A Comparative Study On Renditions Of The Aria Puppet Song

Jacques Offenbach is a famous French composer and one of the initiators of classical light opera."The Story of Hoffman" is a play created by Offenbach,who exerted himself to the uttermost to it.Selected from "The Story of Hoffman",the aria "Puppet Song" has been sung by Wu Bixia and Sumi Jo ever,both of whom are celebrated Asian coloraturas.The author was deeply attracted by their brilliant musical performance of this aria on the first listening;furthermore,the author had a precious opportunity to sing this song in a concert.The thesis aims to give a comparative analysis of the performances of Wu Bixia and Sumi Jo on the aria “Puppet Song”.The thesis is divided into three chapters,and the author will conduct a in-depth and detailed research.The first chapter is a brief introduction of Jacques Offenbach and his musical composition.The second chapter is separated into three parts.The first part gives a brief introduction of the two singers.The second part mainly analyses their singing universality from the aspects of their expressive force on the stage,singing of cadenzas,technical handling in the music.The third part is a comparative analysis of their artistic disposition,stage performance and the shaping of characteristic images and regional culture in the play.In the third chapter,the author will expound on the three aspects: the grasp of the characteristic style of singing,the employment of singing skills and the inspiration drawn from the comparative analysis.