Comparing Opera Seria And Opera During The Baroque Period

1. Opera in the early 18th century consisted of mainly two distinct variants, opera seria and opera buffa. Although both share similar qualities many operas have, such as exposition through musical moments such as arias or ensembles as well as a similar structure, they vary in significant ways. Opera seria, which was a result of the Baroque Period, was a highly structured genre that was made mostly to entertain the aristocracy, by using stories of grandeur and plots between gods as well as recitatives and arias designed to display the virtuosity of a certain musician. Where opera seria was structured, opera buffa was the complete opposite; a more simple genre, this style of opera was more appreciated by the common people as the stories used in these type of productions were much more down-to-earth and

One of Mozart’s most memorable works is his opera Don Giovanni. Don Giovanni tells us the story of Don Juan, an aristocrat womanizer who has seduced and abandoned countless women. As the piece opens, a somewhat comical scene occurs where Don Juan escapes the home of an irritated lady, Dona Anna, but this scene is cut short in a dramatic way when Don Juan murders the lady’s father. After escaping undetected by Dona Anna he immediately works on seducing another lady, Dona Elvira, a woman he had wronged before, and he quickly escaped that situation. Next in the list, he began to work on Zerlina, on her own wedding no less, but before he can do anything Dona Anna, her fiancée and Donna Elvira arrive to accuse the man of murder, but once again he escapes. Having escaped once again, Don Juan finds himself in the graveyard where a statue of the murdered father, who was a captain of the guard, was erected. This statue begins to speak and implores Don Juan to repent for his crime, to which Don Juan laughs. Later that day though, the statue arrives at Don Juan’s home, and after exchanging some words, the statue leads Don Juan to heel, ending the tale of the