document_title: Opera

question_text: which descriptions are part of the definition of french overture

question_tokens: which descriptions are part of the definition of french overture

text: Opera

text: Operatic terminology[edit]

text: The words of an opera are known as the libretto (literally "small book"). Some composers, notably Wagner, have written their own libretti; others have worked in close collaboration with their librettists, e.g. Mozart with Lorenzo Da Ponte. Traditional opera, often referred to as "number opera", consists of two modes of singing: recitative, the plot-driving passages sung in a style designed to imitate and emphasize the inflections of speech,[4] and aria (an "air" or formal song) in which the characters express their emotions in a more structured melodic style. Vocal duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and choruses are used to comment on the action. In some forms of opera, such as singspiel, opéra comique, operetta, and semi-opera, the recitative is mostly replaced by spoken dialogue. Melodic or semi-melodic passages occurring in the midst of, or instead of, recitative, are also referred to as arioso. The terminology of the various kinds of operatic voices is described in detail below.[5] During both the Baroque and Classical periods, recitative could appear in two basic forms, each of which was accompanied by a different instrumental ensemble: secco (dry) recitative, sung with a free rhythm dictated by the accent of the words, accompanied only by basso continuo, which was usually a harpsichord and a cello; or accompagnato (also known as strumentato) in which the orchestra provided accompaniment. Over the 18th century, arias were increasingly accompanied by the orchestra. By the 19th century, accompagnato had gained the upper hand, the orchestra played a much bigger role, and Wagner revolutionized opera by abolishing almost all distinction between aria and recitative in his quest for what Wagner termed "endless melody". Subsequent composers have tended to follow Wagner's example, though some, such as Stravinsky in his The Rake's Progress have bucked the trend. The changing role of the orchestra in opera is described in more detail below.

text: History[edit]

text: Origins[edit]

text: The Italian word opera means "work", both in the sense of the labour done and the result produced. The Italian word derives from the Latin opera, a singular noun meaning "work" and also the plural of the noun opus. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Italian word was first used in the sense "composition in which poetry, dance, and music are combined" in 1639; the first recorded English usage in this sense dates to 1648.[6]

text: Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata de' Bardi". Significantly, Dafne was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider revival of antiquity characteristic of the Renaissance. The members of the Camerata considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this situation. Dafne, however, is lost. A later work by Peri, Euridice, dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived to the present day. The honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed, however, goes to Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, composed for the court of Mantua in 1607.[7] The Mantua court of the Gonzagas, employers of Monteverdi, played a significant role in the origin of opera employing not only court singers of the concerto delle donne (till 1598), but also one of the first actual "opera singers"; Madama Europa.[8]

text: Italian opera[edit]

text: Baroque era[edit]

text:
Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long. In 1637, the idea of a "season" (Carnival) of publicly attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His most important follower Francesco Cavalli helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, sponsored by the Arcadian Academy, which came to be associated with the poet Metastasio, whose libretti helped crystallize the genre of opera seria, which became the leading form of Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called opera buffa.
Before such elements were forced out of opera seria, many libretti had featured a separately unfolding comic plot as sort of an "opera-within-an-opera." One reason for this was an attempt to attract members of the growing merchant class, newly wealthy, but still not as cultured as the nobility, to the public opera houses. These separate plots were almost immediately resurrected in a separately developing tradition that partly derived from the commedia dell'arte, a long-flourishing improvisatory stage tradition of Italy. Just as intermedi had once been performed in between the acts of stage plays, operas in the new comic genre of "intermezzi", which developed largely in Naples in the 1710s and '20s, were initially staged during the intermissions of opera seria. They became so popular, however, that they were soon being offered as separate productions.

text: Opera seria was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting of secco recitative interspersed with long da capo arias. These afforded great opportunity for virtuosic singing and during the golden age of opera seria the singer really became the star. The role of the hero was usually written for the high-pitched male castrato voice, which was produced by castration of the singer before puberty, which prevented a boy's larynx from being transformed at puberty. Castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as female sopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe as opera seria ruled the stage in every country except France.  Farinelli was one of the most famous singers of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian libretti were the norm, even when a German composer like Handel found himself composing the likes of Rinaldo and Giulio Cesare for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in the classical period as well, for example in the operas of Mozart, who wrote in Vienna near the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of opera seria include Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Porpora.[9]

text: Reform: Gluck, the attack on the Metastasian ideal, and Mozart[edit]

text:
Mozart K. 527

Overture to Don Giovanni (1787) (6:49 minutes)
Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: Opera seria had its weaknesses and critics. The taste for embellishment on behalf of the superbly trained singers, and the use of spectacle as a replacement for dramatic purity and unity drew attacks. Francesco Algarotti's Essay on the Opera (1755) proved to be an inspiration for Christoph Willibald Gluck's reforms. He advocated that opera seria had to return to basics and that all the various elements—music (both instrumental and vocal), ballet, and staging—must be subservient to the overriding drama. In 1765 Melchior Grimm published "Poème lyrique", an influential article for the Encyclopédie on lyric and opera librettos.[10][11][12][13][14] Several composers of the period, including Niccolò Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta, attempted to put these ideals into practice. The first to succeed however, was Gluck. Gluck strove to achieve a "beautiful simplicity". This is evident in his first reform opera, Orfeo ed Euridice, where his non-virtuosic vocal melodies are supported by simple harmonies and a richer orchestra presence throughout.

text: Gluck's reforms have had resonance throughout operatic history. Weber, Mozart, and Wagner, in particular, were influenced by his ideals. Mozart, in many ways Gluck's successor, combined a superb sense of drama, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to write a series of comic operas with libretti by Lorenzo Da Ponte, notably Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, which remain among the most-loved, popular and well-known operas today. But Mozart's contribution to opera seria was more mixed; by his time it was dying away, and in spite of such fine works as Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito, he would not succeed in bringing the art form back to life again.[15]

text: Bel canto, Verdi and verismo[edit]

text: The bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplified by the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Pacini, Mercadante and many others. Literally "beautiful singing", bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control. Examples of famous operas in the bel canto style include Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola, as well as Bellini's Norma and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

text:
La donna è mobile

Enrico Caruso sings "La donna è mobile", from Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto (1908)
No Pagliaccio non son

Aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Performed by Enrico Caruso
Problems playing these files? See media help.

text: Following the bel canto era, a more direct, forceful style was rapidly popularized by Giuseppe Verdi, beginning with his biblical opera Nabucco. This opera, and the ones that would follow in Verdi's career, revolutionized Italian opera, changing it from merely a display of vocal fireworks, with Rossini's and Donizetti's works, to dramatic story-telling. Verdi's operas resonated with the growing spirit of Italian nationalism in the post-Napoleonic era, and he quickly became an icon of the patriotic movement for a unified Italy. In the early 1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. The first of these, Rigoletto, proved the most daring and revolutionary. In it, Verdi blurs the distinction between the aria and recitative as it never before was, leading the opera to be "an unending string of duets". La traviata was also novel. It tells the story of courtesan, and is often cited as one of the first "realistic" operas,[citation needed] because rather than featuring great kings and figures from literature, it focuses on the tragedies of ordinary life and society. After these, he continued to develop his style, composing perhaps the greatest French Grand Opera, Don Carlos, and ending his career with two Shakespeare-inspired works, Otello and Falstaff, which reveal how far Italian opera had grown in sophistication since the early 19th century. These final two works showed Verdi at his most masterfully orchestrated, and are both incredibly influential, and modern. In Falstaff, Verdi sets the preeminent standard for the form and style that would dominate opera throughout the twentieth century. Rather than long, suspended melodies, Falstaff contains many little motifs and mottos, that, rather than being expanded upon, are introduced and subsequently dropped, only to be brought up again later. These motifs never are expanded upon, and just as the audience expects a character to launch into a long melody, a new character speaks, introducing a new phrase. This fashion of opera directed opera from Verdi, onward, exercising tremendous influence on his successors Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss, and Benjamin Britten.[16]

text: After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of verismo appeared in Italy. This was a style introduced by Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci that came to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Later Italian composers, such as Berio and Nono, have experimented with modernism.[17]

text: German-language opera[edit]

text: The first German opera was Dafne, composed by Heinrich Schütz in 1627, but the music score has not survived. Italian opera held a great sway over German-speaking countries until the late 18th century. Nevertheless, native forms would develop in spite of this influence. In 1644, Sigmund Staden produced the first Singspiel, Seelewig, a popular form of German-language opera in which singing alternates with spoken dialogue. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, the Theater am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg presented German operas by Keiser, Telemann and Handel. Yet most of the major German composers of the time, including Handel himself, as well as Graun, Hasse and later Gluck, chose to write most of their operas in foreign languages, especially Italian. In contrast to Italian opera, which was generally composed for the aristocratic class, German opera was generally composed for the masses and tended to feature simple folk-like melodies, and it was not until the arrival of Mozart that German opera was able to match its Italian counterpart in musical sophistication.[18]

text: Mozart's Singspiele, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) and Die Zauberflöte (1791) were an important breakthrough in achieving international recognition for German opera. The tradition was developed in the 19th century by Beethoven with his Fidelio, inspired by the climate of the French Revolution. Carl Maria von Weber established German Romantic opera in opposition to the dominance of Italian bel canto. His Der Freischütz (1821) shows his genius for creating a supernatural atmosphere. Other opera composers of the time include Marschner, Schubert and Lortzing, but the most significant figure was undoubtedly Wagner.

