Author Archives: ellieacquilano

The first thing I observed from watching this live performance of excerpts from Werther (right in Joyce Didonato’s living room) was that it felt like a very intimate setting. Instead of seeing this performance at the MET where we would have been separated from the performers by many people in the audience as well asContinue reading “Joyce Didonato and Piortr Beczala’s Live Performance of Werther Highlights”

Near the end of the Wiener Staatsopera production of Massenet’s Werther, there is a major juxtaposition in the musical moods being portrayed. While Werther is committing suicide and ultimately on the edge of death, you can hear children’s voices in the distance singing Christmas carols. It starts off with very dark, sad moods as CharlotteContinue reading “How the Massenet Uses Contrasting Musical Moods to Portray a Story”

After watching the Production of Massenet’s Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper, I am really excited to see it myself in March! It was really interesting to see how the characters were able to take the words I read from the Libretto and turn them into a story filled with passion and sadness. I focussed aContinue reading “Werther in the Wiener Staatsoper Production of Massenet’s Werther”

In the film, The Shawshank Redemption, an inmate plays the “Sull’aria” from Le Nozze di Figaro to project throughout the Shawshank prison and catch the attention of every person there. After the aria was stopped the narrator of the film says, “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singingContinue reading ““Sull’aria” from Le Nozze di Figaro and The Shawshank Redemption”

I found the timbre of the lyric mezzo voice to be bold and powerful when I listened to this aria, which I think very much enhances the text of it. Before even reading the translation of the text, I knew that the woman singing was filled with sorrow and pain. Her voice ranges from aContinue reading “My First Blog Post”