Opera A1

Lucas Fredes

Ms. Roundtree

Art and Tech

Sept 25, 2018

“La Vida Breve”

Opera has never been one of my interests, in fact before watching “La Vida Breve” (“The Brief Life” 1904/1905), operas at that time had much more technology than you would imagine. This opera written by Manuel de Falla depicts despite easy fulfilling life some people have problems are present in everyday life. This opera consists of the story of a grandmother called “la abuela, Salud (gypsy), Paco, Salvador (uncle), and Carmela (bride). Where “A male chorus of anvil workers plies their trade at the local forge. The young gypsy, Salud, is passionately in love with a young well-to-do man named Paco. She does not know, and Paco does not tell her, that he is already engaged to a woman of his social class. Her uncle, Sarvaor (Salvador), and her grandmother (La abuela) have discovered this, and they try to prevent Salud from interrupting Paco's wedding after she learns the truth.”

In my personal opinion I think that this opera in particular was very successful in the way that it moved the audience in a certain way. It made the audience feel connected while performing, although not connected to fictitious events but to everyday life experiences. Now, in this composition one may think it is very Italianate, although it isn’t. This opera is VERY Spanish, replete with an authentic-sounding Flamenco singer and Spanish Guitar (well-played by Antonio Reyes). The music which also makes audience react to a new music culture also bears the Spanish mark with characteristic triads used to ornament some notes, sung with an effective 'slide' by Ana Maria Sanchez. In my personal opinion I think that it is amazing and smart to use singers as voice types in art consisting of tenor, bass, baritone, contralto and more. Technology in this opera was used in many ways, for example extravagant costumes, lighting, and technical effects. Back then one wouldn’t think that opera used such technology but they also made new inventions due to opera. In that time, many inventions were accomplished by smart scientists such as the invention of the air conditioning used in opera buildings, the invention of the typewriter also made jobs easier for writing scripts, and most important motion picture was invented which allowed the popularity of opera to reach the highest. However, if I were to wrap up all this events, roles, characters and so and make it a videogame. It would turn out a pretty long game although intense.

First it would start off with the main character being Salud, where she will have to go through many different checkpoints and battles in order to get to her lover. Checkpoints will be different members of her family and her friends, to find out if the man she loves it is truly for her. She will be caring a sword to begin with, and along the paths she or the player fill find shields that will protect her from creatures that pop up between checkpoints. There will be day and night in the game, nor like any other game that it is one time zone permanently. Along the way she will also find weapons and upgrades which will allow her to get further. Although enemies get much stronger every time, so she will have to keep up with the weapons and shield. One superpower that she will have is being able to reach a high note that destroys the enemies ears due to the high vocal range. At the end, she will need to fight the wife of Paco which is the hardest of all with her having twice the health and shield as Salud has. In conclusion, art has many different ways to be portrayed but one of the most brilliant and open minded way is through opera. The complexion of making an opera is not seen when performed, and the greatest pieces portray something with a deeper meaning which allows your mind to imagine how one wants. One also needs to pay very close attention to the music and its complexity as well. The music performed in La Vida Breve is touching to the audience, with such volume and perfection on such instruments played on a precise scene. Works cited: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_vida_breve https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/falla-la-vida-breve-0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81CQrXOhDbw&t=2966s