text: Wagner was one of the most revolutionary and controversial composers in musical history. Starting under the influence of Weber and Meyerbeer, he gradually evolved a new concept of opera as a Gesamtkunstwerk (a "complete work of art"), a fusion of music, poetry and painting. He greatly increased the role and power of the orchestra, creating scores with a complex web of leitmotifs, recurring themes often associated with the characters and concepts of the drama, of which prototypes can be heard in his earlier operas such as Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser and Lohengrin; and he was prepared to violate accepted musical conventions, such as tonality, in his quest for greater expressivity. In his mature music dramas, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of a seamless flow of "endless melody". Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from Germanic or Arthurian legend. Finally, Wagner built his own opera house at Bayreuth with part of the patronage from Ludwig II of Bavaria, exclusively dedicated to performing his own works in the style he wanted.

text: Opera would never be the same after Wagner and for many composers his legacy proved a heavy burden. On the other hand, Richard Strauss accepted Wagnerian ideas but took them in wholly new directions, along with incorporating the new form introduced by Verdi. He first won fame with the scandalous Salome and the dark tragedy Elektra, in which tonality was pushed to the limits. Then Strauss changed tack in his greatest success, Der Rosenkavalier, where Mozart and Viennese waltzes became as important an influence as Wagner. Strauss continued to produce a highly varied body of operatic works, often with libretti by the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Other composers who made individual contributions to German opera in the early 20th century include Alexander von Zemlinsky, Erich Korngold, Franz Schreker, Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill and the Italian-born Ferruccio Busoni. The operatic innovations of Arnold Schoenberg and his successors are discussed in the section on modernism.[19]

text: During the late 19th century, the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, an admirer of the French-language operettas composed by Jacques Offenbach, composed several German-language operettas, the most famous of which was Die Fledermaus, which is still regularly performed today.[20] Nevertheless, rather than copying the style of Offenbach, the operettas of Strauss II had distinctly Viennese flavor to them, which have cemented the Strauss II's place as one of the most renowned operetta composers of all time.

text: French opera[edit]

text:
Carmen: Chanson du toréador

Pasquale Amato's 1911 rendition of the Toréador's song from Georges Bizet's Carmen (1875).
Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition was founded by the Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully at the court of King Louis XIV. Despite his foreign origin, Lully established an Academy of Music and monopolised French opera from 1672. Starting with Cadmus et Hermione, Lully and his librettist Quinault created tragédie en musique, a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's operas also show a concern for expressive recitative which matched the contours of the French language. In the 18th century, Lully's most important successor was Jean-Philippe Rameau, who composed five tragédies en musique as well as numerous works in other genres such as opéra-ballet, all notable for their rich orchestration and harmonic daring. Despite the popularity of Italian opera seria throughout much of Europe during the Baroque period, Italian opera never gained much of a foothold in France, where its own national operatic tradition was more popular instead.[21] After Rameau's death, the German Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with greater focus on the drama. At the same time, by the middle of the 18th century another genre was gaining popularity in France: opéra comique. This was the equivalent of the German singspiel, where arias alternated with spoken dialogue. Notable examples in this style were produced by Monsigny, Philidor and, above all, Grétry. During the Revolutionary period, composers such as Méhul and Cherubini, who were followers of Gluck, brought a new seriousness to the genre, which had never been wholly "comic" in any case. Another phenomenon of this period was the 'propaganda opera' celebrating revolutionary successes, e.g. Gossec's Le triomphe de la République (1793).

text: By the 1820s, Gluckian influence in France had given way to a taste for Italian bel canto, especially after the arrival of Rossini in Paris. Rossini's Guillaume Tell helped found the new genre of Grand Opera, a form whose most famous exponent was another foreigner, Giacomo Meyerbeer. Meyerbeer's works, such as Les Huguenots, emphasised virtuoso singing and extraordinary stage effects. Lighter opéra comique also enjoyed tremendous success in the hands of Boïeldieu, Auber, Hérold and Adam. In this climate, the operas of the French-born composer Hector Berlioz struggled to gain a hearing. Berlioz's epic masterpiece Les Troyens, the culmination of the Gluckian tradition, was not given a full performance for almost a hundred years.

text: In the second half of the 19th century, Jacques Offenbach created operetta with witty and cynical works such as Orphée aux enfers, as well as the opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Charles Gounod scored a massive success with Faust; and Georges Bizet composed Carmen, which, once audiences learned to accept its blend of Romanticism and realism, became the most popular of all opéra comiques. Jules Massenet, Camille Saint-Saëns and Léo Delibes all composed works which are still part of the standard repertory, examples being Massenet's Manon, Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila and Delibes' Lakmé.[22] At the same time, the influence of Richard Wagner was felt as a challenge to the French tradition. Many French critics angrily rejected Wagner's music dramas while many French composers closely imitated them with variable success. Perhaps the most interesting response came from Claude Debussy. As in Wagner's works, the orchestra plays a leading role in Debussy's unique opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902) and there are no real arias, only recitative. But the drama is understated, enigmatic and completely un-Wagnerian.

text: Other notable 20th-century names include Ravel, Dukas, Roussel and Milhaud. Francis Poulenc is one of the very few post-war composers of any nationality whose operas (which include Dialogues des Carmélites) have gained a foothold in the international repertory. Olivier Messiaen's lengthy sacred drama Saint François d'Assise (1983) has also attracted widespread attention.[23]

text: English-language opera[edit]

text:
Stay, Prince and hear

Scene from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. The witches' messenger, in the form of Mercury himself, attempts to convince Aeneas to leave Carthage.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: In England, opera's antecedent was the 17th-century jig. This was an afterpiece which came at the end of a play. It was frequently libellous and scandalous and consisted in the main of dialogue set to music arranged from popular tunes. In this respect, jigs anticipate the ballad operas of the 18th century. At the same time, the French masque was gaining a firm hold at the English Court, with even more lavish splendour and highly realistic scenery than had been seen before. Inigo Jones became the quintessential designer of these productions, and this style was to dominate the English stage for three centuries. These masques contained songs and dances. In Ben Jonson's Lovers Made Men (1617), "the whole masque was sung after the Italian manner, stilo recitativo".[24] The approach of the English Commonwealth closed theatres and halted any developments that may have led to the establishment of English opera. However, in 1656, the dramatist Sir William Davenant produced The Siege of Rhodes. Since his theatre was not licensed to produce drama, he asked several of the leading composers (Lawes, Cooke, Locke, Coleman and Hudson) to set sections of it to music. This success was followed by The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru (1658) and The History of Sir Francis Drake (1659). These pieces were encouraged by Oliver Cromwell because they were critical of Spain. With the English Restoration, foreign (especially French) musicians were welcomed back. In 1673, Thomas Shadwell's Psyche, patterned on the 1671 'comédie-ballet' of the same name produced by Molière and Jean-Baptiste Lully. William Davenant produced The Tempest in the same year, which was the first musical adaption of a Shakespeare play (composed by Locke and Johnson).[24] About 1683, John Blow composed Venus and Adonis, often thought of as the first true English-language opera.

text: Blow's immediate successor was the better known Henry Purcell. Despite the success of his masterwork Dido and Aeneas (1689), in which the action is furthered by the use of Italian-style recitative, much of Purcell's best work was not involved in the composing of typical opera, but instead, he usually worked within the constraints of the semi-opera format, where isolated scenes and masques are contained within the structure of a spoken play, such as Shakespeare in Purcell's The Fairy-Queen (1692) and Beaumont and Fletcher in The Prophetess (1690) and Bonduca (1696). The main characters of the play tend not to be involved in the musical scenes, which means that Purcell was rarely able to develop his characters through song. Despite these hindrances, his aim (and that of his collaborator John Dryden) was to establish serious opera in England, but these hopes ended with Purcell's early death at the age of 36.

text: Following Purcell, the popularity of opera in England dwindled for several decades. A revived interest in opera occurred in the 1730s which is largely attributed to Thomas Arne, both for his own compositions and for alerting Handel to the commercial possibilities of large-scale works in English. Arne was the first English composer to experiment with Italian-style all-sung comic opera, with his greatest success being Thomas and Sally in 1760. His opera Artaxerxes (1762) was the first attempt to set a full-blown opera seria in English and was a huge success, holding the stage until the 1830s. Although Arne imitated many elements of Italian opera, he was perhaps the only English composer at that time who was able to move beyond the Italian influences and create his own unique and distinctly English voice. His modernized ballad opera, Love in a Village (1762), began a vogue for pastiche opera that lasted well into the 19th century. Charles Burney wrote that Arne introduced "a light, airy, original, and pleasing melody, wholly different from that of Purcell or Handel, whom all English composers had either pillaged or imitated".

text: Besides Arne, the other dominating force in English opera at this time was George Frideric Handel, whose opera serias filled the London operatic stages for decades and influenced most home-grown composers, like John Frederick Lampe, who wrote using Italian models. This situation continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including in the work of Michael William Balfe, and the operas of the great Italian composers, as well as those of Mozart, Beethoven, and Meyerbeer, continued to dominate the musical stage in England.

