– Sample Page from 2017-2018 –
The Doll Aria
“Les oiseaux dans la charmille”
From Les Contes d’Hoffmann
By Jacques Offenbach
1819-1880
Click Here for PDF of full lesson: The Doll Aria- Lesson Plan (available to registrants)
Link includes: Strategies, Assessments, and informatin on Composer, Style, and Composition
Outcome
- Students compare ornamentation in ‘classical’ music to improvisation in jazz.
- Students create their own ornamentation or improvisation.
- Students explore compositional techniques to show comedy.
Style
- Romantic
Timbre
- Female Voice, Harp, Flute, Pizz Strings, Bassoon, Opera Chorus, Oboe, triangle, brass
Form
- Large Form– Opera
- Small Form– Da Capo Aria AB with embellishments on the repeat
Standards
- WMEA Wisconsin Music Standards/ National Music Standards
- Create-1.1a, 2.1b, 3.2a
- Perform- 4.3a, 6.1a
- Respond- 7.1a, 7.2a, 8.1a, 9.1a
- Connect- 10.1a-WI
COMPOSITION
- Plot: The famous Doll Aria from Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann comes early in the first act. The inventor Spalanzani needs to make money and hopes that his doll invention, Olympia, will give him lots of profits. It just happens that the opera’s main character, under the spell of magic glasses, thinks the doll is real and falls in love with it. This is just one of the hilarious scenes in Offenbach’s opera of love, disguises, and intrigue.
- The AB, da capo aria speaks of the beauty of nature and of love. The vocal lines soar to the heavens and descend to earth in complicated scalar and arpeggiated passages. The repeat of the AB melody provides opportunities for the best of sopranos to show off their amazing instruments
- Lyric translation:
The birds in the arbor,The sky’s daytime star,Everything speaks to a young girl of love!
Ah! This is the gentle song,
The song of Olympia! Ah!
Everything that sings and resonates
And sighs, in turn,
Moves his heart, which shudders of love!
Ah! This is the lovely song,
The song of Olympia! Ah!
- Lyric translation:
- Below are two links describing the aria/scene and the entire opera
- Doll aria- https://www.thoughtco.com/les-oiseaux-dans-la-charmille-724053
- Synopsis of the entire opera- https://www.thoughtco.com/les-contes-dhoffmann-synopsis-724269
- There are many amazing examples of performers tackling this very difficult aria. The videos linked here contain student friendly scenery and costuming. If looking for other versions, please be aware that some opera houses push the envelope on kid friendly costuming. You may also want to use safeshare.tv which will eliminate youtube adds and will gray out the parameters of the video so that no comments or other youtube video suggestions can be viewed.
- Rachele Gilmore- the most remarkable high notes and embellishments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkCVXXRRgEY - Luciana Serra- Pretty standard performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXK3pUdBRGA - Natalie Dessay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARu-qHjG-vk - Diana Damrau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LPkdu_qbQA
- Rachele Gilmore- the most remarkable high notes and embellishments
COMPOSER
- Jacques Offenbach was born in Prussia 1819 and died in Paris, France 1880. He is known for his developing compositions in the form of the French comedic opera, operette.
- Offenbach’s father was a musician and instilled and supported his son’s passion and talent for/of music.
- Jacques Offenbach wrote many operettas. His largest work, a full opera, Tales of Hoffman (from which we have the Doll Aria) was not finished by his death.
- Links to interactive and biographic pages about Jacques Offenbach
- Timeline for Offenbach
1819: Born near Cologne, Germany on June 20th.1833: Began musical studies in Paris, France. He was a brilliant cellist.1853: He began writing operettas and was appointed conductor at Theatre Francais in Paris.
1860: Made a French citizen by order of Napoleon.
1870: Moved his family to northern Spain because of the Franco-Prussian War.
1880: Died of heart failure.
