Simple things to know before attending an Opera-The Preferred Guest

Many times, many of us have been to Opera. Yet, all these times we were caught not to know simple things about the Opera terminology, or what a contralto means. In this article we have gathered basic information and links for that next time, where with extreme coolness we can show (off) our knowledge of this subject. After all it is a good subject for unique discussions. Let’s begin.

The Singers

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Opera singers are usually classified as one of six types, according to the range of their voices. From highest to lowest, the three female voices are soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto. The male voices are tenor, baritone, and bass. Within each range there may be a variety of subdivisions, differentiating voice quality and style of singing. A coloratura soprano has a light and extremely flexible voice; she is trained in the execution of virtuoso passages featuring rapid scales, trills, and other ornamental displays. The lyric soprano has a voice of great clarity and beauty. The voice of the dramatic soprano is full and powerful, able to soar over a large orchestra. The distinction between lyric and dramatic voices occurs among tenors as well. There are also three major types of bass: the comic basso buffo; the basso profondo, who sings with a powerful, deep tone; and the basso cantante, who sings the remaining ’straight’ roles.

In more details…

Soprano (Italian sopra, “above”), highest female voice. The normal range of the soprano is about two octaves, generally with its lowest note at middle C, although many sopranos exceed these limits. Sopranos are classified as dramatic, lyric, or coloratura. A dramatic soprano has a powerful and theatrical voice; a lyric soprano, a lighter, smoothly flowing voice; and a coloratura soprano, an extremely flexible and light voice capable of performing highly ornamented virtuoso passages such as trills and runs. The similar unchanged boy’s voice is sometimes termed boy soprano. Male sopranos who were castrated as boys in the 18th century in order to keep their soprano voices were known as castrati. The term mezzo-soprano is used for a female voice that has a range between the soprano and contralto, the lowest female singing voice. The term soprano also denotes the highest in range of a family of instruments, such as the soprano saxophone.

Mezzo-soprano (Italian mezzo, “middle,”sopra, “above”) in Western music, a female voice that lies in range between soprano and alto. Its range extends from below middle C to nearly two octaves (interval of eight notes between two tones) above middle C. Most untrained voices fall into intermediate ranges such as mezzo-soprano. An outstanding mezzo-soprano voice has a rich and full quality and is considered effective in transmitting a sense of dramatic power and deep emotion.

Alto or Contralto lowest of the three principal ranges of voice found in women or young boys, the other two being the soprano and mezzo-soprano. The contralto has a range of about two octaves upward from E or F below middle C. Originally the term also was applied in choral music to the highest male voice, the countertenor, or male alto. In modern times it generally refers to the vocal part below the soprano part of a musical composition; contralto is the term for the voice or the performer. Today women who have a rich, weighty quality in the lower register are called contraltos. In combination with the name of an instrument (alto trombone, alto saxophone), the word alto denotes an instrument with a range just below the highest range reached by that family of instruments. The alto clef is the C clef, so placed as to indicate that middle C is on the third line of the staff.

Tenor, highest natural adult male voice, having an approximate range of two octaves, starting usually at C below middle C. Two classes of tenor are generally recognized: the dramatic tenor (Italian tenore robusto, “robust tenor”), with a quality in its lower register that resembles that of the baritone, and the lighter and more agile lyric tenor. Two other, less common tenor voices are the heldentenor (German Held, “hero”), a dramatic voice naturally powerful enough to project over the large orchestras required for some German operas; and the countertenor, or male alto, a light voice above and overlapping the normal tenor range, which can be produced either by falsetto or by full-voice singing by a tenor having a very high range. The term tenor is derived from the Latin tenere (“to hold”). In medieval music the tenor part was so named because it “held” the basic melodic line, known as the cantus firmus, to which the other voices furnished countermelodies.

Baritone, a voice range and a wind instrument. The baritone voice is the male singing voice intermediate between the bass and the tenor, having a normal compass of about two octaves upward from the second A below middle C.

Bass (voice) (Latin basis, “base, foot, pedestal”; influenced by French basse and Italian basso), deepest, or lowest, male singing voice. The normal range of the bass voice is about two octaves, with its lowest note usually an octave and a sixth below middle C. Trained basses can reach notes considerably lower and higher; for example, the contrabass (an especially deep voice developed principally in Russia) can range nearly an octave below the normal lowest note.

