Piano Opera

Opera:

The major medium of opera is music. The drama of this theatre form is expressed almost totally through music. It has its association with the Western classical music. This form of drama uses songs, instrumentals and even a full symphonic orchestra. Western classical music has no existence without piano and so the theatre form opera will have no life without piano. Piano is part of the vocals as accompaniment, it can stand on its own as solo instrumental recital or can be part of the full scale symphony within the realm of opera.

Piano and Opera:

Piano plays a great role in the success of an opera. The Opera Company of Philadelphia has been using Yamaha piano as its official piano since 2004. They had successfully used piano for their performance for the many years prior to this official announcement. They find other instruments lack consistency and durability as they have to use the instruments for long hours for practice and final performances. Some music producers make a great collection from opera history and play it on the piano and make it available for popular consumption. Favorite Opera highlights for Solo Piano, Opera Favorites for Piano Four Hands, Opera Gold: The Essential Collection, Opera's Greatest Hits are but a small sample of the continuing tryst between opera and piano. The music makers romance with piano will never die. There are instances of reworking entire albums to make it sound operatic by the inclusion of piano arias. Jean-Yves Thibaudet's piano- "Aria"- 'Opera Without Words' is an example. He, with the composition of Randy Kerber transcribed the piano aria sound equal to the late 19th to the early 20th century piano parlor transcriptions.

Piano Opera:

Piano has an inseparable place in the theatre and especially in opera. No other instrument can sufficiently romanticize emotions as the piano does. Love, hate, violence, sex, affection, gentleness, fear, anger- name an emotion, the pianist of opera can produce it with the gliding of his fingers over the keys of the piano. An opera cannot be called as such, if there is no expression of emotions through songs both vocal and instrumental. Piano accentuates these feelings and emotions so fully, that one can simply visualize a theatre with characters in flesh and blood by just listening to a piano transcription of an opera.