text: The only exceptions were ballad operas, such as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728), musical burlesques, European operettas, and late Victorian era light operas, notably the Savoy Operas of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, all of which types of musical entertainments frequently spoofed operatic conventions. Sullivan wrote only one grand opera, Ivanhoe (following the efforts of a number of young English composers beginning about 1876),[24] but he claimed that even his light operas constituted part of a school of "English" opera, intended to supplant the French operettas (usually performed in bad translations) that had dominated the London stage from the mid-19th century into the 1870s. London's Daily Telegraph agreed, describing The Yeomen of the Guard as "a genuine English opera, forerunner of many others, let us hope, and possibly significant of an advance towards a national lyric stage".[25]

text: In the 20th century, English opera began to assert more independence, with works of Ralph Vaughan Williams and in particular Benjamin Britten, who in a series of works that remain in standard repertory today, revealed an excellent flair for the dramatic and superb musicality. More recently Sir Harrison Birtwistle has emerged as one of Britain's most significant contemporary composers from his first opera Punch and Judy to his most recent critical success in The Minotaur. In the first decade of the 21st century, the librettist of an early Birtwistle opera, Michael Nyman, has been focusing on composing operas, including Facing Goya, Man and Boy: Dada, and Love Counts. Today composers such as Thomas Adès continue to export English opera abroad.[26]

text: Also in the 20th century, American composers like Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Gian Carlo Menotti, Douglas Moore, and Carlisle Floyd began to contribute English-language operas infused with touches of popular musical styles. They were followed by composers such as Philip Glass, Mark Adamo, John Corigliano, Robert Moran, John Coolidge Adams, André Previn and Jake Heggie.

text: Russian opera[edit]

text: Opera was brought to Russia in the 1730s by the Italian operatic troupes and soon it became an important part of entertainment for the Russian Imperial Court and aristocracy. Many foreign composers such as Baldassare Galuppi, Giovanni Paisiello, Giuseppe Sarti, and Domenico Cimarosa (as well as various others) were invited to Russia to compose new operas, mostly in the Italian language. Simultaneously some domestic musicians like Maksym Berezovsky and Dmitry Bortniansky were sent abroad to learn to write operas. The first opera written in Russian was Tsefal i Prokris by the Italian composer Francesco Araja (1755). The development of Russian-language opera was supported by the Russian composers Vasily Pashkevich, Yevstigney Fomin and Alexey Verstovsky.

text: However, the real birth of Russian opera came with Mikhail Glinka and his two great operas A Life for the Tsar (1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842). After him, in the 19th century in Russia, there were written such operatic masterpieces as Rusalka and The Stone Guest by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and The Snow Maiden and Sadko by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. These developments mirrored the growth of Russian nationalism across the artistic spectrum, as part of the more general Slavophilism movement.

text: In the 20th century, the traditions of Russian opera were developed by many composers including Sergei Rachmaninoff in his works The Miserly Knight and Francesca da Rimini, Igor Stravinsky in Le Rossignol, Mavra, Oedipus rex, and The Rake's Progress, Sergei Prokofiev in The Gambler, The Love for Three Oranges, The Fiery Angel, Betrothal in a Monastery, and War and Peace; as well as Dmitri Shostakovich in The Nose and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Edison Denisov in L'écume des jours, and Alfred Schnittke in Life with an Idiot and Historia von D. Johann Fausten.[27]

text: Other national operas[edit]

text: Spain also produced its own distinctive form of opera, known as zarzuela, which had two separate flowerings: one from the mid-17th century through the mid-18th century, and another beginning around 1850. During the late 18th century up until the mid-19th century, Italian opera was immensely popular in Spain, supplanting the native form.

text: Czech composers also developed a thriving national opera movement of their own in the 19th century, starting with Bedřich Smetana, who wrote eight operas including the internationally popular The Bartered Bride. Antonín Dvořák, most famous for Rusalka, wrote 13 operas; and Leoš Janáček gained international recognition in the 20th century for his innovative works including Jenůfa, The Cunning Little Vixen, and Káťa Kabanová.

text: In Russian Eastern Europe, several national operas began to emerge. Ukrainian opera was developed by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813–1873) whose most famous work Zaporozhets za Dunayem (A Cossack Beyond the Danube) is regularly performed around the world. Other Ukrainian opera composers include Mykola Lysenko (Taras Bulba and Natalka Poltavka), Heorhiy Maiboroda, and Yuliy Meitus. At the turn of the century, a distinct national opera movement also began to emerge in Georgia under the leadership Zacharia Paliashvili, who fused local folk songs and stories with 19th-century Romantic classical themes.

text: The key figure of Hungarian national opera in the 19th century was Ferenc Erkel, whose works mostly dealt with historical themes. Among his most often performed operas are Hunyadi László and Bánk bán. The most famous modern Hungarian opera is Béla Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle.

text: Stanisław Moniuszko's opera Straszny Dwór (in English The Haunted Manor) (1861–64) represents a nineteenth-century peak of Polish national opera.[28] In the 20th century, other operas created by Polish composers included King Roger by Karol Szymanowski and Ubu Rex by Krzysztof Penderecki.

text: The first known opera from Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) was Arshak II, which was an Armenian opera composed by an ethnic Armenian composer Tigran Tchoukhajian in 1868 and partially performed in 1873. It was fully staged in 1945 in Armenia.

text: The first years of the Soviet Union saw the emergence of new national operas, such as the Koroğlu (1937) by the Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov. The first Kyrgyz opera, Ai-Churek, premiered in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre on 26 May 1939, during Kyrgyz Art Decade. It was composed by Vladimir Vlasov, Abdylas Maldybaev and Vladimir Fere. The libretto was written by Joomart Bokonbaev, Jusup Turusbekov, and Kybanychbek Malikov. The opera is based on the Kyrgyz heroic epic Manas.[29][30]

text: Chinese contemporary classical opera, a Chinese language form of Western style opera that is distinct from traditional Chinese opera, has had operas dating back to The White Haired Girl in 1945.[31][32][33]

text: In Latin America, opera started as a result of European colonisation. The first opera ever written in the Americas was La púrpura de la rosa, by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, although Partenope, by the Mexican Manuel de Zumaya, was the first opera written from a composer born in Latin America (music now lost). The first Brazilian opera for a libretto in Portuguese was A Noite de São João, by Elias Álvares Lobo. However, Antonio Carlos Gomes is generally regarded as the most outstanding Brazilian composer, having a relative success in Italy with its Brazilian-themed operas with Italian librettos, such as Il Guarany. Opera in Argentina developed in the 20th century after the inauguration of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires—with the opera Aurora, by Ettore Panizza, being heavily influenced by the Italian tradition, due to immigration. Other important composers from Argentina include Felipe Boero and Alberto Ginastera.

text: Contemporary, recent, and modernist trends[edit]

text: Modernism[edit]

text: Perhaps the most obvious stylistic manifestation of modernism in opera is the development of atonality. The move away from traditional tonality in opera had begun with Richard Wagner, and in particular the Tristan chord. Composers such as Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Giacomo Puccini[citation needed], Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten and Hans Pfitzner pushed Wagnerian harmony further with a more extreme use of chromaticism and greater use of dissonance. Another aspect of modernist opera is the shift away from long, suspended melodies, to short quick mottos, as first illustrated by Giuseppe Verdi in his Falstaff. Composers such as Strauss, Britten, Shostakovich and Stravinsky adopted and expanded upon this style.

text: Operatic modernism truly began in the operas of two Viennese composers, Arnold Schoenberg and his student Alban Berg, both composers and advocates of atonality and its later development (as worked out by Schoenberg), dodecaphony. Schoenberg's early musico-dramatic works, Erwartung (1909, premiered in 1924) and Die glückliche Hand display heavy use of chromatic harmony and dissonance in general. Schoenberg also occasionally used Sprechstimme.

text: The two operas of Schoenberg's pupil Alban Berg, Wozzeck (1925) and Lulu (incomplete at his death in 1935) share many of the same characteristics as described above, though Berg combined his highly personal interpretation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique with melodic passages of a more traditionally tonal nature (quite Mahlerian in character) which perhaps partially explains why his operas have remained in standard repertory, despite their controversial music and plots. Schoenberg's theories have influenced (either directly or indirectly) significant numbers of opera composers ever since, even if they themselves did not compose using his techniques.

text: Composers thus influenced include the Englishman Benjamin Britten, the German Hans Werner Henze, and the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich. (Philip Glass also makes use of atonality, though his style is generally described as minimalist, usually thought of as another 20th-century development.)[34]

text: However, operatic modernism's use of atonality also sparked a backlash in the form of neoclassicism. An early leader of this movement was Ferruccio Busoni, who in 1913 wrote the libretto for his neoclassical number opera Arlecchino (first performed in 1917).[35] Also among the vanguard was the Russian Igor Stravinsky. After composing music for the Diaghilev-produced ballets Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913), Stravinsky turned to neoclassicism, a development culminating in his opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex (1927).[36] Well after his Rimsky-Korsakov-inspired works The Nightingale (1914), and Mavra (1922), Stravinsky continued to ignore serialist technique and eventually wrote a full-fledged 18th-century-style diatonic number opera The Rake's Progress (1951). His resistance to serialism (an attitude he reversed following Schoenberg's death) proved to be an inspiration for many[who?] other composers.[37]

text: Other trends[edit]

text: A common trend throughout the 20th century, in both opera and general orchestral repertoire, is the use of smaller orchestras as a cost-cutting measure; the grand Romantic-era orchestras with huge string sections, multiple harps, extra horns, and exotic percussion instruments were no longer feasible. As government and private patronage of the arts decreased throughout the 20th century, new works were often commissioned and performed with smaller budgets, very often resulting in chamber-sized works, and short, one-act operas. Many of Benjamin Britten's operas are scored for as few as 13 instrumentalists; Mark Adamo's two-act realization of Little Women is scored for 18 instrumentalists.

