The Main Arias Study Of Operetta "The Merry Widow"

Operetta, a new opera style that appeared in ninety sixties, with relaxed themes and the function of recreation, is apt to satirize the social realities at that time.The social reality of that time gave the birth of light opera. With the development of productivity and the improved standard of material life, people at that time grew more and higher demand on their spiritual and cultural life. As far as opera was concerned, two changes could be observed as follows: first, the art of opera was not any longer exclusives to the ruling class, middle class and even the workers also began to appreciate it; secondly, operas with more various stage styles were needed by the audience. It is safe to say that the appearance and development of Vienna light opera meet the spiritual demand of people in nineteen sixties to a large extent.Among all of works by Franz Lehar, a Hungarian world- renowned composer, light opera is the most significant form of art. His best known masterpiece is"The Merry Widow", which is a piece of three-act light opera. With the background of the society of Paris, one bustling metropolis at that time, this work depict the life and custom of European upper class in the early days of the 20th century by telling the romance of a wealthy and gorgeous widow Anna, which is full of twists and turns. Since its first debut in 1905, "The Merry Widow" has been one of the most frequently performed shows in every opera house across the world and can be praised as one of the most unique flowers in the global garden of opera. This right opus of Mr. Lehar enhanced light opera's status in various art forms of dance and European folk music and marked the beginning of the Silver Age of Viennese Light Operetta. In a word, "The Merry Widow" is of epoch-making significance during the course of development of Vienna opera and even the European opera. Besides its humorous stage style and appealing plot, the following reasons also explain why this work can cause a sensation: first of all,"The Merry Widow"is characteristic of typical romantic music; secondly, plenty of folk music greatly enriches this masterpiece. By studying of Lehar himself and "The Merry Widow", the magnum opus of his light operas, the thesis aims to grasp the basic music feature of Lehar's light operas and therefore to comprehend and perform them more exactly. First of all, the article tries to analyze the formation of The Merry Widow by taking into consideration of the development of Vienna opera, life background of Lehar as well as social and cultural settings of his time, and also dissect its music features of the main arias from the view of mainbody which includes rhythm, meter, mode and tonality, melody, harmony, and texture, etc.Secondly, to analyze the works in term of singing is another focus of the thesis. In addition to study of the setup of characters, characters'personalities and requirements and hints of singing, which is comparatively detailed when it comes to the three distinguished arias, namely"Vilia","There Once Were Two Princes'Children","I Love You So", which will help people understand the masterpiece better.The structure of this thesis is arranged as follows: Introduction ; Chapter one, Mr. Lehar and his light opera"The Merry Widow"; Chapter two, ontological study of the main arias of"The Merry Widow"; Chapter three, singing study of the main arias of"The Merry Widow"; Conclusion.