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The article presents information regarding integrated musicals where the music is blended strongly with the dramatic aspects in a show.

The article focuses on production of compact discs (CDs) filed with music designed for bedtime and relaxation including "Acoustic Dreamland," "The hour of sleep," and "Instrumental Dreamworld."

The article focuses on the conduct of opera shows and the kind of questions which are asked to the artist after the completion of an act by the media personals. It also mentions some question on topics related to challenges in singing, feelings behind the theater show and information of various shows. According to the author, interviewers should not do conduct unnecessary interviews between the show as it creates for the artists and the audiences

This article discusses the concepts of the so-called mythical outsider element found in musical stage productions. It mentions that the element, also known as the Judas figure, is commonly found in William Shakespeare's comedies, such as "Twelfth Night," "Troilus and Cressida," and "As You Like It". It associates the figure with Jud Fry, the "bad" character in Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"

The article focuses on the author's view on the mythical story "The Student Prince." He notes the character Trickster who is known in the world mythology in which a certain country knows him as Bugs Bunny. He mentions that in the Viking tales, he is known as Loki, the personification of fire. He cites that the Trickster sometimes trick the Prince and sometimes himself is tricked.

An essay is presented regarding the mythical elements applied for operas and other musical stage plays. It explores the operatic mythical elements that maintain the features of mythic concepts, despite of not retelling the root ancient tales. It discusses various the works which feature mythical elements, such as the "Turandot," "The Magic Flute," and "Lohengrin."

The article offers the author's insights regarding the overlapping definitions of sonata. The author notes that sonata can cause confusions to those who are not music specialists as sonata could mean as an instrumental music from the word sonnade or sonata as a form like Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas. He states that the form of sonata has themes as chosen by composers in a specific key and other themes in related keys called exposition.

The article focuses on the popularity of incidental music for theatrical productions and films. It mentions that the music composed by George Bizet for Daudet's play entitled "L'Arlesienne" has lived on while the play has been forgotten. It adds that the music entitled "The Warsaw Concerto and other Piano Concertos from the Movies" consists of specialized collections of nine piano concertos featured in films such as "Dangerous Moonlight."

The article examines the lives of several music composers in the U.S. who fell victim to their own masterpiece. It infers that composers and artists themselves are not sure of their own work of art that they at often times cause grief upon themselves. An overview of several artists and their work of art is also presented including "Kiss Me Kate," by Cole Porter, "Cavalleria Rusticana," by Pietro Mascagni and "I Pagliacci," by Ruggiero Leoncavallo.

The article presents the author's insights on the songs in the theatrical production "Carmen." He argues on several issues involved including what motivated the character to proclaim herself gypsy woman's manifesto, the dramatic purpose of the second stanza , and the response of Escamillo to the crowd's acclaim with his "Toreador Song." The author stresses the lack of songs that were dramatically motivated aside from the justification that the character was expressing in early musicals.

The article presents an analysis on the use of songs in the plays which include "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Much Ado About Nothing," and "Hamlet" by poet William Shakespeare.

The article focuses on the authenticity of the songs in William Shakespeare's plays in which some of the lyrics were created by him. It mentions several songs that set a mood including "Orpheus With His Lute" from the play "Henry VIII," "Who is Sylvia?" from the play "Two Gentlemen of Verona," and "The Merchant of Venice." It adds that Shakespeare learned to make better use of songs in many of his plays as he matured, but not necessarily in a dramatic use.

The author reflects on his profession of being a critic.

An essay on the effects of opera music to the development babies is presented. It cites several studies showing the effects of opera music to babies which include "The Magic Flute" where 187 of the subjects played wind instruments or collecting bird cages, the "Don Giovanni" where 38 of the subjects were arrested for rape, divorced or subscribing to naughty magazines, and "The Marriage of Figaro" where the subjects became hairdressers or posed Spanish Counts. It notes that music affects people.

The article presents the author's discussion on the problems of English operas that use William Shakepeare's actual words or adapting them. He mentions the choices of setting a Shakespeare play to music as an opera including the need to cut for a reason that no one would dream of keeping in line of a Shakespeare play. In addition, he notes that he was inspired of discussing the topic of taking Shakespeare on in musical terms due to the released of two operas based on "The Tempest."

The article reviews the "Archive Collection," a six film collection of early musicals starring Al Jolson, released in DVD format.

The author offers insights relative to the actual and digital video disc (DVD) or compact disc (CD) versions of two modern operas "The Adventures of Pinocchio" and "The Tempest." He stresses that the musical scores contained in the opera were inappropriately arranged and unsuitable. The author emphasizes that many of the recent productions have settings and costumes which are totally out of synch with the action.