text: Another feature of late 20th-century opera is the emergence of contemporary historical operas, in contrast to the tradition of basing operas on more distant history, the re-telling of contemporary fictional stories or plays, or on myth or legend. The Death of Klinghoffer, Nixon in China, and Doctor Atomic by John Adams, Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, and Anna Nicole by Mark-Anthony Turnage exemplify the dramatisation onstage of events in recent living memory, where characters portrayed in the opera were alive at the time of the premiere performance.

text: The Metropolitan Opera in the US reports that the average age of its audience is now 60.[38] Many opera companies have experienced a similar trend, and opera company websites are replete with attempts to attract a younger audience. This trend is part of the larger trend of greying audiences for classical music since the last decades of the 20th century.[39] In an effort to attract younger audiences, the Metropolitan Opera offers a student discount on ticket purchases.[40]

text: Smaller companies in the US have a more fragile existence, and they usually depend on a "patchwork quilt" of support from state and local governments, local businesses, and fundraisers. Nevertheless, some smaller companies have found ways of drawing new audiences. Opera Carolina offer discounts and happy hour events to the 21- to 40-year-old demographic.[41] In addition to radio and television broadcasts of opera performances, which have had some success in gaining new audiences, broadcasts of live performances in HD to movie theatres have shown the potential to reach new audiences. Since 2006, the Met has broadcast live performances to several hundred movie screens all over the world.[42]

text: From musicals back towards opera[edit]

text: By the late 1930s, some musicals began to be written with a more operatic structure. These works include complex polyphonic ensembles and reflect musical developments of their times. Porgy and Bess (1935), influenced by jazz styles, and Candide (1956), with its sweeping, lyrical passages and farcical parodies of opera, both opened on Broadway but became accepted as part of the opera repertory. Popular musicals such as Show Boat, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Sweeney Todd, Passion, Evita, The Light in the Piazza, The Phantom of the Opera and others tell dramatic stories through complex music and in the 2010s they are sometimes seen in opera houses.[43] The Most Happy Fella (1952) is quasi-operatic and has been revived by the New York City Opera. Other rock influenced musicals, such as Tommy (1969) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), Les Misérables (1980), Rent (1996), Spring Awakening (2006), and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2012) employ various operatic conventions, such as through composition, recitative instead of dialogue, and leitmotifs.

text: Acoustic enhancement in opera[edit]

text: A subtle type of sound electronic reinforcement called acoustic enhancement is used in some modern concert halls and theatres where operas are performed. Although none of the major opera houses "...use traditional, Broadway-style sound reinforcement, in which most if not all singers are equipped with radio microphones mixed to a series of unsightly loudspeakers scattered throughout the theatre", many use a sound reinforcement system for acoustic enhancement and for subtle boosting of offstage voices, child singers, onstage dialogue, and sound effects (e.g., church bells in Tosca or thunder effects in Wagnerian operas).[44]

text: Operatic voices[edit]

text: Operatic vocal technique evolved, in a time before electronic amplification, to allow singers to produce enough volume to be heard over an orchestra, without the instrumentalists having to substantially compromise their volume.

text: Vocal classifications[edit]

text: Singers and the roles they play are classified by voice type, based on the tessitura, agility, power and timbre of their voices. Male singers can be classified by vocal range as bass, bass-baritone, baritone, tenor and countertenor, and female singers as contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano. (Men sometimes sing in the "female" vocal ranges, in which case they are termed sopranist or countertenor. The countertenor is commonly encountered in opera, sometimes singing parts written for castrati—men neutered at a young age specifically to give them a higher singing range.) Singers are then further classified by size—for instance, a soprano can be described as a lyric soprano, coloratura, soubrette, spinto, or dramatic soprano. These terms, although not fully describing a singing voice, associate the singer's voice with the roles most suitable to the singer's vocal characteristics.

text: Yet another sub-classification can be made according to acting skills or requirements, for example the Basso Buffo who often must be a specialist in patter as well as a comic actor. This is carried out in detail in the Fach system of German speaking countries, where historically opera and spoken drama were often put on by the same repertory company.

text: A particular singer's voice may change drastically over his or her lifetime, rarely reaching vocal maturity until the third decade, and sometimes not until middle age. Two French voice types, premiere dugazon and deuxieme dugazon, were named after successive stages in the career of Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre (Mme. Dugazon). Other terms originating in the star casting system of the Parisian theatres are baryton-martin and soprano falcon.

text: Historical use of voice parts[edit]

text: The soprano voice has typically been used as the voice of choice for the female protagonist of the opera since the latter half of the 18th century. Earlier, it was common for that part to be sung by any female voice, or even a castrato. The current emphasis on a wide vocal range was primarily an invention of the Classical period. Before that, the vocal virtuosity, not range, was the priority, with soprano parts rarely extending above a high A (Handel, for example, only wrote one role extending to a high C), though the castrato Farinelli was alleged to possess a top D (his lower range was also extraordinary, extending to tenor C). The mezzo-soprano, a term of comparatively recent origin, also has a large repertoire, ranging from the female lead in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas to such heavyweight roles as Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (these are both roles sometimes sung by sopranos; there is quite a lot of movement between these two voice-types). For the true contralto, the range of parts is more limited, which has given rise to the insider joke that contraltos only sing "witches, bitches, and britches" roles. In recent years many of the "trouser roles" from the Baroque era, originally written for women, and those originally sung by castrati, have been reassigned to countertenors.

text: The tenor voice, from the Classical era onwards, has traditionally been assigned the role of male protagonist. Many of the most challenging tenor roles in the repertory were written during the bel canto era, such as Donizetti's sequence of 9 Cs above middle C during La fille du régiment. With Wagner came an emphasis on vocal heft for his protagonist roles, with this vocal category described as Heldentenor; this heroic voice had its more Italianate counterpart in such roles as Calaf in Puccini's Turandot. Basses have a long history in opera, having been used in opera seria in supporting roles, and sometimes for comic relief (as well as providing a contrast to the preponderance of high voices in this genre). The bass repertoire is wide and varied, stretching from the comedy of Leporello in Don Giovanni to the nobility of Wotan in Wagner's Ring Cycle, to the conflicted King Phillip of Verdi's Don Carlos. In between the bass and the tenor is the baritone, which also varies in weight from say, Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte to Posa in Verdi's Don Carlos; the actual designation "baritone" was not standard until the mid-19th century.

text: Famous singers[edit]

text: Early performances of opera were too infrequent for singers to make a living exclusively from the style, but with the birth of commercial opera in the mid-17th century, professional performers began to emerge. The role of the male hero was usually entrusted to a castrato, and by the 18th century, when Italian opera was performed throughout Europe, leading castrati who possessed extraordinary vocal virtuosity, such as Senesino and Farinelli, became international stars. The career of the first major female star (or prima donna), Anna Renzi, dates to the mid-17th century. In the 18th century, a number of Italian sopranos gained international renown and often engaged in fierce rivalry, as was the case with Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, who started a fist fight with one another during a performance of a Handel opera. The French disliked castrati, preferring their male heroes to be sung by an haute-contre (a high tenor), of which Joseph Legros (1739–1793) was a leading example.[45]

text:
Though opera patronage has decreased in the last century in favor of other arts and media (such as musicals, cinema, radio, television and recordings), mass media and the advent of recording have supported the popularity of many famous singers including Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli-Curci, Kirsten Flagstad, Juan Arvizu,[46][47] Nestor Mesta Chayres,[48][49][50]
Mario Del Monaco, Risë Stevens, Alfredo Kraus, Franco Corelli, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Nellie Melba, Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Björling, Feodor Chaliapin, and "The Three Tenors" (Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras).

text: Changing role of the orchestra[edit]

text: Before the 1700s, Italian operas used a small string orchestra, but it rarely played to accompany the singers. Opera solos during this period were accompanied by the basso continuo group, which consisted of the harpsichord, "plucked instruments" such as lute and a bass instrument.[51] The string orchestra typically only played when the singer was not singing, such as during a singer's "...entrances and exits, between vocal numbers, [or] for [accompanying] dancing". Another role for the orchestra during this period was playing an orchestral ritornello to mark the end of a singer's solo.[51] During the early 1700s, some composers began to use the string orchestra to mark certain aria or recitatives "...as special"; by 1720, most arias were accompanied by orchestra. Opera composers such as Domenico Sarro, Leonardo Vinci, Giambattista Pergolesi, Leonardo Leo, and Johann Adolf Hasse added new instruments to the opera orchestra and gave the instruments new roles. They added wind instruments to the strings and used orchestral instruments to play instrumental solos, as a way to mark certain arias as special.[51]

text: The orchestra has also provided an instrumental overture before the singers come onstage since the 1600s. Peri's Euridice opens with a brief instrumental ritornello, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for muted trumpets. The French overture as found in Jean-Baptiste Lully's operas[52] consist of a slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm", followed by a lively movement in fugato style. The overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose. This overture style was also used in English opera, most notably in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Handel also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas such as Giulio Cesare.[53]

text: In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, and became established particularly through the operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, and spread throughout Europe, supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century.[54] It uses three generally homophonic movements: fast–slow–fast. The opening movement was normally in duple metre and in a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples was short, and could be in a contrasting key; the concluding movement was dance-like, most often with rhythms of the gigue or minuet, and returned to the key of the opening section. As the form evolved, the first movement may incorporate fanfare-like elements and took on the pattern of so-called "sonatina form" (sonata form without a development section), and the slow section became more extended and lyrical.[54]

text: In Italian opera after about 1800, the "overture" became known as the sinfonia.[55] Fisher also notes the term Sinfonia avanti l'opera (literally, the "symphony before the opera") was "an early term for a sinfonia used to begin an opera, that is, as an overture as opposed to one serving to begin a later section of the work".[55] In 19th-century opera, in some operas, the overture, Vorspiel, Einleitung, Introduction, or whatever else it may be called, was the portion of the music which takes place before the curtain rises; a specific, rigid form was no longer required for the overture.

