In truth, it’s way more than two floozies.

Cosi Fan Tutte is a comic opera by Mozart, whose plot is fairly conventional as far as late 18th century operas go. A couple of men, being complete pricks, decide to make a wager on the fidelity of their fiancées, and agree to try for a switcheroo. The women, naturally, being wholly brainless and without any morals (please note my heavy tone of sarcasm here), quickly fall in love with the other man and are unfaithful to their husbands-to-be. In the end, the truth of the wager is revealed to the ladies. For some bizarre reason, the women are completely fine with the fact that their fiancés played with their emotions like toys, and that they were traded like a piece of property. Nobody questions the motives of the men, of course, and the newly-formed, swinging couples have a double-wedding. The moral of the story? “All women are like that” – cosi fan tutte.

All of a sudden, an opera about necrophilia doesn’t seem so morally bankrupt. The good news is, you can still enjoy the music of Mozart, and blissfully ignore the stories that late 18th century aristocrats liked to reinforce.

The Summer Solstice,  Midsummer, and specifically, June 24th, are associated with John the Baptist, the cousin, forerunner, and baptizer of Jesus, born six months before his more famous cousin (whose birth is very much associated with the Winter Solstice.)

The story of the death of John the Baptist is revolting and twisted. That means, naturally, that it makes a smashingly good opera. Richard Strauss‘ one-act opera, Salome, is based on a play by no less than Oscar Wilde. Here’s the plot, in a nutshell:

1. King Herod asks his niece (Salome) for a lap dance
2. She agrees to do it in exchange for the head of John the Baptist on a plate
3. She dances, and yes, it’s awkward
4. John’s head is served
5. Salome sings a love song and proceeds to kiss John’s severed head
6. Herod kills Salome – because Herod is clearly not sick and insane as well
7. Everyone goes to the lobby and throws up

Now that’s entertainment! Musically, the opera is Strauss at his very best – lush and romantic, but edgy and unpredictable. This video is the very end of the opera, when Salome sings her love to John’s head. The music is gorgeous and moving, but every time you get caught up in the moment, you remember that this is a girl singing to a bloody head.

At 3:56 you can hear a textbook example of bitonality – music that is simultaneously in two keys.

… and the livin’ is easy.

Yes, you know this song. It’s part of the American landscape now, having been recorded over 25,000 times. It is, of course, by George Gershwin, from his opera Porgy and Bess. The 1935 performance featured an all African-American cast, and received poor reception due to the color of the cast as well as the racial themes of the work. Since then, the opera (especially “Summertime”) has exploded in popularity and is one of the most-performed operas today.

Gershwin himself called this a “folk opera”; it lies in that funny “crossover” place between a Broadway Musical and an Opera. The song form of “Summertime” is quite simple – the phrases would be analyzed as A,A’,A,B – like a folk song or a Broadway number. Most people know it as a jazz standard or a popular song, where the vocals tend to be in a much lower tessitura, giving it a sensual, sultry sound. This makes the music sound like a sexy love song that could be sung to your lover over a cigarette and a martini on a sweaty summer night. However, the original idea of the composer, though, was a sweet lullaby that a high, floaty soprano sings to her baby.