[lit-ideas] Re: Dramma per musica
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:44:34 EDT
In a message dated 9/27/2010 8:32:15 A.M. Coordinated Universal Time,
palma@xxxxxxxx writes:
speranza, while..... at it, italians use opera...
as in le opere di verdi.....
-----
True. But this is confusing. It all comes from the Latin. The verb is
"operare", to do. So, 'opera' is supposed to be some variant on the Latin,
'opus', plural 'opera'. But then 'opera' was plural neuter, and only LATER
taken
as feminine. opera, feminine noun. "L'opera italiana".
---- The confusion extends beyond that. While you CAN say, "Le opere di
Verdi", Verdi (or strictly, his librettists, who were many -- the last one
Boito) would NOT -- NEVER -- use 'opera' as the subtitle of what they were
writing. It was always 'drama per musica'. I would think it was because
'opera' was started to be used 'elsewhere' (outside Italy) that Italians
finally
started to use this 'foreign expression'. Notably the French. Why the
French started to use 'opera' with stress on the 'o', instead of 'oeuvre' is
beyond me. With the English is more understandable. They often borrow words
from other lingos, even if they never returned them.
----
Note that if you go to it.wikipedia.org/Richard_Wagner, you get "opere
liriche" "opere in prosa", and other things. In this context, it means
"works", not "opere" proper. VERY confusing.
Similarly, Geary will say that Porgy and Bess is an opera, and I share with
Geary the idea that it is indeed the BEST American opera. The Met Opera
house did open with another American opera, "Anthony and Cleopatra", based on
an idea by Shakespeare. Tonight at 8:30, NY opera season opens with "L'oro
del Reno", another 'opera' (so-called) by Riccardo Wagner. Musolini is
said to have admired him, even if, if we go by his son's comment, "he mainly
slept through the proceedings".
Etc.
Speranza----
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