text: The role of the orchestra in accompanying the singers changed over the 19th century, as the Classical style transitioned to the Romantic era. In general, orchestras got bigger, new instruments were added, such as additional percussion instruments (e.g., bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, etc.). The orchestration of orchestra parts also developed over the 19th century. In Wagnerian operas, the forefronting of the orchestra went beyond the overture. In Wagnerian operas such as Tristan, the orchestra often played the recurrent musical themes or leitmotifs, a role which gave a prominence to the orchestra which "...elevated its status to that of a prima donna."[56] Wagner's operas were scored with unprecedented scope and complexity, adding more brass instruments and huge ensemble sizes: indeed, his score to Das Rheingold calls for six harps.

text: As the role of the orchestra and other instrumental ensembles changed over the history of opera, so did the role of leading the musicians. In the Baroque era, the musicians were usually directed by the harpsichord player, although the French composer Lully is known to have conducted with a long staff. In the 1800s, during the Classical period, the first violinist, also known as the concertmaster, would lead the orchestra while sitting. Over time, some directors began to stand up and use hand and arm gestures to lead the performers. Eventually this role of music director became termed the conductor, and a podium was used to make it easier for all the musicians to see him or her. By the time Wagnerian operas were introduced, the complexity of the works and the huge orchestras used to play them gave the conductor an increasingly important role. Modern opera conductors have a challenging role: they have to direct both the orchestra in the orchestra pit and the singers up on stage.

text: Language and translation issues[edit]

text: Since the days of Handel and Mozart, many composers have favored Italian as the language for the libretto of their operas. From the Bel Canto era to Verdi, composers would sometimes supervise versions of their operas in both Italian and French. Because of this, operas such as Lucia di Lammermoor or Don Carlos are today deemed canonical in both their French and Italian versions.[57]

text: Till the mid 1950s, it was acceptable to produce operas in translations even if these had not been authorized by the composer or the original librettists. For example, opera houses in Italy routinely staged Wagner in Italian.[58] After WWII, opera scholarship improved, artists refocused on the original versions, and translations fell out of favor. Knowledge of European languages, especially Italian, French, and German, is today an important part of the training for professional singers."The biggest chunk of operatic training is in linguistics and musicianship," explains mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. "[I have to understand] not only what I'm singing, but what everyone else is singing. I sing Italian, Czech, Russian, French, German, English."[59]

text: In the 1980s, supertitles (sometimes called surtitles) began to appear. Although supertitles were first almost universally condemned as a distraction,[60] today many opera houses provide either supertitles, generally projected above the theatre's proscenium arch, or individual seat screens where spectators can choose from more than one language. TV broadcasts typically include subtitles even if intended for an audience who knows well the language (for example, a RAI broadcast of an Italian opera). These subtitles target not only the hard of hearing but the audience generally, since a sung discourse is much harder to understand than a spoken one—even in the ears of native speakers. Subtitles in one or more languages have become standard in opera broadcasts, simulcasts, and DVD editions.

text: Today, operas are only rarely performed in translation. Exceptions include the English National Opera, the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, and Opera South East,[61] which favor English translations.[62] Another exception are opera productions intended for a young audience, such as Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel[63] and some productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute.[64]

text: Funding[edit]

text: Outside the US, and especially in Europe, most opera houses receive public subsidies from taxpayers.[65] In Milan, Italy, 60% of La Scala's annual budget of €115 million is from ticket sales and private donations, with the remaining 40% coming from public funds.[66] In 2005, La Scala received 25% of Italy's total state subsidy of €464 million for the performing arts.[67] In the UK, Arts Council England provides funds to Opera North, the Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, and English National Opera. Between 2012 and 2015, these four opera companies along with the English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet accounted for 22% of the funds in the Arts Council's national portfolio. During that period, the Council undertook an analysis of its funding for large-scale opera and ballet companies, setting recommendations and targets for the companies to meet prior to the 2015–2018 funding decisions.[68] In February 2015, concerns over English National Opera's business plan led to the Arts Council placing it "under special funding arrangements" in what The Independent termed "the unprecedented step" of threatening to withdraw public funding if the Council's concerns were not met by 2017.[69] European public funding to opera has led to a disparity between the number of year-round opera houses in Europe and the United States. For example, "Germany has about 80 year-round opera houses [as of 2004], while the U.S., with more than three times the population, does not have any. Even the Met only has a seven-month season."[70]

text: Television, cinema and the Internet[edit]

text: A milestone for opera broadcasting in the U.S. was achieved on December 24, 1951, with the live broadcast of Amahl and the Night Visitors, an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti. It was the first opera specifically composed for television in America.[71] Another milestone occurred in Italy in 1992 when Tosca was broadcast live from its original Roman settings and times of the day:  The first act came from the 16th-century Church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at noon on Saturday; the 16th-century Palazzo Farnese was the setting for the second at 8:15 P.M.; and on Sunday at 6 A.M., the third act was broadcast from Castel Sant'Angelo. The production was transmitted via satellite to 105 countries.[72]

text: Major opera companies have begun presenting their performances in local cinemas throughout the United States and many other countries. The Metropolitan Opera began a series of live high-definition video transmissions to cinemas around the world in 2006.[73] In 2007, Met performances were shown in over 424 theaters in 350 U.S. cities. La bohème went out to 671 screens worldwide. San Francisco Opera began prerecorded video transmissions in March 2008. As of June 2008, approximately 125 theaters in 117 U.S. cities carry the showings. The HD video opera transmissions are presented via the same HD digital cinema projectors used for major Hollywood films.[74] European opera houses and festivals including the Royal Opera in London, La Scala in Milan, the Salzburg Festival, La Fenice in Venice, and the Maggio Musicale in Florence have also transmitted their productions to theaters in cities around the world since 2006, including 90 cities in the U.S.[75][76]

text: The emergence of the Internet has also affected the way in which audiences consume opera. In 2009 the British Glyndebourne Festival Opera offered for the first time an online digital video download of its complete 2007 production of Tristan und Isolde. In 2013 season the festival streamed all six of its productions online.[77][78] In July 2012 the first online community opera was premiered at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Titled Free Will, it was created by members of the Internet group Opera By You. Its 400 members from 43 countries wrote the libretto, composed the music, and designed the sets and costumes using the Wreckamovie web platform. Savonlinna Opera Festival provided professional soloists, an 80-member choir, a symphony orchestra, and the stage machinery. It was performed live at the festival and streamed live on the internet.[79]


document_title: Mothering Sunday

question_text: when did mothering sunday start in the uk

root

text: Mothering Sunday

text: History[edit]

text: During the 16th century, people returned to their mother church for a service to be held on Laetare Sunday;[2] in this context, one's 'mother church' was either the church where they were baptised, or the local parish church, or the nearest cathedral (the latter being the mother church of all the parish churches in a diocese).[1] Anyone who did this was commonly said to have gone "a-mothering", although whether this term preceded the observance of Mothering Sunday is unclear. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members.[2] It was often the only time that whole families could gather together, since on other days they were prevented by conflicting working hours, and servants were not given free days on other occasions.[3]

tag: p

text: Children and young people who were "in service" (as household servants) were given a day off on that date so they could visit their families (or, originally, return to their "mother" church). The children would pick wild flowers along the way to place in the church or give to their mothers. Eventually, the religious tradition evolved into the Mothering Sunday secular tradition of giving gifts to mothers.[1]

text: By the 1920s the custom of keeping Mothering Sunday had tended to lapse in Ireland and in continental Europe.[4] In 1914, inspired by Anna Jarvis's efforts in the United States, Constance Penswick-Smith created the Mothering Sunday Movement,[5] and in 1921 she wrote a book asking for the revival of the festival; Constance was the daughter of the vicar of Coddington, Nottinghamshire, and there is a memorial in Coddington's church.[6][7] Its widescale revival was through the influence of American and Canadian soldiers serving abroad during World War II; the traditions of Mothering Sunday, still practised by the Church of England and Church of Ireland were merged with the newly imported traditions and celebrated in the wider Catholic and secular society.[4][8][9] UK-based merchants saw the commercial opportunity in the holiday and relentlessly promoted it in the UK; by the 1950s, it was celebrated across all the UK.[8]

text: People from Ireland and the UK started celebrating Mother's Day on the same day that Mothering Sunday was celebrated, the fourth Sunday in Lent.[4] The two celebrations have now been mixed up, and many people think that they are the same thing.[3]

text: Mothering Sunday remains in the calendar of some Canadian Anglican churches, particularly those with strong English connections.

