Music and Noted Arias
Comparing the unconventional plot and structure of Oberon with that of The Magic Flute, Kobbé contends that 'Oberon is musically strong enough to stand on its own merits'. Grove notes that despite the "unmitigated awfulness" of the libretto, Weber was able to provide musical characterisation for the main characters, at the same time colourfully evoking the mood of the different scenes; the careful recurring use of the horn call motif helps to give the impression of tying the work together. The fairy strands of the opera are given in delicate, beautifully orchestrated music that often anticipates the fairy music of Mendelssohn.
The most famous numbers are the overture (passages of which are quoted by Berlioz in his Treatise on Instrumentation) based on themes from within the opera including the magic horn call, which is played regularly in the concert hall, and Reiza's soprano aria Ozean, du Ungeheuer (Ocean, thou Mighty Monster).
Read more about this topic: Oberon (opera)
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or noted:
“The train was crammed, the heat stifling. We feel out of sorts, but do not quite know if we are hungry or drowsy. But when we have fed and slept, life will regain its looks, and the American instruments will make music in the merry cafe described by our friend Lange. And then, sometime later, we die.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“She noted that marriage is a very serious thing. I answered that no, it is not.... She just wanted to know if I would have accepted the same proposal from another woman with whom I would have had a relationship like ours. I said, “Of course”.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)