This piece, which might just be one of the darker sections of Verdi’s tragedy, showcases Leonora anticipating Manrico’s upcoming death.
With “Il Trovatore,” we get Azucena’s “Stride la vampa” and Manrico’s “Di Quella Pira,” but those scenes serve as backdrops for comedic stunts the music and its dramatic purpose thus don’t serve as much more than background noise to the Marx Brothers’ antics.īut the biggest subversion of all comes at the film’s climax when the two lovers Rosa and Riccardo get a chance to sing the “Miserere” together. Driftwood) sings it in one sequence while he is being wheeled around a ship on a trunk. We don’t even get the tragic “Vesti la Giubba,” even though Groucho Marx (as Mr. The two operas featured are amongst the most violent tragedies in the opera canon – “Pagliacci” and “Il Trovatore” – but we never really witness their violent natures at all. Of “Pagliacci” we get an excerpt from the opening chorus where everyone is merry about the arrival of the performance troupe, followed by Nedda’s aria. The irony of “A Night at the Opera” is that there are technically TWO nights at the opera in the famed film starring the Marx Brothers, but that might just be the whole point – this film is all about subversion and reshaping meaning on a textual level, and beyond.
This week’s installment will take a look at the iconic “A Night at the Opera” featuring the Marx Brothers. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. “Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema.
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