text: Names[edit]

text:
Gregorian dates for Mothering Sunday

Year
Date

2004
21 March

2005
6 March

2006
26 March

2007
18 March

2008
2 March

2009
22 March

2010
14 March

2011
3 April

2012
18 March

2013
10 March

2014
30 March

2015
15 March

2016
6 March

2017
26 March

2018
11 March

tag: table

text: The other names attributed to the fourth Sunday in Lent include Refreshment Sunday, Pudding Pie Sunday (in Surrey, England), Mid-Lent Sunday.[10] Simnel Sunday and Rose Sunday. Simnel Sunday is named after the practice of baking simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during the austerity of Lent. Because there is traditionally a relaxation of Lenten vows on this particular Sunday in celebration of the fellowship of family and church, the name Refreshment Sunday is sometimes used, although rarely today.

text: Rose Sunday is sometimes used as an alternative title for Laetare Sunday, as is witnessed by the purple robes of Lent being replaced in some churches by rose-coloured ones. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia asserts that "the Golden Rose, sent by the Popes to Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time, and for this reason the day was sometimes called 'Dominica de Rosa'."[11][12]

text: This Sunday was also once known as the "Sunday of the Five Loaves", from the traditional Gospel reading for the day. Prior to the adoption of the modern "common" lectionaries, the Gospel reading for this Sunday in the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Western-Rite Orthodox, and Old Catholic churches was the story of the feeding of the five thousand (for instance, the Anglican Book of Common Prayer stipulates St John's Gospel 6:5–14).

text: Other[edit]

text: The Epistle for the fourth Sunday in Lent as set out in the Book of Common Prayer and The 1962 Missal of Roman Catholic Church give a special place to the theme of maternal love: Galatians 4:26 states that "Jerusalem which is above is free; which is Mother of us all."[1]

text: Another tradition associated with Mothering Sunday is the practice of "clipping the church", whereby the congregation form a ring around their church building and, holding hands, embrace it.

text: For some Church of England churches, it is the only day in Lent when marriages can be celebrated.

text: During the church services held many churches give the children in the congregation a little bunch of spring flowers to give to their mothers.[10]

text: Cakes and buns[edit]

text:
Simnel cake is a traditional confection associated with both Mothering Sunday and Easter.[13]:page 2
Around 1600, when the celebration was only held in England and Scotland, a different kind of pastry was preferred.

In England, "Mothering Buns" or "Mothering Sunday Buns" were made to celebrate. These sweet buns are topped with pink or white icing and the multi-coloured sprinkles known as "hundreds and thousands" in the UK. They are not widely made or served today in the UK but in Australia they are a bakery staple, not related to any particular celebration.
In Northern England and Scotland some preferred "Carlings", pancakes made of steeped peas fried in butter.[14]

tag: ul


document_title: Orange Is the New Black (season 1)

question_text: who dies in the first season of orange is the new black

text: Orange Is the New Black (season 1)

text: Plot[edit]

text: The inmates must campaign among their races for a coveted spot as a prisoners' representative. Piper steers clear of the bizarre political process but might not have a choice but to get involved. Larry's editor wants him to write an article about Piper's incarceration. Former high school track star Janae Watson returns from solitary confinement. Piper wants to reopen the outdoor track but Healy forces her to fulfill several potentially dangerous tasks before he will consider it. Officer Mendez begins harassing Red when she refuses to help him continue smuggling drugs into the prison. Larry publishes his article about Piper in the New York Times, which turns her into a person of interest for inmates and corrections officers alike. Piper makes peace with Alex and awaits a visit from Larry on Thanksgiving.

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Featured character(s)
Original release date

1
1
"I Wasn't Ready"
Michael Trim
Liz Friedman & Jenji Kohan
Piper
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Sentenced to 15 months for a crime committed 10 years earlier, Piper Chapman leaves her supportive fiancé Larry for her new home: a women's prison. Her counselor, Sam Healy, empathizes with her and tries to gently give her tips to survive. She grapples with the racial dynamics of prison life and learns some of the rules. Unfortunately, she offends Red, the powerful matriarch of the prison kitchen, who responds by serving Piper a bloody tampon and subsequently starving her. Piper is then shocked to discover that Alex Vause, her former lover (who recruited her into carrying drug money) is in the same prison. Daya Diaz, another inmate, is greeted by her mother, who is also incarcerated, with a slap to the face.

Flashback: Flashbacks depict the particulars of Piper's crime, Piper telling her family about her crime, and Larry's marriage proposal.

2
2
"Tit Punch"
Uta Briesewitz
Marco Ramirez
Red & Piper
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

After insulting Red's food, Piper is starved out by the kitchen staff. She struggles to offer up an acceptable apology. With help from Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren, she manages to prepare a medicated lotion for Red's back. Alex gives Piper a piece of cornbread but Piper rejects it. The kitchen freezer is irreparably damaged. Red manipulates Healy into buying a new one. "Crazy Eyes" makes a romantic move on Piper. Bennett and Daya check each other out.

Flashback: Red attempts to befriend the wives of well-connected Russian businessmen in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, she tells an insulting joke that alienates them. During a confrontation, Red punctures one of the wives' breast implants. As compensation, Red's husband agrees to hold secret packages for the businessmen.

3
3
"Lesbian Request Denied"
Jodie Foster
Sian Heder
Sophia & Piper
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Piper's best friend Polly takes more authority over their soap-making business. Piper deals with romantic advances from Suzanne (Crazy Eyes). After Crazy Eyes submits a request to bunk with Piper, Piper firmly rejects her advances. After Piper moves into Miss Claudette's cube, Crazy Eyes urinates on the floor of their space. Piper's relationship with Alex is very hostile. The prison reduces Sophia's dose of exogenous estrogen in response to budget cuts. She asks her wife to smuggle pills into the prison; her wife flatly refuses, asking her "How fucking selfish can you be?"

Flashback: Sophia, her wife, and her child struggle to adjust to Sophia's gender transition. Sophia commits credit card fraud to finance her gender reassignment surgery.

4
4
"Imaginary Enemies"
Michael Trim
Gary Lennon
Miss Claudette
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Piper adjusts to living with Claudette and working in the electrical shop. She starts to make friends with Nicky. After Piper loses a screwdriver, the prison staff searches high and low to find it before it is used as a weapon. Mendez molests Piper during the search. When Piper returns to her cube with the screwdriver, it places more strain on her relationship with Claudette. After the search ends, Piper and Claudette make peace. Piper agrees to review appeal letters from different inmates. Tricia Miller schemes to prevent her girlfriend Mercy Valduto's release, but Claudette convinces her not to ruin Mercy's chance for freedom. After Claudette receives a letter from her friend Baptiste, she agrees to have her case reopened.

Flashback: Miss Claudette ran a housekeeping company until she murdered a man who sexually assaulted one of her employees.

5
5
"The Chickening"
Andrew McCarthy
Nick Jones
Aleida & Daya
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

While relaxing in the exercise yard, Piper sees a chicken. When she mentions it in passing, Red recounts her dream of cooking a proper chicken and offers a gift to the person who catches the chicken. Larry discovers that Alex gave Piper's name to the Feds. To keep Piper focused on life beyond prison, Larry lies to her. Polly arranges for Piper to take a business call, but Piper skips it to chase the chicken. Morello ends her relationship with Nicky. Sophia asks Sister Ingalls for estrogen pills, but she refuses. The overloaded chapel ceiling collapses from a heavy cross Pennsatucky tries to hang. The prisoners work to clean up and repair the damage. Miss Claudette starts researching her legal appeal. Bennett and Daya pass notes to each other. Aleida advises her daughter to date another guard who can do her favors.

Flashback: Aleida runs a drug ring with her boyfriend, César, while the family struggles financially. After Aleida goes to prison, Daya starts dating César and running the drug ring until she is also sent to prison.

6
6
"WAC Pack"
Michael Trim
Lauren Morelli
Nicky & Piper
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Piper confronts her mother. Polly takes full control of the soap business. Now believing that Alex didn't name her, Piper starts to view her fondly. Larry agrees to write an article about his fiancée's term in prison. Healy announces elections for the women's advisory council, and encourages Piper to run for WAC. When she refuses, Healy places her on the council anyway. The guards start searching for a missing mobile phone; Piper finds it hidden in the wall of the bathroom. Daya attacks her mother Aleida, for trying to have sex with Bennett. After saying he turned Aleida down, Daya performs oral sex on him, during which she discovers that he has a prosthetic leg.

Flashback: Flashbacks depict the friction between Nicky and her biological mother, and how Red helped Nicky deal with her drug problem.

7
7
"Blood Donut"
Matthew Penn
Sara Hess
Watson
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Watson is released from SHU (Security Housing Unit/Solitary), and concludes that it was Piper who misplaced the screwdriver. Piper confesses but points out that Watson was initially sent to SHU for arguing with the guards. Piper, frustrated with WAC, states "this whole WAC thing is basically bullshit." Piper tries to make nice with Alex. With Fischer's help, Piper gets the running track reopened, which pleases Watson. Piper's appointment to WAC infuriates Pennsatucky, who was hoping to use her election to obtain false teeth. Alex tires of Pennsatucky's complaining and threatens to rape her if she doesn't keep quiet. Mendez tries to pressure Red into smuggling drugs into the prison, but Red refuses.

Flashback: Watson was a gifted track star with a college scholarship. Growing up in a strict Muslim household, she was not allowed to see boys. She begins seeing a sketchy man, Donte. She helps him rob a convenience store, and they are separated as they escape. She is caught by police but he is not, and she takes the rap for him.

