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DISCUSSIONQUESTIONS
Comparing the novel with the opera
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In adapting a novel to an opera (or a play, or a film), changes
are inevitable for both practical and artistic reasons.
What might some of those changes be? Why do you
suppose they might be necessary?
Are there any major differences in the
Bel Canto
story
between the opera and the novel? If so, what are they?
What about differences in the smaller details? How do
they affect the story, characters, and outcomes?
One notable difference between the novel and the opera is that
the opera conclusively identifies the setting as corresponding to
the actual historical events, while the novel purposely obscures
many such connections. Based on the opera synopsis:
A. What changes have been made to the story to achieve greater
historical accuracy?
B. What else could be done to further increase the accuracy?
C. What might the motivation be to make the opera more
historically accurate than the novel? (The opera’s director and
designers are taking pains to accurately reproduce many historical
details in the set, props, and costumes as well.)
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How would you expect Roxane Coss’s musical performances,
practicing, and teaching (her work with Cesar, for example) to
be portrayed musically? If you were the composer, would you
willingly use another composer’s music in your opera?
Generally in opera, the action stops at dramatically significant
or climactic points for one or more of the characters to sing
about how they feel about what’s going on. These emotional
outpourings—the expressive highpoints of the opera—usually
become its most famous tunes and musical highlights. Where
do you predict that these outpourings (arias, duets, trios,
choruses, etc.) will occur in
Bel Canto
?
Compare the opera’s ending to the ending of the novel:
A. What are the differences?
B. Are the dramatic conclusions and implications
the same or different?
C. Are there other ways the opera could have ended?
How have the events of 9/11 and subsequent acts of political
terrorism internationally made the opera and the novel more
timely and/or timeless?