a shower, I asked myself, whether I was doing the best possible thing in the best possible way. I was also thinking whether I was doing this thing in the best possible time, in order to live the best life I could. The answer was that taking a shower was the best possible thing, which I could do in the early morning; however, the way I was doing it was not the best, because I was wasting to much clean water. Thus, in the future I will use less water during the shower, in order to save this water for other people. When I decided to go for a walk, I asked myself, if that ws the best thing I could do at that moment. The answer was no, because I had not done my homework yet, so I decided to stay home and study. I asked myself, if I was studying in the best possible way, the answer was no, because the TV was on. I turned off the TV, and continued to study more effectively. I asked myself, if I was doing it in the right time, the answer was no, because I should have started studying earlier. Till the end of the day I studied, and tried to do it in the best way. Thus, that day I did everything I could to have the good life. However, sometimes, it is hard to understand how to act virtuously (Klein 65). For example, my friend got pregnant, and was trying to hide this information from her mother. I thought that it was not my responsibility to tell her mother about it, however helping my friend to hide this information was also not the best choice. In my opinion, it is better to solve the problems than to hide them. Thus, I decided to talk to my friend, and convinced her to tell her mother everything, and to discuss this situation with her. I always try to learn from my mistakes, and from mistakes of people, who surround me. I always try to take something for my personal growth from the ideas of other people. If I think that the way the person acts is right, then I try to follow this way. If I think that thhe way the person behaves is wrong, then I try to show this person what mistakes I think he/she makes, and to avoid these mistakes in my own life. For example, one of my friends thinks that good life is to have a lot of money, and to date celebrities. I do not agree with her, so I try to convince her that money and fame are not that important. I agree with Plato that happiness is a crucial element in achieving a good life (Russell 105). I also agree that everyone can achieve the state of happiness (Riel, 57). In order to do this, the person must work on ones personality. During these 24 hours, I noticed several faults in the way I live. For example, I was wasting too much time by being lazy. I was also wasting food, because I was eating a bit too much. Thus, I decided, that in the future I will be more active, will eat less, and will constantly ask myself, what thing of every possible thing, which I could be doing, I should do at the moment in order to make my life the best I can, and to make myself the happiest person I can be. To conclude, after taking into considerations the lessons which I learned, I changed the way I see good life. My new goal is to always be active, feel happy, and to have everything I need. I can be completely happy only when I truly understand what virtue is. Thus, I must keep trying to learn how to live more prudently and virtuously. Buy custom The Good Life essay

Blog Response and write your own blog Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Blog Response and write your own blog - Essay Example The advert correlates to the cultural notion that physical fitness, deep voice, and aggressive action are attributes of a man. Moreover, any man who lacks these qualities is shown as feminine. On the other hand, it is depicted that women in the society prefers men with maximum masculinity. This is because, based on their perception, such a man will be able to take care of women needs. This makes them admire men who have well developed figure. However, this post deserves criticism. This is because it depicts men who lacks such masculinities cannot have power, offer protection to women, and hence this is shown to be in contradiction to American culture. In reality, this is not true because being a real man is not based on outside appearance. The real man is defined by behaviour and instinct. Moreover, it is negatively depicting women as only attracted by physical well-being towards men. This is not true as women are also attracted by other attributes towards women. In fact, violent men are usually unable to sustain a formidable relationship. Part 2 The film ‘Dangerous Minds’ is a representation of what is covered with many Hollywood movies. The film depicts the worse state of education for prone kids who face the challenges of poverty, violence, crime, and violence in the inner cities of United States. The teacher also struggles to content with the students. Initially, the film depicts Whiteness as a true reflection of rationality. Moreover, the film shows Whiteness as a cultural standard in the changing society based on the racial composition. On the other hand, the other part of the film acts as an encouragement to challenged teenagers who had given up on schooling as an alternative to their wretched lives. In the film, the purpose of schooling is intermixed with the issue of racial difference within the area of urban public schools. Therefore, the film relies on race factor as an organizing concept to develop its narrative structure and pass throu gh the message. Moreover, both the Black and Hispanic teenagers lay a foundation for developing pedagogical classroom interaction. In this context, Whiteness as espoused by the teacher authority manages to overcome racially coded images of disorder, chaos, and fear. This is seen through the conflicts that exist between teacher and students in the first scenes of the film. This is a classical example of non- assimilation feelings between whites and non-whites. Moreover, the innocence of the teacher is highlighted in the first scene of the film. She leaves a middle-class culture in the white community to teach in uncontrollable environment. This is meant to provide white American with the notion that the disorder is a thing of other culture. The negative perception on the people of colour is further highlighted as she refers to them as â€Å"rejects from hell†. Therefore, the opening scenes serve to represent Black and Hispanic kids with the culture of violence and unruliness. On the other hand, Whiteness as depicted by LouAnne Johnson is under threat. This is because it is unsafe and under siege. Moreover, Whiteness is shown through the character of the teacher as the only option for teens to move beyond the setting and nature of their cultural identities. This occurs as it is contrasted with the stereotypical portrayal of intellectually challenged and decadent Black and Hispanic kids. Therefore, Whiteness is thus implied as a standard for