Rock opera

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Rock Opera" and "Metal opera" redirect here. For the film, see Rock Opera (film). For the album, see The Metal Opera. For the metal genre nicknamed "opera metal", see symphonic metal.

Stage adaptation of the Who concept album Tommy

A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been adapted as rock musicals. The use of various character roles within the song lyrics is a common storytelling device. The success of the rock opera genre has inspired similar works in other musical styles, such as rap opera.

History

A number of rock artists became interested in the idea of creating a rock opera in the 1960s. In an early use of the term, the July 4, 1966, edition of RPM Magazine (published in Toronto) reported that "Bruce Cockburn and Mr [William] Hawkins are working on a Rock Opera, operating on the premise that to write you need only 'something to say'."[1] Mark Wirtz explored the idea in a project A Teenage Opera, from which an early song "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack)" recorded by Keith West was released and became a hit song in 1967.[2][3] However, the album for the rock opera was not released until 1996, and it was only fully realised and staged in 2017.[4]

Colin Fleming of

The Pretty Things is "generally acknowledged as the first rock opera".[6]

Scott Mervis of the

Grammy Hall of Fame. Tommy would also go on to influence On and On, a rap opera by The Fat Boys[8] and American Idiot, a punk rock opera by Green Day, the latter of whom having made 21st Century Breakdown, another rock opera.[9] The Who had previously toyed with the concepts which would lead to the full-blown rock opera with their six-movement 1966 track "A Quick One, While He's Away".[10]

A rock opera that experienced commercial recording and Broadway success is Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and in respect of which Lloyd Webber said "the piece was written as a rock album from the outset and set out from the start to tell the story through the music itself."[11] In 1972, David Bowie released the rock opera The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.[12]

muscle man named Rocky. The show was produced and directed by Jim Sharman. The original London production of the musical premiered at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973 (after two previews on 16 and 18 June 1973). It later moved to several other locations in London and closed on 13 September 1980. The show ran for a total of 2,960 performances and won the 1973 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical. Various international productions of the musical have since spanned across six continents as well as West End and Broadway revivals and eight UK tours. Actor Tim Curry, who originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the original London production, became particularly associated with the musical. The musical was adapted into the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring O'Brien as Riff Raff, with Curry also reprising his role; the movie has the longest-running release in cinematic history and is considered one of the most recognizable cult films of all time. In 2016, it was adapted into the television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again
.

dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilized a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more, correlating the album's music with that of a typical operatic performance. The album's most famous track, "Bohemian Rhapsody," was referred to by lead singer Freddie Mercury as a "mock opera" that resulted from the combination of three songs he had written. The song parodies elements of opera with bombastic choruses, sarcastic recitative, and distorted Italian operatic phrases. Lyrical references include Scaramouche, the fandango, Galileo Galilei, Figaro, and Beelzebub, with cries of "Bismillah
!"

Bat Out of Hell is a rock album by Meat Loaf that remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 50 million copies worldwide.[14] It is certified 14× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[15] As of June 2019, it has spent 522 weeks in the UK Albums Chart, the second longest chart run by a studio album.[16] Rolling Stone ranked it at number 343 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[17][18] A musical based on Bat Out of Hell, staged by Jay Scheib, opened at the Manchester Opera House in 2017. The album's producer, Jim Steinman, coined the term Wagnerian rock after composer Richard Wagner to describe the genre of the record.

Perhaps the archetypal and most famous rock opera is

2010-2013, a series of shows that became the highest-grossing tour by a solo musician. Both The Wall and the music of Queen inspired the rock band My Chemical Romance to create their own rock opera, the 2006 album The Black Parade
.

In 1999, progressive metal band Dream Theater released their album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, which has been regarded as Rock Opera.[21] The album tells the story of Nicholas, a man getting flashbacks from a previous life, as he undergoes hypnosis sessions to recall the memories of Victoria, a young girl who he discovers was murdered as a violent result of a love affair.

In an effort to appeal to more modern audiences, opera companies have welcomed more pop and rock influences. The resulting rock operas have met varying degrees of success as the worlds of

low art mix.[22] In Russian music, the term zong-opera (Зонг-опера) is sometimes used, since the first Soviet-Russian rock-opera Orpheus and Eurydice
was described with this term, though the term "rock-opera" was already known in the Soviet rock music circles.

