Relevant Issues in Opera

The opera composer, being human as all of us are, operates within the parameters of behavior as any other person. All the defense mechanisms that apply to our normal (and sometimes outside the realm of normalcy) form of behavior apply to those of the composer as well. The creative aspects of the composer cannot, by definition, transcend the boundaries imposed upon all of us by Nature. The sole purpose of human existence is to communicate with others and to have others understand us; each person has his individual style and manner of expression that identifies him and distinguishes him from others. Everyone has a story to tell; every person wishes to be heard on some level of communication. That being said, the composer wishes to tell his version of a story. He does so by means of his chosen instrument of expression provided him by Nature namely, music. His creative presentation to us his audience is an opera, a musical version of a story. In the absence of narrative, there is no opera; the musical composition beautiful and artistic that it may have no relevance. We the opera audience sophisticated and novices alike have been conditioned to view the operatic genre purely from a musical point of view. We have focused our attention upon the great singers and on the beautiful musical numbers in the score. We have our favorite operas, singers, and selections. But the text has always been viewed in a negative light. The story is negligible at best; it doesn't make sense most of the time. The important element is the glorious music. Actually and logically the reverse is true. The purpose of the composer is to tell his story through the use of music. To quote Shakespeare: "The play's the thing". Music in the hands of the composer is the equivalent of a mallet and chisel in the hands of the sculptor and an easel and paintbrush in the hands of the artist; it is merely an instrument of expression. Our focus then is the manner by which the composer uses his musical talents to describe a scene, a tale or even a situation. He chooses his varied musical palette carefully and with intent - sometimes on an unconscious level but always willfully. It is part of his human DNA as it is ours. As such, we can and do identify with it; we can understand his language for it is ours as well. In the series of posts that will follow, I will discuss several aspects that I have referred to as issues that hopefully, will explain how the composer uses his considerable musical talents to further a very real life-situation. As I shall endeavor to show there are relevance and logic to the libretto; we have only to learn the composer's language and its implementation.