The article discusses conductor Benjamin Zander's description of the Anton Bruckner's work. Zander puts the Bruckner's work in a Catholic church and illustrates how Bruckner envisioned his work architecturally. Zander shows that the first movement takes place in the nave, the second in the north transept, followed by south transept and the finale in the chancel and around the altar. He added that the finale finally settles on the tonal base of the entire symphony.

The article presents author's analysis on various musical performance in Brooklyn, New York City. According to him, George Gershwin and John Keats are artists who express their deep emotion to profound the meaning of life and establish the value of sincerity. He cited the symphony entitled "Leaving Home: Orchestral Music in the 20th Century" to depict the human life's transition.

The article presents information on several humorous incidents related to April Fool. In one incident, a violinist was playing Bach in a Washington, D.C. metro station, but didn't get noticed by people. It is stated that violinist was Joshua Bell, who gets very high fees for playing in music halls. In another incident, a woman wanted to get tickets for a show titled "Away We Go," but the show's title was changed to "Oklahoma," and the woman was still waiting for "Away We Go" to be announced.

The article focuses on how unforgettable songs or line are made unforgettable. Songs like "Crazy Girl" or the line "Red roses for the blue lady" has been around for a long time but people are still familiar with the tone or the line. The use of parallelism, rhyming, and antithesis plays a major role in keeping people from forgetting what the lyrics or what they heard. The author reveals that there are still plenty of songs that has clever titles or tag lines but never lasted for decades.

The author presents insights related to the career of pianist Daniel Abrams in the U.S. He highlights the career of Abrams who recently performed a concerto wherein he was quoted as an uncommonly good technician for playing Brahms' Handel Variations as being not that of technical slickness but of musical expressiveness. He notes that Abrams is working on a 40-minute piano treatment of the music from Wagner's Ring operas.

An essay is presented on the definition and uses of a patter song. It defines a patter song as a song sung at the fastest tempo that permits for comprehensibility and uses for the most part polysyllabic rhymes. The author also provides examples that would be useful in the examination of the use of the patter song.

The article examines the patter song, usually described as any song that is sung very rapidly and with any skill on the part of the singer. Examples of such are the rife, mostly from Italian opera and European operetta. It is noted that the rapid delivery of the Pater Noster by the impatient faithful who wants to get on to other pursuits is the origin of the word "patter." Many songs listed as patter songs on several patter song Web sites do not qualify.

The article presents information about Franz Joseph Haydn. He was the greatest composer of his day. Haydn's later years and even himself should be posthumously called Papa Haydn as a token to his great music. Furthermore, several anecdotes of Haydn's roguishness that have been attested to or might be questionable, are also presented.

The article discusses the argument concerning the singing of songs in a musicals or operas as part of the story rather than as dialogue. It discusses various musicals and theatrical presentations that encourage the characters to sing the music like songs and is not part of opera. The author also discusses the challenges facing musicians, lyricists and composers in creating musicals where the song is not part of story.

The article presents the author's proposals for staging musicals. The first proposal is to consider the show as a straight play, in which some of the dialogues were sung. Another is the use of a member from the chorus to sing with the singer in order to give the latter a focal point. The last proposal is to make an unusual finale.

The article focuses on the success of the musicals "Oklahoma!," "Carousel" and "Annie Get Your Gun." A brief description about the plot and characters of each musical is provided. It is also explains that notable trends developed prior to the opening of each musical. They include the national sentiments after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the near end of World War II in 1945 and the booming post-war economy.

The article focuses on the operas that were composed by attaching musical themes, such as Leitmotif and signature tune, to the elements of drama to show a state of mind. It mentions the composition of Richard Strauss titled "Salome," which describes the lunacy of a young princess. It also cites the opera "The Yeomen of the Guard," which signifies a more telling use of signature tune.

The article focuses on the making of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun," by Irving Berlin. The music was originally produced by Jerome Kern, who have been assigned to develop the music, and Dorothy Field for the lyrics. However, Kern died which caused the end of the making of the songs. Irving Berlin was chosen to continue the project and compose several songs which became hits including "Doin' what comes naturally" and "The girl that I marry."

The article reviews "The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection," a box set of four musicals series on DVD format, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

The article features the music of Italian composer, Giuseppe Verdi and other musicians for opera music. Verdi composed the music for "Macbetto" and one of his least performed operas is "La Battaglia di Legnano." Other musicians include Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the lyrics for "Away We Go!," and "Carousel," while Pietro Mascagni's first opera was "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "I Pagliacci."

The article reviews the music release including "Arianne et Barbe-bleue," by Charles Perrault, "Barbe-bleue," by Jacques Offenbach and "Duke Bluebeards's Castle," by Bela Bartok.

The article reviews the 1932 movie musical "Love Me Tonight," starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, directed by Rouben Mamoulian.

