Andrew's Friend Comments

Beggars Opera was essentially a penny opera libretto -- drawing its power not so much from its intrinsic esthetic quality as from its intended audience: the commoner. As with The Magic Flute (written in German) the subversiveness of this gesture was in insinuating that opera was suitable for, and could be enjoyed by, the lower classes; a statement that coupled the wealthy cognoscenti with the illiterate poor. This rupture in the audience of opera destined it to be popular fare by the time of Wagner and Verdi, but it was Mozart's genius primarily that transformed the musical version of high literature into something "fit" for the "common." Gay does essentially the same thing in the story of his Beggars Opera -- which was hugely popular because it presented the lower classes as having, at least, the same moral footing as the wealthy. But using penny opera to do that was an idea deeply indebted to Mozart.

Thank you for the suggestions. I've already read Tristram Shandy and Tom Jones and loved both of them. :)

I do always mean to get to Madame Bovary, and it doesn't seem to ever happen. Sentimental Journey is also on that 'vaguely determined to read at some point' list. Thanks for reminding me I definitely should. And Three Penny Opera, huh? I'll have to look into that.

I do love those Mozart operas. I've sung arias from all of them, but I don't know that I've ever actually perused the libretto. Just seen the staged versions. Do you mean the structure of the libretto in particular was influential? I don't know that I'd ever thought about educating myself in writing for opera. Thanks for the unusual thought! :)