How does the opera "Falstaff" create a comedic character through music and comedy working closely together?
Verdi was a great Italian opera composer of the 19th century, and his opera style was more conservative than that of his contemporaries such as Wagner, but in fact, Verdi was always exploring how to find new ideas on the basis of inheriting tradition.
In 1889 Verdi read the script of " Falstaff" sent to him by Boito , and he was very fond of the subject , as the last line in the opera says: " Life is but a joke " , and finally Verdi decided to write the opera.
In Falstaff, Verdi further demonstrates the composer's intention to enhance the dramatic scene of the opera through dialogue-style narration and multi-person duets.
Today, Xiao Zhang will tell you how the opera "Falstaff" works closely together to create a comedy character.
In Falstaff's first act, Falstaff's attitude towards his subordinates changes three times in the same scene, namely humiliating Dr. Kayush, shirking responsibility when he discovers that he has no money to pay his debts, and reprimanding the two entourage and reading love letters so that the entourage is refused to send a letter.
For the first time, Falstaff did not care about the doctor's accusations, and instead of reprimanding his subordinates for what they had done, he showed a masterful face in front of the angry doctor.
In the face of repeated questioning by doctors and panicked answers from his subordinates, Falstaff responded with a calm and calm attitude, and in his musical techniques, he mainly focused on conversational singing, without a fixed musical theme.
The doctor often sings continuously in the same note until the end jumps in the interval, showing a questioning look, while Falstaff's singing is a gentle upward and downward melody walking, looking like a rogue.
The second time, Falstaff, who had angered the doctor away, changed his attitude towards his subordinates, and in the face of the tavern owner's bill and no money to pay it, he began to rebuke his subordinates, complaining that the two men had spent his money for many years, but finally began to elevate his status and praise his own great achievements.
In this passage, Falstaff's solo passage is lengthened, the note jump span is increased, and the emotional color is strong, especially the passionate aria singing shows his embarrassment, collapse and vigorous vitality.
For the third time, Falstaff, who talked about love, softened his attitude towards his subordinates, and he praised the eyes, lips, and smile of the admiration in a gentle tone.
However, after Falstaff's request for two retinues to deliver the letter for him was refused, he became extremely angry and warned the two of the serious consequences of disobeying him.
In this passage, Falstaff mainly sings two parts, the first part describes his two loves with a gentle tune and lyrical melody, and the second part is completely opposite, the tone begins to change faster, and the anger after rejection is expressed in dense sixteenth notes.
The entire large passage is composed of narrative tones and short arias, and dialogue-style singing is the main musical expression of this paragraph, this kind of character communication first, personal play in the back of the layout makes the plot compact, and the protagonist's psychological state is fully expressed.
In particular, Falstaff is confronted with three images in three situations:
The scoundrel in front of the doctor reflects his idle, but fake and strict image; Faced with no money to pay, Falstaff is another image of shirking responsibility, optimism and arrogance; When it comes to love, Falstaff has become a tender image of water.
Although Falstaff's comedy image here is created in the appearance paragraph, it is more through the process of communicating with different characters, and the side portrays the poor man who is stubborn in front of his subordinates but has no money, is embarrassed, and wants to fall in love but cannot get help from his subordinates.
The three-dimensional shaping of the three sides allows people to see the pathetic, pitiful and ridiculous image of Falstaff.
Therefore, highlighting the personality of the characters in the comprehensive scene is a very complex opera creation technique, and the complex crowd and complex context relationship require the composer's delicate and ingenious design to perfectly present the personality characteristics of each character.
At this point, it highlights the high level of Verdi's artistic level and ingenious structure, and Verdi was able to successfully shape the comic character of Falstaff.
