Comic opera

Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.

Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria. It quickly made its way to France, where it became opéra bouffon, and eventually, in the following century, French operetta, with Jacques Offenbach as its most accomplished practitioner.

The influence of the Italian and French forms spread to other parts of Europe. Many countries developed their own genres of comic opera, incorporating the Italian and French models along with their own musical traditions. Examples include Viennese operetta, German singspiel, Spanish zarzuela, Russian comic opera, English ballad opera, and Savoy Opera.

Italian comic opera

In late 17th-century Italy, light-hearted musical plays began to be offered as an alternative to weightier opera seria (17th-century Italian opera based on classical mythology). Il Trespolo tutore (1679) by Alessandro Stradella (1639–1682) was an early precursor of opera buffa. The opera has a farcical plot, and the characters of the ridiculous guardian Trespolo and the maid Despina are prototypes of characters widely used later in the opera buffa genre.

Rainer Hersch

Rainer Hersch (born 7 November 1962) is a British conductor, actor, writer and comedian known for his comical take on classical music. He has toured in more than 30 countries and has broadcast extensively, principally for the BBC. His radio series include All Classical Music Explained (BBC Radio 4 1997); Rainer Hersch's 20th Century Retrospective (BBC Radio 3 1999) and All the Right Notes, Not Necessarily in the Right Order (BBC Radio 4 2003 and 2006).

Early life

Hersch read Economics at Lancaster University, where his fellow students included Andy Serkis and James May. A Monty Python fan in his youth, he joined the Review Group, the university's student comedy troop, and began his writing career. He was a member of Cartmel College and served as JCR president – a position usually held by final year students – during his first term. In July 2015 he was presented with an Alumni Award by Lancaster University for graduates who have made a substantial contribution to their field and developed an outstanding international reputation.

The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro (Italian: Le nozze di Figaro, pronounced [le ˈnɔttse di ˈfiːɡaro]), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"), which was first performed in 1784. It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.

The Marriage of Figaro is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas.

Composition history

Beaumarchais's earlier play The Barber of Seville had already made a successful transition to opera in a version by Paisiello. Although Beaumarchais's Marriage of Figaro was at first banned in Vienna because of its licentiousness, Mozart's librettist managed to get official approval for an operatic version which eventually achieved great success.

Marriage (disambiguation)

Marriage is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses.

Marriage may also refer to:

John Prescott

John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott, (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010. In the 1994 leadership election, he stood for both Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, winning election to the latter office. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister after Labour's victory in the 1997 election, with an expanded brief as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

A former ship's steward and trade union activist, by the 1990s he was presented as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals. In his youth he failed the 11-plus entrance examination for grammar school, but went on to graduate from Ruskin College and the University of Hull. Prescott also developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often tense relationship between Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.