The article explores how humans harbor a death wish in several theatrical productions. An overview of the three riddles facing the nameless suitor in the opera "Turandot" is presented. Information on the instrument of death in 20 questions with mime in "Siegfried" is outlined. It describes how death lies in the third riddle in the play "The Merchant of Venice," wherein Bassanio is confronted with three caskets.

The article explains the factors that affects the success or failure of an opera presentation. It discusses the negative implications of contradicting plot, costumes and props for the production. It emphasizes the need to hire attractive and good singers. The article also offers tips and ideas on directing an opera.

The article presents a comparison between a video of live opera and a video of studio-made opera. As an example, the author assessed two videos of "Meistersinger." The first version of the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 2001. While the other version was a studio-made one from 1970. For the first version, the production impressed the author but left him uninvolved with the characters. For the second version, the author found himself involved in the acting and the characters.

The article discusses the developments of U.S. music after the Civil War. It states that after the Civil War, many goods songs about angels were written. Song lyrics began to lighten up in 1885 up to the 1900s with sentimental tunes and lyrics filling the waves. In New Orleans, Louisiana, the influence of Black and French cultures called ragging it up had been adopted by composers such as Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin.

The author talks about American music. He says that during the campaign of 12th President Zachary Taylor, bands played "General Taylor's Gallop" to the music of "Yankee Doodle." He states that in towns like Keene, New Hampshire, music festivals such as the 1854 Cheshire County Musical Institution were established and hundreds would join them to sing. In 1849, the Creole population in the New Orleans area was producing a new kind of music.

The article discusses the history of music in the U.S. In the beginning, American music was the music of those parts of Europe from which all sorts of people came to the country. Organs began to be shipped in the U.S. after 1700, and singing and dancing became acceptable as more instruments were imported. The ballad opera "The Beggar's Opera," by John Gay set the style for early U.S. musicals. Homegrown composers during the 1700s included James Lyon, William Billings, and Francis Hopkinson.

The article cites examples of production numbers that do not change things in the plot, characterizations or theme of musical shows. There are a number of musical show songs that do little or nothing to advance the show's plot, or usually even the characterization of the singer or the theme. For example, the "Honey Bun" number in "South Pacific" and the "Turkey Lurkey Time" number in "Promises, Promises" have no dramatic value.

The article focuses on songs in musicals initiates progress of the plot after they are sung. Among the musicals with which the author is familiar, few songs or sometimes none at all within a show can actually advance the musical's plot. The Soliloquy from "Carousel" is one of the plot-moving songs, because the character Billy is not the same person after the song.

The article discusses the author's experience of using a parabola in order to define great music at a talk he attended. He played different songs like Schubert's "Ave Maria" and "If I Loved You" from Carousel, played bouncy beats and catchy tunes like "Honey Bun" and "La donna e mobile" and finished off with "Exultate jubilate" by Mozart. He concludes that if you displace one note, there would be diminishment but if you displace phrase, the structure would fall.

The article emphasizes that significance of the elements of time and space of the action in an opera. Updating the costumes and the setting does nothing but make the entire opera absurd. The author believes that problems such as these lies in the director's not trusting the work from the start and that there is also a good deal of egotism involved.

The article focuses on the author's most memorable musical scores of famous movies. One example given was the proper blending of music during the dramatic scene in "Viva Zapata." Other movies mentioned were Olivier's "Henry V," "Alexander Nevsky," and the sacrifice sequence in the original "King Kong."

The article focuses on the difficulty experienced by the author to decide whether he will or will not bring his collection of books about music to his new home in Keene, New Hampshire. He contemplates if he really needs the books about George Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers. He asks himself if it is vital to keep all the Penguin and Grammophon Guides editions from 1975 to 2006.

Asserts that the ballet "Romeo and Juliet," by composer Sergei Prokofiev, is the most successful translation of William Shakespeare's play into a ballet. Difficulties in translating the plays of Shakespeare into a ballet; Factors to consider in transferring Shakespeare's plays to the ballet stage; Information on the musical score of the ballet.

The article presents a teaching method of teaching poetry and music together. It discusses the approach to be done such as reading a short poem while a music is played as a background. It also mentioned that students with interest in playing musical instruments should take this lessons seriously because it will aid them in their study.

Focuses on the business of taking over classical melodies in the music trade. Background on the song "Greensleeves" as the most famous example of tune-snatching; List of popular songs that were stolen from the classics.

Discusses Broadway musicals based on the plays written by William Shakespeare. Influence of "Romeo and Juliet" on the musical "West Side Story," by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim; Problems with the Joseph Papp production of "Two Gentlemen of Verona"; Problems with filming Shakespearean plays in updated surroundings.