Gotta love the Opera

This past Saturday, Opera Memphis put on a terrific performance of Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi. The opera was very similar to Shakespeare’s play with the addition of music, singing, and dancing. The scoring for most of the pieces consisted of a full orchestra, sometimes there would be a choir, and sometimes there would be an aria sung by one of the main characters such as Macbeth, Ophelia, or Mac Duff. The dynamics in most of the pieces was f. The melodies for the post part were quite dramatic. This complemented the dramatic plot very well in which at every turn something new and exciting would occur. The melodies used on these dramatic harmonies were quite complex. They insinuate a w lot of text painting at various different times as well. The opera went through a wide variety of key signatures throughout the different pieces. The form and texture also varied throughout. The texture varied between polyphonic and homophonic. The text was a story about power and how far one man will go when he hears that he is destined to ultimately become king and then later hears predictions of his downfall. One of the mains parts of the opera comes in the third act when the witches tell him of his downfall and what to beware of. At this time there is a huge dance being performed which I thought was quite fascinating. I for some moment forgot that I was at the opera and thought that I was at the ballet and then when someone started to sing again I was confused but quickly remembered where I was. That is how empowering that dance was for me. Now I am really looking forward to Rossini’s Cinderella.