Unit Overview

Who is Rigoletto?

What is the Structure of the Story?

Why Do These Characters Act This Way?

From Story to Stage

Developing a Libretto

The Composer and the Librettist

Operatic Conventions

How Do Words and Music Help Us Understand the Characters

Discovering Opera through Rigoletto

Operatic Conventions

5-8

Language Arts, Performing Arts

While discussing the differences between plays and operas, students will define and identify operatic conventions. They will again use their dialogue developed in Lesson 5 to help create their own operatic conventions.

TV/video player
CD player
Bulletin board

The students should have their handouts from the previous lessons:

Direction Cards
Rigoletto's Story part 1 and part 2
Verdi and Piave: A Typical Partnership

Lesson and Extension-Specific Resources: See unit overview

General Internet Resources: See unit overview

Students will be able to define the conventions of traditional opera.

Teacher-led discussion
Compare and contrast exercise
Group instruction
Questioning
Writing to inform

1. Briefly review the synopsis of the opera and the dialogue that the students developed in Lesson 5. Discuss plays or musicals that the students may have seen. What kinds of things were presented on the stage (solos, monologues, etc.)?

2. Discuss the differences between a play and an opera. How are they similar? How do opera singers' voices differ from that of other types of singers? Bearing in mind that opera is sung without a microphone, why do the students think that opera singers sing in their manner?

3. Define the terms ARIA, DUET, TRIO, QUARTET, and CHORUS. These are conventional forms in opera.

4. Play selections from Rigoletto and identify them by operatic convention. (CD1, Tr3, Aria; CD1, Tr12, Duet; CD1, Tr13, Trio; CD2, Tr14, Quartet; CD1, Tr18, Chorus) What are the characteristics of each convention (arias reveal a character's feeling, duets are dialogues, trios and quartets allow us to see several perspectives of the scene at once, and the chorus creates commentary and crowd action)?

5. Discuss the difference between song-like sections of the opera and RECITATIVE, music, which is similar to sung dialogue. Which moves faster, song material or recitative? When would a composer want to use a recitative? When would they want to create more song-like material?

6. Have students return to their dialogues from Lesson 5. Ask them to identify places in their dialogue where the characters are expressing feelings. Where are the characters moving the plot along faster?

7. Have the students write an answer to the question, "How do the conventions of opera help the composer and the librettist tell the story?"

Can the students tell the difference between various operatic conventions?

Continue on to lesson 8.

Black Dog Opera Series Rigoletto CD

© ARTSEDGE, 2000