Two Truths and One Lie

Spot the lie!

• Libretto is the text in an opera

• Libretto contains the story or the plot of the opera.

• Librettist is the person who sings the text in the libretto.

Spot the lie!

• Score is the book that the composer and

  librettist put together.

• The score has

  some musical notes, words and

  ideas to help the performers tell the

  story.

• Full score is the version used by an orchestra conductor and prints what each instrumental player of the orchestra, the chorus of singers and the soloists are doing at a given moment.

Spot the lie!

• Declamatory singing, used in the poetry parts and dialogue of opera.

• Recitative may be accompanied

• Recitative may be unaccompanied

Spot the lie!

• Aria is an air or solo singing part sung by a principal character.

• Aria is what

  the public will least to remember when leaving the opera house.

• Properly and

  well sung, a beautiful aria can bring an audience to its feet and decide the

  fate of an entire opera.

Spot the lie!

• Tenor is the highest male voice.

• Tenor is the common male voice.

• Baritone lies between Bass and Tenor voices.

Spot the lie!

• Lyric female voice is bright and full sound.

• Coloratura is the highest soprano voice.

• Contralto is the most common female voice.

Spot the lie!

• The very development of the Opera sprung up from the idea of putting forward

  and more exploration on the concept of “word painting”

• This idea coupled with an understanding of ancient Roman theatre resulted in the

  formulation of a new musical form, the opera.

• Opera is a

  combination of all the arts in one extravagant performance.

Spot the lie!

• The opera being an elaborate combination of different art forms, its production

  is very costly.

• The opera, from its very beginning, is accompanied by an instrumental

  ensemble called the orchestra.

• Due to the increasing number of orchestra players in the opera, composers

  like Verdi, Puccini and Wagner saw the opportunity to explore ways to develop the

  instrumental accompaniment in opera.

Spot the lie!

• Aria is an air or solo singing part sung by a principal character.

• Aria is what

  the public will least to remember when leaving the opera house.

• Properly and

  well sung, a beautiful aria can bring an audience to its feet and decide the

  fate of an entire opera.