Etoile
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musical or opera?I'm having a debate with someone here...is Les Mis�rables an opera or a musical?
And also, is Phantom of the Opera an opera or musical?
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Orestes Fasting
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I think in terms of music style, Phantom is closer to the opera genre; in terms of structure, Les Mis is closer. LM has rather pop/broadway-ish music, but is sung through with an aria/recitative sort of distinction. Phantom's vocal demands are closer to opera, but it's more scenes of dialogue interspersed with music.
The line's blurry, though, and I think both shows are part of the blur. Though the way they were produced and marketed toss them into the musical theater category by default, like Sweeney Todd, their actual content is arguably operatic.
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Fantine
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I thought they were classified as Rock Opera's.
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flying_pigs
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Didn't ALW say Phantom was a rock&roll show masquerading as an opera?
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le_moofin
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| flying_pigs wrote: | | Didn't ALW say Phantom was a rock&roll show masquerading as an opera? |
That's what I've always thought... even though it's set in an Opera house, I'm pretty sure the actualy show isn't an opera.
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Aimee
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It's technically called a 'sung-through musical.' Cute eh?
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icedblue11
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I've heard of LM and POTO defined as a modern-operettas, taking after their 19th Century predecessors. and comically POTO itself features an Operetta, 'Il Muto', which I thought to be a parody of the whole Opretta genre. However, as LM is sung through, it is not officially an Operetta.
LM could be classed as a Pop-Opera, reflecting most of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's work. Taking elements of Opera, the arias and 'repitition' (for wont of a better word) and working the themes to suit a modern audience.
Though, I could be wrong 
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Orestes Fasting
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| Quote: | | and comically POTO itself features an Operetta, 'Il Muto', which I thought to be a parody of the whole Opretta genre. |
I thought it was a takeoff of Marriage of Figaro.
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Andy
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It's actually "Through-sung musical".
Musical as a term was born as a shortening of "musical play" so the distinction from opera was obvious, it just got confused with operetta from which it developed. The distinction there was, and is between musicals like les mis and opera, that a musical uses popular music forms rather than operatic convention. Sondheim is a grey area because he does both within the same score so audiences don't really know what to make of it (except A Little Night Music which was the only one of his shows to ever make money, and the only one of his shows to use purely operatic convention - it is an operetta beyond doubt.)
Pop opera is more accurate than rock opera as a term because it doesn't describe such a narrow genre of music.
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icedblue11
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I meant the use of 'Il Muto' as a theatrical convention 
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Etoile
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Wow. Now I'm even more confused but that's okay.
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Andy
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Sorry! I believe and was taught Les Mis�rables is a pop-opera - a highly developed form of musical
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