{"id":3904,"date":"2013-10-31T20:57:26","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T00:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arts.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=3904"},"modified":"2013-10-31T20:57:26","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T00:57:26","slug":"youve-heard-it-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2013\/10\/31\/youve-heard-it-before\/","title":{"rendered":"You&#8217;ve Heard it Before"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Even if you have never attended the opera, there are certain pieces from within the operatic repertoire that everyone is familiar with.\u00c2\u00a0 Opera has found a place for itself in mainstream American Media, and through this medium its melodies have found their way to the masses.<\/p>\n<p>From Bugs Bunny\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/70265237?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"500\" height=\"363\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>To Family Guy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bVJ4unEjhhc?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To the inevitable Superbowl Commercials\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IV_Hnx-yGLI?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h8qgk5tXuUA?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Opera has infiltrated its way into the ears of everyday Americans. In honor of National Opera week, I have searched YouTube and found four examples of this infiltration.<\/p>\n<p>The Bug\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bunny cartoon above,\u00c2\u00a0<em>What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Opera, Doc, <\/em>aired in 1957 and is a parody of Richard Wagner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ring Cycle, heavily borrowing music from the second opera in the cycle,\u00c2\u00a0<em>Die Walk\u00c3\u00bcre<\/em>. The leitmotif (recurring\u00c2\u00a0tune) of the Valkyries is sung by Elmer Fudd on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kill the Wabbit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d giving this cartoon its informal name. Wagner was a German composer who lived in the 19th century, revolutionalizing opera with his concept of\u00c2\u00a0<em>Gesamantkunstwerk <\/em>(Total work of art). Writing his own libretto (lyrics) and music for each of his operatic works, Wagner sought to combine the dramatic,\u00c2\u00a0musical, poetic\u00c2\u00a0and visual arts into nothing short of a spectacle. The Ride of the Valkyries, which features the Valkyrie leitmotif, takes place as the Valkyrie sisters greet each other and prepare for the transportation of the fallen heroes to Vallhalla. The leitmotif has also made appearances in American films such as Apocalypse Now (1979) and Watchmen (2009).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xeRwBiu4wfQ?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The\u00c2\u00a0Lakm\u00c3\u00a9 Flower duet makes an appearance in the 11<sup>th<\/sup> season of Family Guy when Peter takes up skydiving in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Turban Cowboy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d episode. In the Delibes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 opera this duet is song by Lakm\u00c3\u00a9 and Mallika as they go to the river to gather flowers. This duet is the second piece of the opera and takes place before the real plot of the opera is revealed (Lakm\u00c3\u00a9, daughter of the high priest Nilakantham, &amp; G\u00c3\u00a9rald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, a British officer, love affair).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Vf42IP__ipw?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In Puccini\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Gianni Schicchi, <\/em>Lauretta threatens her father with suicide if she is not permitted to marry Rinuccio in her aria <em>O mio babbino caro.<\/em> Used in many commercials (as seen above) and films, this aria is far more famous than the one act opera which it originates from. <em>Gianni Schicchi,<\/em> is the third and final one act opera written as part of Puccini\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>Il trittico<\/em>. <em>Il trittico <\/em>is a collection of three one-act operas with contrasting themes written to be performed together.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nRaMOka3xzo?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Finally, we have Carmen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <em>L&#8217;amour est un oiseau rebelle<\/em>, commonly called the Habanera. This is Carmen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entrance aria where she warns the listener of the fleeting nature of love and to guard themselves from her love. During composition, Bizet thought he using a Spanish folk song as the inspiration for the aria. However, he was later informed that his habanera was based upon Spanish composer Sebasti\u00c3\u00a1n Yradier\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s habanera <em>El Arreglito.<\/em><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8w9yJdkeryI?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While to many, opera seems outdated and out of place in modern culture, we see many examples of opera within mainstream culture. These four pieces are easily recognizable and only a small portion of the repertoire which has infiltrated its way in the everyday sights and sounds of America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even if you have never attended the opera, there are certain pieces from within the operatic repertoire that everyone is familiar with.\u00c2\u00a0 Opera has found a place for itself in mainstream American Media, and through this medium its melodies have found their way to the masses. From Bugs Bunny\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 To Family Guy\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 To the inevitable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3904"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3909,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3904\/revisions\/3909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}