8
8
"Moscow Mule"
Phil Abraham
Marco Ramirez
Red
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

The flu bug circulates through the prison. Larry's article is printed. While Piper is happy that it was published, she is upset that most of the information is inaccurate. Healy reads the article and begins acting coldly towards Piper upon realizing her history with other girls. Piper and Alex flirt and reminisce while they try to fix a dryer. Pennsatucky locks Alex into the dryer. Polly gives birth. Daya is pregnant. Taystee is granted parole. Tricia goes into drug withdrawal. Over Nicky's objection, Red cuts off Tricia and allows her to go into SHU. Caputo orders Mendez to investigate how the drugs entered the prison. Mendez performs a very intimidating interview of Morello. To retaliate against Red, Nicky tells Mendez that Red uses Neptune's Produce, a vendor affiliated with the Russian bosses from Red's background, to smuggle contraband into the prison.

Flashback: Red gives the Russian bosses a good business idea, which begins her climb up the organized crime ladder.

9
9
"Fucksgiving"
Michael Trim
Sian Heder
Alex
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Mendez uses Red's smuggling connections to move drugs into the prison. Red flushes them down the toilet. Mendez issues Red a death threat and urinates into the Thanksgiving gravy. Pennsatucky and Alex clash over their views on homosexuality and religion. Nicky and Alex flirt. Sophia's wife becomes romantically interested in her pastor. With Sister Ingalls's encouragement, Sophia gives her wife her blessing. Sophia's full dose of estrogen is restored. Daya attempts an abortion using Mendoza's herbal teas, but Aleida colludes with Mendoza to keep the fetus alive. Later, Daya agrees to keep the baby. Taystee is released but finds that her support network is missing. Piper and Alex share a sexually charged dance. Pennsatucky snitches on them for "lesbianing together," after which Healy sends Chapman to SHU. When Healy visits SHU, Chapman rages against him for punishing her for being a lesbian. After suffering in SHU, she resolves to obey Healy and avoid Alex. Caputo orders Healy to release Chapman from SHU when it becomes clear that her transfer is unjustified. Healy calls Larry, to tell him about Piper and Alex's sexual relationship. Upon returning to camp, she has sex with Alex.

Flashback: Flashbacks depict Alex being bullied for her low socioeconomic standing, her relationship with her mother, and her first contact with her washed-up rock star father. The flashbacks also show her beginning with the drug cartel.

10
10
"Bora Bora Bora"
Andrew McCarthy
Nick Jones
Piper & Tricia
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

When Cesar goes by Bennett's apartment and asks how and where the baby will live, Bennett learns that Daya is pregnant. He is concerned that the system will discover he had sex with Daya, which could result in disciplinary action for both. He explains that his prosthetic left leg, originally thought to be from his tour in Afghanistan, is really from an infection when he had a cut and stepped into a dirty hot tub in Florida. Baptiste visits Miss Claudette. Tricked by Watson and egged on by others, Pennsatucky starts a faith healing crusade. Scared straight arrives at the prison, and the inmates attempt to intimidate the visiting juvenile delinquents. However, they have difficulty intimidating Dina, who robbed a liquor store from her wheelchair. Piper succeeds by telling Dina the scariest part of prison is not other people but coming face to face with "who you really are." Pennsatucky's faith healing crusade ends after she attempts to heal Dina by forcefully removing her from the wheelchair, after which Pennsatucky is confined to the psychiatric ward. Tricia struggles to "make things square with Red." Mendez manipulates Tricia into selling illegal drugs. When the tour with juvenile delinquents begins, Mendez notices the state she is in, and locks Tricia in a closet to prevent her from revealing she is holding the drugs. When he returns to release her, he finds that she has taken the drugs, overdosed and died. Fearing he will be found out, Mendez manipulates the scene to make it look like a suicide hanging. Nicky and Red blame themselves for Tricia's death, and both resolve to bring Mendez down.

Flashback: Flashbacks reveal what Piper and Polly are looking for in a spouse, and depict Piper meeting Larry. Tricia survives life on the streets of New York City shoplifting; she keeps a list of what she steals so she can pay everyone back.

11
11
"Tall Men with Feelings"
Constantine Makris
Lauren Morelli
Piper & Alex
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Prison officials cover up Tricia's death to avoid an investigation. The inmates believe Tricia killed herself and organize an informal memorial for her. Tricia's death affects Mendez, and he vents over drinks with Bennett. Aleida, Daya, and Red scheme to cover up Daya's pregnancy. Daya will have sex with Mendez, which will then deflect suspicions once her pregnancy becomes apparent. During their encounter, Mendez uses a condom, so there's no evidence to use against him. Pennsatucky is held in the psych unit. After Piper learns that psych is worse than SHU, she successfully petitions Caputo to have Pennsatucky returned to the general population over Alex's objections. However, Piper's bravery brings Alex closer to her. Larry is interviewed on NPR, and his comments are particularly hurtful toward Suzanne and Miss Claudette, though he is kinder to other inmates, including Red and Watson. Larry's comments regarding fidelity convince Piper that he knows about her relationship with Alex. Piper calls Larry and confesses her infidelity. Larry reveals that during Thanksgiving, Healy told him that she was put in SHU for "lesbian activity." Piper admits to Larry that she loves Alex, which Larry sees as a deep betrayal. Larry then tells Piper that Alex did name her, thereby admitting that he lied earlier. He asks Piper, "How does it feel to be in love with the woman who ruined our lives?", and says that he needs time away from Piper.

Flashback: Flashbacks depict the fight and breakup between Piper and Alex following the death of Alex's mother.

12
12
"Fool Me Once"
Andrew McCarthy
Sara Hess
Pennsatucky
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Caputo catches Mendez having sex with Daya. To avoid a rape investigation, Mendez is put on unpaid leave. Daya tells Bennett about her plot, but Bennett is displeased that she framed Mendez. Mendez believes that Daya loves him, and he tells Bennett about Red's smuggling operation, after which Bennett informs Caputo. Claudette's appeal is denied, and she attacks Fischer, resulting in her being sent to maximum security. Unable to adjust to life outside, Taystee commits a crime and returns to prison. Cal gets engaged via text message. Red mediates between Healy and his mail-order bride. Yoga Jones tells Watson how she accidentally killed an eight-year-old child. A journalist following up on Larry's interview asks the deputy warden about spending cuts at Litchfield, despite an increase in the prison's funding. Piper and Alex argue, and Piper admits, "I am an emotionally manipulative narcissist who bailed on you when your mother died." Alex admits she ratted on Piper for dumping her, and lied to Piper because she wanted her to like her. Alex gives Piper a choice: nest with Larry or travel with her and be prepared for anything. Larry asks Piper to marry him immediately. Pennsatucky broods after being "beaten" by Piper, but her lawyer encourages Pennsatucky to witness to Piper. Piper "prays to Mr. Christ" for forgiveness, but she flatly refuses to be baptized. Pennsatucky sees this refusal as another instance of being "disrespected" and announces her plans to murder Piper.

Flashback: Pennsatucky shoots and kills an abortion provider who "disrespected" her with a snide remark after her fifth abortion. A Christian anti-abortion group, mistakenly believing her act was to stop abortions, declare her a hero for their movement and provide her with pro bono legal help. The flashbacks also imply that Pennsatucky was not particularly religious until that experience.

13
13
"Can't Fix Crazy"
Michael Trim
Tara Herrmann & Jenji Kohan
none
July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)

Caputo chooses Mendoza to replace Red as head cook. To reclaim her position, Red sabotages the kitchen. The resulting grease fire injures Murphy and prompts Norma to end her friendship with Red. Mendoza starts starving Red. Figueroa leans on Bennett to squash the investigation into Neptune's Produce, but Caputo fights to keep it on track. Bennett and Daya reach a low point in their relationship. Sophia receives a card from her son. Piper tells Alex that she is choosing Larry, and Alex cuts Piper out of her life. Larry visits Alex in prison and warns her to stay away from Piper, but Alex tells him that it was Piper who rekindled their sexual relationship. She asserts Larry's insecurity stems from Piper's weaknesses and not her machinations, telling him "I'm not your problem." After reflecting, Larry breaks up with Piper. Piper returns to Alex, but Alex pushes Piper away. Nicky seduces Alex. Piper is terrified after Pennsatucky demonstrates on herself how she could harm Piper in the shower with a razor blade. Taystee and her friends encourage Piper to strike back, and Big Boo gives Piper the screwdriver that was never returned to the electrical shop. Following the success of the Nativity Play at the Prison Christmas Pageant, Piper breaks into tears and leaves during the final song. Pennsatucky sneaks off the stage in her angel costume to follow Piper. Piper and Pennsatucky have a final confrontation. At the fight's start, Piper appeals to Healy for help, but he walks off and abandons her. When Pennsatucky charges at Piper with a shiv fashioned from a wooden Christian cross, Piper doubles her over with a kick to the groin, then drops her to the ground with an elbow to the head. The episode ends with an enraged Piper on top of Pennsatucky, relentlessly punching her.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main cast[edit]

text:
Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman, inmate
Laura Prepon as Alex Vause, inmate
Michael Harney as Sam Healy, correctional officer
Michelle Hurst as Miss Claudette Pelage, inmate
Kate Mulgrew as Galina "Red" Reznikov, inmate
Jason Biggs as Larry Bloom, Piper's fiancé

text: Recurring cast[edit]

text: Inmates[edit]

