Operetta is a genre of the performing arts, related to opera, but lighter in terms of both music and subject matter. Because it is closely related to both opera and also to musical theater, in many cases, it is difficult to differentiate between them. The term began as a label for stage works that were shorter or otherwise less ambitious than full scale operas, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Operetta became hugely popular in America in the nineteenth century, in no small part thanks to works of Gilbert and Sullivan and Johann Strauss. In addition, the operetta is the precursor of modern musical theater.
Operettas have had a vast impact on western culture. They have made opera, a typically dense and epic form of entertainment, available to the common public and accessible and enjoyable to all. They have influenced the development of later musical styles, particularly the Broadway musical, originating in New York, which has now gained popularity around the world, outstripping both opera and operetta. All of these forms, opera, musicals, and operetta, contribute to mankind's quality of life by providing beauty, inspiration, and thought-provoking and educational scenes to enrich each viewer's life experience.
Normally, in an operetta, some of the libretto is spoken rather than singing. Instead of moving directly from one musical number to another, the singers are given periods dialogue interspersed between the musical segments, which are performed without any singing or musical accompaniment, though sometimes musical themes are played quietly under the dialogue. Some operettas include passages of recitative, a style of semi-sung, semi-spoken text used in light opera between the musical numbers.
Most operettas can be described as light operas with acting, whereas most musicals are closer to being plays with singing.
History
Operetta grew out of the French opéra comique around the middle of the nineteenth century, to satisfy a need for short, light works to contrast with the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious opéra comique. By this time the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: Carmen (1875) is an example of an opéra comique with a tragic plot. Opéra comique had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique.
French composer Jacques Offenbach was a leading force in the early days of the operetta. Though Jacques Offenbach is usually credited with having written the first operettas, such as his La belle Hélène (1864), Ernest Newman remarked that the credit should really go to one Hervé, a singer, composer, librettist, conductor, and scene painter, whose real name was Florimond Ronger (1825-1892).
The most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899). His first work in this genre was Indigo und die vierzig Räuber (1871). It was his third operetta, Die Fledermaus (1874), which became the most performed operetta in the world and remained his most popular stage work. In all, he wrote 16 operettas and one opera in his lifetime. Franz von Suppé, a contemporary of Strauss, closely modeled his operettas after Offenbach. The Viennese tradition was carried on by Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, Leo Fall, Richard Heuberger, Edmund Eysler, Ralph Benatzky, Robert Stolz, Emmerich Kálmán, Nico Dostal, and Sigmund Romberg in the twentieth century.
The height of English-language operetta was reached by Gilbert and Sullivan, who had a long-running collaboration in England during the Victorian era. With W.S. Gilbert writing the libretto and Sir Arthur Sullivan composing the music, the pair produced 14 "comic operas" together, most of which were enormously popular in both Britain and elsewhere, especially the United States, and remain popular to this day. Works such as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado continue to enjoy regular performances and even some film adaptations. These comic operas influenced the later American operettas, such as those by Victor Herbert, and musical comedy.
A late twentieth century renewal of the importance of recitative and serious musical composing developed in rock operas such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ, Superstar, Evita, and Phantom of the Opera have rearranged the elements of opera, operetta and musical theater in yet another way, yielding works with music more like an operetta than a musical, serious plot lines more typical of a standard opera than an operetta, yet performed primarily by artists with musical theater backgrounds, in musical theater venues.
The exact structure of an operetta is difficult to pin down, mostly because of its loose definition. It is useful, however, to point out some of the things that define the differences between an operetta, a Broadway-style musical and a standard opera. In an opera, the drama is carried along by the music and singing. Operas usually emphasize an epic, grand style, with more emphasis on singing than acting. Operettas, on the other hand, tend to have dialogue broken up by musical numbers. An operetta is almost casual in comparison, and the singing style is very different. Many operettas can be performed by average or fair singers, whereas most operas cannot.
Vocabulary
hugely – надзвичайно, дуже
а precursor – попередник
an impact – вплив
dense – стиснений
accessible – доступний
to outstrip - обігнати
inspiration – натхнення
to enrich – збагачення
misleading – обманливий
to pin down – визначити; loose – невизначений, вільний
Task 2. Translate into English
Оперета
Оперета - італійське слово (operetta) і означає буквально - маленька опера. Становлення оперети пов'язане з Францією другої половини 50-х років минулого століття. Оперета виникла з театральних інтермедій - коротеньких вистав, які йшли в антрактах крупних п'єс, із злободенних спектаклів-оглядів. У Франції вона стала дзеркалом суспільного життя, що викриває пороки, висміює недоліки.
Кращі французькі оперети пов'язані з ім'ям композитора Жака Оффенбаха. Це «Орфей в пеклу», «Прекрасна Олена», «Синя борода» і ін. Музика завжди виявлялася веселою і увлекательной. Оффенбах включав в оперету пісеньки, марші, танці - кадриль, галопи, вальси, болеро... У опереті не лише співали, але і говорили. Дещо іншою стала оперета в Австрії, у Відні. Вона так і називається - віденська оперета. Напевно, ви чули оперети Іоганна Штрауса-сына «кажан», «Циганський барон». Вони напоюють дивними мелодіями. Говорили, що завдяки Штраусу оперета стала легкою, життєрадісною, дотепною, нарядно одягненою і яскраво звучною музичною комедією. Традиції Штрауса продовжив угорський композитор Імре Кальман, що написав такі відомі оперети, як «Сильва», «Маріца», «Принцеса цирку».
Task 3. Put the questions to the underlined words:
a. Operetta became hugely popular in America in the nineteenth century, in no small part thanks to works of Gilbert and Sullivan and Johann Strauss.
b. Operetta grew out of the French opéra comique around the middle of the nineteenth century.
Task 4. Answer the following questions:
1. What is operetta?
2. Why is it difficult to differentiate between opera and operetta?
3. What impact have operettas had a vast impact on western culture?
4. How can most operettas be described?
5. Who was a leading force in the early days of the operetta?
6. What is the structure of the operetta?
Task 5. Retell the text.