Basses usually are classified as basso profondo (Italian, “deep bass”), a powerful, low-ranging voice; basso cantante (Italian, “singing bass”), a voice with a well-developed upper range; and basso buffo (Italian, “comic bass”), an agile voice suited to comic operatic roles. A bass baritone combines both basso profondo and basso cantante qualities, with a slightly higher than normal range.

Opera Terminology

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A capella. [ah kah-peh-lah] (Italian) Literally, “in the chapel.” Choral music sung without instrumental accompaniment.
Act. One of the main divisions of a drama, opera or ballet, usually completing a part of the action and often having a climax of its own.
Adagio/Adagietto. [ah-dah-jee-oh; ah dah-jee-eh-toh] (Italian) “Slowly.” Indicates a slow tempo. Adagietto is also a slow tempo, but not as slow as adagio.
Allegro/Allegretto. [ah-lay-groh; ah-lay-greh-toh] (Italian) “Merry,” “cheerful.” Indicates a fast tempo. Allegretto is slightly slower than allegro and implies a lighter style.
Andante/Andantino. [ahn-dahn-tay; ahn-dahn-tee-noh] (Italian) From the verb andare, “to walk.” Implies a moderate, “walking” tempo. Similarly, andantino (the diminutive of andante) could imply a tempo either faster or slower than andante.
Aria. [ah-ree-ah] A song sung by one person. In Italian, aria means “air,” “style,” “manner.” The aria had a central place in early opera and throughout operatic history, arias have been used to highlight an emotional state of mind and accentuate the main characters.
Baritone. The most common category of the male voice; lower than a tenor, but higher than a bass. Baritones were more commonly used in during the Romantic opera era.
Bass. The lowest male voice. Many bass roles are associated with characters of authority or comedy.
Brava. “Well done” in Italian. Audiences say this to a female artist to express their appreciation.
Bravo. “Well done” in Italian. Audiences say this to a male artist to express their appreciation.
Bravi. “Well done” in Italian. Audiences say this a group of performers to express their appreciation.
Buffa. Exaggerated comedic opera. From the Latin bufo meaning toad and from the Italian Buffone, which were inflated gloves that actors used to exchange comic blows on the stage.
Chorus. A group of singers usually divided into sections based on vocal range. The chorus was originally an ancient Greek practice of underscoring portions of the drama through music. The chorus is often used for crowd scenes and to play minor characters.
Composer. The person who writes the vocal and/or orchestral music (score).
Conductor. The person in charge of all the musical aspects of an opera; both orchestrally and vocally.
Costumes. The clothing worn on stage by the performers. Costumes can be used to reflect the personality of a character, the historical time period, country of origin or social ranking.
Designers. The people who create the sets, costumes, make-up, wigs and lighting for the opera performance.
Dynamics. The degrees of volume (loudness and softness) in music. Also the words, abbreviations, and symbols used to indicate degrees of volume. Piano (soft) and forte (loud) are most common.
Duet. Two people singing together.
Finale. The ending segment of an act or scene.
Harmony. Harmony is the chordal or vertical structure of a piece of music, as opposed to melody (and polyphony, or multiple melodies) which represents the horizontal structure. The succession of chords in a given piece is referred to as a chord progression.
Leitmotif. A theme or other musical idea the represents or symbolizes a person, object, place, idea, state of mind, supernatural force or some other ingredient in a dramatic work. An idea used widely throughout German opera, though associated with Richard Wagner in most of his operas.
Librettist. The person who writes the text (words) of the opera.
Libretto. [lih-breh-toh] The text of the opera. In Italian, it means “little book.”
Lyrics. Words of an opera or of a song.
Musical. A staged story similar to opera, though most of the dialogue is spoken.
Opera. A staged musical work in which some or all of the parts are sung. In Italian, the word “opera” means a work which is derived as the plural of the Latin opus. Opera is a union of music, drama and spectacle.
Orchestra. A group of musicians led by the conductor who accompany the singers.
Orchestra Pit. A sunken area in front of the stage where the orchestra sits.
Overture. An orchestral introduction played before the action begins. The overture is often used to set the mood of the opera. Many composers used the overture to introduce themes or arias within the opera and sometimes the overture became more well known than the opera itself.
Pants Role. A young male character who is sung by a woman, usually a mezzo-soprano, meant to imitate the sound of a boy whose voice has not yet changed.
Props. The visual elements of a scene other than the set. Furniture is called “set props” and smaller items (anything held by the performer) are called “hand props.”
Quartet. Four people singing together.
Recitative. Dialogue which is “sing-speak.” The recitative helps get through a lot of text quickly and moves the action along. Often precedes an aria or ensemble.
Set. The visual background on stage. The set shows the location of the action.
Soprano. The highest female voice. The soprano is commonly the lead female character.
Tempo. The speed of the music.
Tenor. The highest natural male voice. Often the lead male character within the opera.

