Melodramma
Melodramma (plural: melodrammi) is a 17th-century Italian term for a text to be set as an opera, or the opera itself.[1] In the 19th century, it was used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early Italian libretto, e.g., Rigoletto and Un ballo in maschera.[2] Characteristic are the influence of French bourgeois drama, female instead of male protagonists, and the practice of opening the action with a chorus.[3]
It should not be confused with Melodrama (spelt with a single rather than a double m) in the sense either of Victorian stage melodrama (drama of exaggerated intensity) or of spoken declamation accompanied by background music (in Italian, melologo).[4]
References
- ^ The Harvard Dictionary of Music, fourth edition, 2003, p. 499.
- ^ Patrick Smith in The Tenth Muse, p.73; The Harvard Dictionary of Music, fourth edition, 2003, p. 499.
- ^ Patrick Smith in The Tenth Muse, p.73.
- ^ Budden, Julian: Melodramma in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
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Opera terms by origin
- Breeches role
- Chest voice
- Concert performance
- Duodrama
- Head voice
- Insertion aria
- Mad scene
- Melodrama
- Monodrama
- Number
- Opera house
- Patter song
- Prompter
- Sung-through
- Surtitles
- Aria
- Aria di sorbetto
- Arioso
- Banda
- Bel canto
- Bravura
- Brindisi
- Burletta
- Cabaletta
- Cadenza
- Cantabile
- Castrato
- Cavatina
- Chiaroscuro
- Coloratura
- Comprimario
- Contralto
- Convenienze
- Da capo aria
- Diva
- Falsetto
- Falsettone
- Fioritura
- Impresario
- Intermezzo
- Legato
- Libretto
- Licenza
- Maestro
- Melodramma
- Messa di voce
- Mezzo-soprano
- Musico
- Opera seria
- Ossia
- Passaggio
- Pasticcio
- Portamento
- Prima donna
- Recitative
- Ritornello
- Sinfonia
- Solita forma
- Soprano
- Soprano sfogato
- Spinto
- Squillo
- Stagione
- Stile rappresentativo
- Tenore contraltino
- Tenore di grazia
- Tessitura
- Verismo
- Vibrato