Tag Archives: act 1 finale
Finale 37 – Act I Lohengrin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th March 2023Wagner’s most performed opera, Lohengrin, returned to the Met this season after hiatus of 17 years. It is also the only Wagner opera we know for certain that Verdi saw in performance. This was on November 9, 1871 in Bologna. He left detailed notes on his impression of the work. The Bologna production was the…
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Finale 19 – Turandot Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th September 2018Italian opera as is currently practiced began with Rossini and ended with Puccini. All the Italian operas in the standard repertory were written between 1813 and 1924 – a little more than a century, a blink in the history of art. The last of these operas is Turandot. A magnificent achievement left incomplete at Puccini’s…
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Finale 11 – Don Giovanni Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 7th February 2017Don Giovanni is one of opera’s greatest works, but it’s on the long side. So when the finale to act 1 finally arrives it’s always welcome, especially as it’s so good. Giovanni is supposedly a great seducer, but he fails at every amatory attempt, resorting to attempted rape at the conclusion of act 1. His…
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Finale 8 – Act 1 Barber of Seville
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th April 2016Nobody exceeded Rossini in the mirth, invention, and sheer zaniness of the finales to his comic operas. The end of act 1 of The Barber of Seville is matched only by the Master from Pesaro himself. The action (really the inaction) is the response of Bartolo and Basilio to the release of the Count (who is…
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Finale 6 – Nabucco Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd December 2015A few days ago I mentioned the resemblance of the act 1 finale of William Tell to Nabucco. Here’s the part of Nabucco that seems very much like the Tell finale. It too occurs in the finale to Act 1. This number is constructed the same way as the Tell piece. An adagio concertato followed…
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Finale 5 – William Tell Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th November 2015William Tell is an Italian opera; no matter that Rossini wrote it to a French script. It’s as Italian as mozzarella. The finale to act 1 sets a model for many of the Italian operas which followed Rossini’s final work. This version of this finale is taken from the performance of Tell in 2013 at the…
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Finale 3 – Macbeth Act 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th November 2015No composer wrote as many great operatic finales as did Giuseppe Verdi. His Macbeth is a creature of both his early and middle periods. Originally written in 1847 and first presented at Florence’s Teatro della Pergola in March of that year it was was extensively revised in 1865. This revised version was first performed at…
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