Simpleopera
Otello The Plot What to look out for Something about Otello’s entrance. Verdi and Wagner Verdi didn’t want to compose anymore… If you’ve read our article about Aida, you should know how reluctant Verdi was to write anything anymore. By that time, he thought he had done his share of composing. His almost 30 titles, … Read more
Gianni Schicchi Facts in short Plot Things to look out for The real Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi – Finally, Puccini wrote a comic opera. Gianni Schicchi is actually the last opera the maestro completed. It was ready in 1918 and after that, he worked on, but never finished, Turandot until he died in 1924. That … Read more
Faust Plot What to look out for Gounod’s opera Gounod’s religious convictions The Faust legend. If you don’t have cash, buying on credit is a valuable option. You get what you want but you pay later. So, why not buy the ultimate merchandise on the ultimate credit? To get whatever you want by selling your … Read more
Un Ballo in Maschera Facts in short Plot What to look out for How the opera is usually performed The voice of Riccardo Something about Oscar A Masked Ball Un Ballo in Maschera is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed 1857-1859, as Gustavo III, the Swedish King, assassinated at a Ball at the … Read more
Les contes d’Hoffmann – The tales of Hoffmann Plot Things to look out for The many versions of the opera. Something about Les contes d’Hoffmann Jaques Offenbach died on October 5, 1880. If you look at the premier date below, you can conclude that he never witnessed Les contes d’Hoffman played. In the tragic company … Read more
Lucia di Lammermoor Sir Walter Scott Plot What to look out for Lucia’s mad-scene The importance of Lucia… Lucia’s and Edgardo’s voices Lucia di Lammermoor and Vincenzo Bellini. Lucia di Lammermoor premiered in Naples on the 26th of September 1835. The theatre was San Carlo, the main Naples Opera House and it was a huge … Read more
Contralto – The mother… The color The range The terrible practice of Castrates The roles The types Contralto The Contralto is the lowest of the female voices. It is also quite rare. While you can train a voice to reach high notes by exercising and learning correct breathing, you cannot really do very much to … Read more
Soprano – The Victim… The color The range The types Soprano The Soprano is the highest of the female voices. It is also the most common. And maybe that’s the reason why there are so many subcategories… First, there are the usual Lyric, Dramatic, and Coloratura. For some reason, the vocal schools felt it necessary … Read more
Bass – The adversary The color The range The roles The types Bass The Bass is the lowest of the male voices. And it’s the lowest human voice, full stop. In Russia, in the Christian Orthodox church, there is a very long tradition of so-called Oktavists. These are extremely low voices that can sing a … Read more
Baritone – The King… The color The range The roles The types Baritone The Baritone is the middle voice in the male voice family. It is also by far the most common of the voices in our society, be it trained or not. In fact, it is the normal male speaking voice. It is slightly … Read more