Style

In the best-known role of his career, László Pelsőczy plays the title role of Stephen in István, a király, which he played at the King's Hill and at the Szeged Open Air Festival

According to Fleming, rock operas are more akin to a cantata or suite, because they are not usually acted out.[5] Similarly, Andrew Clements of The Guardian called Tommy a subversively labeled musical. Clements states that lyrics drive rock operas, which makes them not a true form of opera.[23] Responding to accusations that rock operas are pretentious and overblown, Pete Townshend wrote that pop music by its very nature rejects such characteristics and is an inherently simple form. Townshend said that the only goal of pop music is to reach audiences, and rock operas are merely one more way to do so.[24] Peter Kiesewalter, on the other hand, said that rock music and opera are "both overblown, massive spectacles" that cover the same themes. Kiesewalter, who was originally not a fan of opera, did not think the two styles would mix well together, but his modernized operas with rock music surprised him with their popularity at the East Village Opera Company.[25]

The performance of these works on Broadway has also courted controversy; Anne Midgette of The New York Times called them musicals with "no more than the addition of a keyboard and a drum set".[26]

Rock opera albums typically follow themes, a trait similarly held in a concept album. Rock operas may also include a central character to progress the album's tracks via a specific storyline. For example, Tommy by The Who follows the life experiences and family relationships with the titular character, The Wall by Pink Floyd chronicles the building of a metaphorical wall by the protagonist named Pink and The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance tells the tale of "The Patient" struck by cancer.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781409033189
    .
  2. ^ Webb, Robert (July 10, 2021). "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera by Keith West". The Independent.
  3. ISBN 9781476606576 – via Google Books
    .
  4. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (July 30, 2017). "Grocer Jack has his day as A Teenage Opera finally goes on stage". The Guardian.
  5. ^ a b Fleming, Colin (November 15, 2011). "The Who Made the Best Rock Opera Ever, but It's Not the One You Think". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on May 24, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  6. ^ Strauss, Neil (September 3, 1998). "THE POP LIFE; The First Rock Opera (No, Not 'Tommy')". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  7. ^ Mervis, Scott (November 6, 2012). "The Who resurrects its 'other' rock opera, 'Quadrophenia'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Wayne, Renee Lucas (October 5, 1989). "Fat Boys Built To Rap Opera Album Hits Stores Today". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  9. ^ Ruggieri, Melissa (April 29, 2014). "'American Idiot' brings heart of rock 'n' roll to stage". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  10. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "A Quick One, While He's Away - The Who". Allmusic. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  11. ^ "Jesus Christ Superstar, a Rock Opera - Classic Rock Review". www.classicrockreview.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017.
  12. ^ "Every song on David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, ranked". Entertainment Weekly.
  13. ^ Jones, Chris. "BBC - Music - Review of Queen - A Night at the Opera". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Whitaker, Sterling (October 21, 2012). "35 Years Ago: Meat Loaf's 'Bat Out of Hell' Released". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  15. ^ "RIAA Database, Bat Out of Hell". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
  16. ^ "Meat Loaf: In and Out of Hell". BBC. July 15, 2015.
  17. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  18. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  19. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  20. ^ Grammy Award Winners (search for The Wall), National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, archived from the original on October 2, 2009, retrieved October 7, 2009
  21. ^ Littleton, Candice (October 25, 2016). "Dream Theater Metropolis, Pt. 2 A Legendary Prog Rock Opera". ClassicRockHistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  22. ^ Swed, Mark (August 17, 2007). "At last, a rock opera that sings". Boston.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  23. ^ Clements, Andrew (February 8, 2002). "When is an opera not an opera?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  24. ^ Townshend, Pete (March 30, 2002). "Tommy, get your gun..." The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  25. ^ Brookes, Stephen (March 28, 2008). "Rock Opera. Seriously". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
  26. ^ Midgette, Anne (January 28, 2006). "Cruising and Schmoozing While Looking for Mr. Right". The New York Times. Retrieved May 24, 2014.

External links

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