text:
Uzo Aduba as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren
Danielle Brooks as Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson
Natasha Lyonne as Nicky Nichols
Taryn Manning as Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett
Selenis Leyva as Gloria Mendoza
Adrienne C. Moore as Cindy "Black Cindy" Hayes
Dascha Polanco as Dayanara "Daya" Diaz
Yael Stone as Lorna Morello
Samira Wiley as Poussey Washington
Jackie Cruz as Marisol "Flaca" Gonzales
Lea DeLaria as Carrie "Big Boo" Black
Elizabeth Rodriguez as Aleida Diaz
Jessica Pimentel as Maria Ruiz
Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset
Annie Golden as Norma Romano
Laura Gómez as Blanca Flores
Diane Guerrero as Maritza Ramos
Vicky Jeudy as Janae Watson
Julie Lake as Angie Rice
Emma Myles as Leanne Taylor
Abigail Savage as Gina Murphy
Constance Shulman as Erica "Yoga" Jones
Lori Tan Chinn as Mei Chang
Tamara Torres as Gerrman "Weeping Woman"
Lin Tucci as Anita DeMarco
Beth Fowler as Sister Jane Ingalls
Barbara Rosenblat as Rosa "Miss Rosa" Cisneros
Madeline Brewer as Tricia Miller

text: Staff

text:
Nick Sandow as Joe Caputo
Catherine Curtin as Wanda Bell
Joel Marsh Garland as Scott O'Neill
Matt Peters as Joel Luschek
Alysia Reiner as Natalie "Fig" Figueroa
Brendan Burke as Wade Donaldson
Lolita Foster as Eliqua Maxwell
Matt McGorry as John Bennett
Pablo Schreiber as George "Pornstache" Mendez
Lauren Lapkus as Susan Fischer

text: Others

text:
Michael Chernus as Cal Chapman
Tanya Wright as Crystal Burset
Tracee Chimo as Neri Feldman
Berto Colon as Cesar
Deborah Rush as Carol Chapman
Maria Dizzia as Polly Harper

text: Production[edit]

text: Show creator Jenji Kohan read Piper Kerman's memoir after a friend sent it to her. She then set up a meeting with Kerman to pitch her on a TV adaptation, which she notes she "screwed up" as she spent most of the time asking Kerman about her experiences she described in the book rather than selling her on the show. This appealed to Kerman as it let her know that she was a fan and she signed off on the adaptation.[4] Kohan would later go on to describe the main character, Piper Chapman, as a "trojan horse" for the series, allowing it to focus on characters whose demographics would not normally be represented on TV.[5] In July 2011, it was revealed that Netflix was in negotiations with Lionsgate for a 13-episode TV adaptation of Kerman's memoirs with Kohan as creator.[1] In November 2011, negotiations were finalized and the series had been greenlit.[6]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Casting announcements began in August 2012 with Taylor Schilling, the first to be cast, in the lead role as Piper Chapman,[7] followed by Jason Biggs as Piper's fiancé Larry Bloom.[8] Laura Prepon and Yael Stone were next to join the series.[9] Abigail Savage, who plays Gina, and Alysia Reiner, who plays Fig, had auditioned for role of Alex Vause.[4][10] Prepon initially auditioned for Piper Chapman,[11] however Kohan felt she would not worry about her [in prison], noting a "toughness and a presence to her that wasn’t right for the character." Kohan instead gave her the role of Alex.[4] Stone had originally auditioned for the role of Nicky Nichols, but she was not considered "tough enough" for the character;[12] she was asked to audition for Lorna Morello instead.[13] Likability was important for Morello, whom casting director Jen Euston deemed "a very helpful, nice, sweet Italian girl."[13] Laverne Cox, a black transgender woman, was cast as Sophia Burset, a transgender character. The Advocate touted Orange Is the New Black as possibly the first women-in-prison narrative to cast a transgender woman for this type of role.[14] Natasha Lyonne was to audition for Alex, but was asked to read for the character Nicky Nichols; "[Kohan knew] she could do Nicky with her eyes closed. She was perfect," said Euston.[13] Uzo Aduba read for the part of Janae Watson but was offered the character Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren.[13][15] Taryn Manning was offered the role of Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett.[13] This American Life host Ira Glass was offered a role as a public radio host, but he declined. The role instead went to Robert Stanton, who plays the fictional host Maury Kind.[16]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Orange Is the New Black has received critical acclaim, particularly praised for humanizing prisoners[17][18] and for its depiction of race, sexuality, gender and body types.[19] The first season received positive reviews from critics, review aggregator Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating favorable reviews.[20] On Rotten Tomatoes, season one has a 93% approval rating based on 40 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10 . The site's critical consensus is "Orange Is the New Black is a sharp mix of black humor and dramatic heft, with interesting characters and an intriguing flashback structure."[21]

text: Hank Stuever, television critic for The Washington Post, gave Orange Is the New Black a perfect score. In his review of the series, he stated: "In Jenji Kohan's magnificent and thoroughly engrossing new series, Orange Is the New Black, prison is still the pits. But it is also filled with the entire range of human emotion and stories, all of which are brought vividly to life in a world where a stick of gum could ignite either a romance or a death threat."[22] Maureen Ryan, of The Huffington Post, wrote: "Orange is one of the best new programs of the year, and the six episodes I've seen have left me hungry to see more."[23]

text: Critics' top ten list[edit]

text: Orange Is the New Black was considered one of the best shows of the year by many critics and journalists.[24]

text:
1st — Boob Tube Dude
1st — The Daily Beast
2nd — Boston Globe
2nd — Film School Rejects
2nd — HitFix
2nd — Indiewire
2nd — Los Angeles Times
2nd — San Francisco Chronicle
2nd — Washington Post
3rd — PopMatters
3rd — Slate
3rd — Time
4th — Complex
4th — Entertainment Weekly (Melissa Maerz)
4th — Paste

5th — Grantland
5th — Lincoln Journal Star
6th — Entertainment Weekly (Jeff Jensen)
6th — New York Vulture
6th — Philadelphia Daily News
6th — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
8th — Austin Chronicle
8th — Filmmaker Magazine
8th — Houston Chronicle
8th — The Oregonian
9th — NPR
10th — NPR Fresh Air
— Huffington Post
— IGN
— RedEye Chicago

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Nominee(s)
Result
Ref.

American Film Institute Awards

Top 10 Television Programs of the Year
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[25]

Artios Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Series Comedy
Jennifer Euston, Emer O'Callaghan
Won

Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Pilot Comedy
Jennifer Euston
Won

Critics' Choice Television Awards

Best Comedy Series
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[26]

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kate Mulgrew
Won

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Laverne Cox
Nominated

Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba
Won

Dorian Awards

TV Drama of the Year
Orange Is the New Black
Won

LBGTQ TV Show of the Year
Orange Is the New Black
Won

TV Performance of the Year – Actress
Taylor Schilling
Nominated

GLAAD Media Awards

Outstanding Comedy Series
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[27]

Gold Derby Awards

Best Comedy Series
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[28]

Best Comedy Lead Actress
Taylor Schilling
Nominated

Best Comedy Supporting Actress
Kate Mulgrew
Won

Best Comedy Supporting Actress
Danielle Brooks
Nominated

Best Comedy Guest Actor
Pablo Schreiber
Won

Best Comedy Guest Actress
Uzo Aduba
Won

Best Comedy Guest Actress
Laverne Cox
Nominated

Best Comedy Guest Actress
Taryn Manning
Nominated

Best Comedy Episode of the Year
"Can't Fix Crazy"
Won

Best Ensemble of the Year

Won

Golden Globe Awards

Best Actress – Television Series Drama
Taylor Schilling
Nominated

[29][30]

Grammy Awards

Best Song Written for Visual Media
Regina Spektor – "You've Got Time"
Nominated

[31]

NAACP Image Awards

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Sara Hess
Nominated

[32]

People's Choice Awards

Favorite Streaming Series
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[33]

Primetime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Comedy Series

Nominated

[34]
[35]

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Taylor Schilling
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kate Mulgrew
Nominated

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Jodie Foster
Nominated

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Friedman, Kohan
Nominated

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba
Won

[36]
[37]

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Laverne Cox
Nominated

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Natasha Lyonne
Nominated

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
Jennifer Euston
Won

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
William Turro
Won

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
Shannon Mitchell
Nominated

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
Michael S. Stern
Nominated

Satellite Awards

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Orange Is the New Black
Won

[38]
[39]
[40]

Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
Taylor Schilling
Won

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Laura Prepon
Won

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Uzo Aduba
Nominated

Best Cast – Television Series

Cast[show]

Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Michael Harney, Michelle Hurst, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Biggs

Won

Television Critics Association Awards

Program of the Year
Orange Is the New Black
Nominated

[41]

Outstanding New Program
Orange Is the New Black
Won

Writers Guild of America Awards

Television: Comedy Series

Writers[show]

Liz Friedman, Sian Heder, Tara Herrmann, Sara Hess, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Lauren Morelli, Marco Ramirez

Nominated

[42]

Television: New Series

Writers[show]

Liz Friedman, Sian Heder, Tara Herrmann, Sara Hess, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Lauren Morelli, Marco Ramirez

Nominated

Television: Episodic Comedy
Friedman, Kohan
Nominated

Television: Episodic Comedy
Sian Heder
Nominated

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: The series began airing on broadcast television in New Zealand on TV2 on August 19, 2013.[43] It premiered in Australia on October 9, 2013, on Showcase.[44]