A mad scene (French: Scène de folie; German: Wahnsinnsszene; Italian: Scena della pazzia) is an enactment of insanity in an opera, play, [1] or the like. It may be well contained in a number, appear during or recur throughout a more through-composed work, be deployed in a finale, form the underlying basis of the work, or constitute the entire work.

Jan 25, 2012 · As Anna Bolena returns to the Met next month, blogger Olivia Giovetti considers its pivotal mad scene and names ten others that have made their mark on the history of opera.

Il dolce suono" ("The Sweet Sound") is the incipit of the recitativo of a scena ed aria taken from Act III scene 2, Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. It is also commonly known as the "mad scene" sung by the leading soprano, Lucia.

Mar 19, 2025 · The mother of all mad scenes, the title character has murdered her husband (on the night of their arranged marriage!), and falls into a state of mania. She appears in the wedding hall, disoriented but covered in blood. The vocally demanding role is often complemented by shocking stagecraft and blood-stained wardrobe. The tempestuous, demanding ...

Sep 20, 2016 · The vast majority of mad scenes were written for the leading soprano, providing her the ultimate opportunity to showcase her skills. Many of these pieces are extremely demanding, full of expressive and challenging coloratura passages. Here are some of the most famous mad scenes in the canon…

Mar 7, 2018 · While these five moments in opera represent some of the greatest mad scenes, we can’t forget those of “Anna Bolena” and “Roberto Devereux” which showcase the downfall of two powerful queens, the madness of Imogene in “Il Pirata,” the sleepwalking scene in “La Sonnambula,” which recently has been portrayed with some delusional ...

Although the most famous examples come from bel canto operas, mad scenes can in fact be found in every era, from Handel's Orlando to Britten's Peter Grimes. It's often a moment of vocal virtuosity for sopranos, but you will discover in our selection below that tenors and baritones are not spared from madness.

Scene 2 starts with Chaplin Raimondo entering and telling everyone at the wedding party that Lucia has gone mad and killed her bridegroom. Lucia enters, typically in a white peignoir stained with blood, holding a dagger in hand.

Feb 11, 2017 · A mad scene is generally designed as a vocally intense showcase of insanity in an opera or play. A popular convention of the bel canto era; it figured prominently in Italian and French opera in the early nineteenth century, though examples may also be found in earlier works, such as in Handel's Orlando or Mozart's Idomeneo .

This research explores the representation of female madness as power in the mad scenes of two famously mad opera characters: Lucia from Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) and Ophélie from Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet (1868).