They're still waiting for their cue.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
There are characters in opera who do not necessarily have to appear onstage--or even sing!--to have a dramatic impact on a plot or story-line. Here's a look at five of these "invisible" characters. Without them, these operas would be dead in the water. To be on this list a character cannot have died before the plot of the opera begins. That disqualified Agammemnon (Elektra), Princess Lou-Ling (Turandot) and a long list of others.
The Duchess of Mantua
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Those who know Rigoletto know that Verdi's Duke of Mantua is a walking bundle of hormones who sleeps with any girl in a skirt. However, His Dukeness is married, to an unseen Duchess. She never appears onstage, but has a crucial part to play in Act II. When the Duchess sends her page in to give a message to the Duke, the distraught Rigoletto realizes that his kidnapped daughter is in his employer's bedchamber, being ravished by the Duke. He breaks down and eventually swears revenge. Of course, the jester's revenge backfires horribly, but that's in Act III.
Don José's Mother
Carmen by Georges Bizet.
Yes, the doomed soldier from Carmen is good to his Mom. Having abandoned his military career for the life of a mountaintop smuggler, José then faces a terrible choice between three women in Act III of Bizet's most famous opera. There is Micaëla, a nice girl from his hometown in Navarre and his childhood sweetheart. In Act III, José's obsessive love for Carmen is stifling the title character. It's almost a relief when Micaëla shows up in the smuggler's camp (risking her life) and tells José that his mother is on her deathbed. He relucantly goes with her--the event that causes him to lose the fickle Carmen to the bullfighter, Escamillo. Although the romance is dead, José cannot stay away. He accosts Carmen outside the bullring, and stabs her to death.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
There are characters in opera who do not necessarily have to appear onstage--or even sing!--to have a dramatic impact on a plot or story-line. Here's a look at five of these "invisible" characters. Without them, these operas would be dead in the water. To be on this list a character cannot have died before the plot of the opera begins. That disqualified Agammemnon (Elektra), Princess Lou-Ling (Turandot) and a long list of others.
The Duchess of Mantua
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Those who know Rigoletto know that Verdi's Duke of Mantua is a walking bundle of hormones who sleeps with any girl in a skirt. However, His Dukeness is married, to an unseen Duchess. She never appears onstage, but has a crucial part to play in Act II. When the Duchess sends her page in to give a message to the Duke, the distraught Rigoletto realizes that his kidnapped daughter is in his employer's bedchamber, being ravished by the Duke. He breaks down and eventually swears revenge. Of course, the jester's revenge backfires horribly, but that's in Act III.
Don José's Mother
Carmen by Georges Bizet.
Yes, the doomed soldier from Carmen is good to his Mom. Having abandoned his military career for the life of a mountaintop smuggler, José then faces a terrible choice between three women in Act III of Bizet's most famous opera. There is Micaëla, a nice girl from his hometown in Navarre and his childhood sweetheart. In Act III, José's obsessive love for Carmen is stifling the title character. It's almost a relief when Micaëla shows up in the smuggler's camp (risking her life) and tells José that his mother is on her deathbed. He relucantly goes with her--the event that causes him to lose the fickle Carmen to the bullfighter, Escamillo. Although the romance is dead, José cannot stay away. He accosts Carmen outside the bullring, and stabs her to death.