So these are some basic things to know. We will continue this series of Opera knowledge with more details.

Opera Etiquette

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What should I do before the performance?

Two things come to mind here. First you need to get a ticket. An important thing to know about opera tickets is that the most expensive seat is not always the best seat in the opera house. The most expensive might be the closest, but not give you the best sound. It is always best the first time to buy the tickets at the theater box office if possible. The people working in the box office will often be able to tell you what your best options are to enjoy the entire experience of the drama and the music by showing you the opera house seating chart.

Secondly, it is also a good idea to do at least a little research about the opera that you are attending. Taking 10 minutes to review the basic opera plot information about the opera or hearing an opera cd of the piece, so that you are familiar with what you are about to see, will allow you to better enjoy all that is going on on stage. Here is an example of a basic opera plot for Barber of Seville.

What should I wear?

One of the fun things about opera is that there is no set dress code. You will find people dressed in anything from business casual, to Sunday best, to what I like to call the “fur-brigade.” About 75% will wear what they might wear to a church service, but by all means if you have that formal gown and are just dying to wear it out, you will not feel out of place. Ripped jeans and a t-shirt will not get you kicked out of the opera house, but you might consider cleaning up a bit. On a side note, if you are going to a premiere or opening night, people tend to dress on the fancier side of things.

When should I get there?

One of the best parts of going to the opera is people watching. This can be almost as entertaining as the show. People who are dressed to the nines, peacocking around as if they were royalty, making small talk about “operatic things.” I would recommend getting to the theater early enough to make it to the bathroom before the show starts. Opera acts tend to run pretty long, and lines at the bathroom during intermission can be even longer. Go before hand and you will have more time to people watch. Getting there early also allows you to find your seat and not have to climb over people and disturb others as they are watching the show.

What do I do during the performance?

Enjoy the show and take it all in. It is inappropriate to hum or tap along. It is also inappropriate to talk during the performance. Please turn off all phones, beepers, and pagers. Most theaters will also not allow you to record a live opera performance, so no cameras or camcorders either. Again, just sit back and enjoy the show!

How do I understand what is going on?

Many opera houses now have what are called Super-titles. They work like closed-captioning on your TV, allowing you to follow along in a translation of the music that is probably in a language that you don’t speak. These are usually projected on a screen above the stage. If you are watching your first opera at the Metropolitan Opera, they have put the screens on the backs of the seats in-front of you, like an airplane, letting you turn them on and off as you please. Often in larger opera houses, you will get English titles for works in English as well, so that it is easier to follow the action. Most programs will also have a brief synopsis of the action by act that you can also refer to.

When do I clap?

This is always a fear for someone who is spending a night at the opera for the first time. As a general rule of thumb, there are a few key places when clapping is a good idea, assuming that the level of the performance warrants clapping:

* When the conductor comes out to start the overture.
* When everyone else around you is clapping.
* At the end of an act or the end of the opera and the opera singers are taking bows.

When in doubt, it is better not to clap than to clap and get the evil stares of people around you. Also you are bound to hear cheers from the audience of “Bravo.” Bravo for the beginner can be a bit scary, as the word changes based on whom you are saying it to. Here is a quick guide to Bravo:

* Say Bravo (Brah-voh) to a single male performer’s exceptional performance.
* Say Brava (Brah-vah) to a single female performer’s exceptional performance.
* Say Bravi (Brah-vee) to a group of all male performers or a mix of male and female performers’ exceptional performances.
* Say Brave (Brah-vay) to a group of all female performers’ exceptional performances.