Vocalist.org archive


From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Sat Apr 21, 2001  5:49 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] The Medium


wadijedo@a... wrote:
wadijedo@a... wrote:

> Hi Vocalists,
> I am singing the song The Black Swan for my jury. I have looked for hours
> trying to find the actual opera "The Medium."
> Does anyone have a site that has operas with the text?
> Also, I am looking for info on the son "The Mock Suns" In German it is "Die
> Nebensonnen" the music that I have does not have the composer on it.
> Thank you in advance.
> Janis

I agree with those who suggest the music library. However,
another excellent resource for information about opera is
the Opera-L archives. It is searchable in an easy-to-use
web interface. Here's the URL:

http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/opera-l.html

A resource on-line can be opera companies, which often put
an opera synopsis on-line as a sales tool, and production
pictures, too. The Medium gets a lot of productions in the
USA, so you might try a Google search
<http://www.google.com>
And newspaper/magazine reviews are also good to read. For
example, you might have fun looking at New York Times or
Time Magazine reviews of when the opera premiered in the
1950's. Most good libraries have the NY Times on some kind
of microfilm or microfiche going back to well before you
(and I) were born.

Also, all of Menotti's operas were composed recently enough
to still be copyright protected. That means you won't find
the libretto on the World Wide Web.

You'll find some information about the opera and the context
of your aria in the front section of the Schirmer
glossy-cover soprano aria anthology. Some have mentioned
Kobbe's Opera Book and the Viking Opera guide as a good
resource, and another excellent opera library resource that
is found in good public libraries (if there's no
college/university-quality music library handy) is the New
Grove Dictionary of Opera. It has detailed plot synopses.
Another great resource, which I bought on Amazon a few years
back, is the Da Capo Opera Manual. This
has all kinds of relatively obscure operas in it.


Peggy




--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...

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