September Play On! Materials
LE MARÉCHAL FERRANT / THE BLACKSMITH
This month, we are learning about Philidor’s The Blacksmith, or Le Maréchal ferrant. We get to meet some incredible artists: bassist Doug Balliet, and tenor Arnold Livingston Geis, who both perform beautifully in our production of The Blacksmith. They will help us learn the power of storytelling through music and lyrics, as we learn songs from the show, and discover the power of rhythm and melody.
OFFLINE ACTIVITIES
Download and print this coloring page designed just for Opera Starts with Oh! by Brad Goddell in Mancos, Colorado!
MORE FROM DOUG!
Doug tells chapter 1 of the Greco-Roman myth Daphne, according to Ovid using creative rhythms and music.
Visit Doug’s website: DOUG BALLIETT
MORE FROM ARNOLD!
See an excerpt from Arnold’s recent performance in La Cenerentola (Cinderella!)
Visit Arnold’s website: Artist | Arnold Livingston Geis, tenor
CHECK OUT THE CAST!
The cast of The Blacksmith performing last fall in Colorado
Watch as the cast and creative team from Opera Lafayette share the story of The Blacksmith
SING AND DANCE!
In the American West, Cowboys didn’t have electronics, TV, or recorded music to keep them entertained, but music was still a big part of their lives. To pass the time, they would make up songs and sing them together.
In our production of The Blacksmith, we introduce many American folk songs, and have the audience sing along!
Here’s an example of an old cowboy song that we hear in our production: can you sing along to the chorus?
Get Along Little Dogies - with Arlo Guthrie and the Muppets
Here are some other American folk songs that you can sing and dance along to from home:
DESIGN!
Be a Blacksmith! Decorate your own horseshoe:
Feel free to print out the picture below and use crayons, markers, colored pencils, glitter, or whatever other art supplies you have to design your own horseshoe!
Watch this excerpt from the 1976 film adaptation of Le Maréchal ferrant, a film by Georges Rouquier - skip ahead to 1:42 to see The Blacksmith at work!
We can get creative and make instruments out of things in our home. Look at this musician and his cardboard Banjo
Here’s how you can make your own cardboard banjo, so you can play and sing these songs, and maybe even write your own!
And here are some other examples of instruments you can make at home:
LEARN FRENCH!
Philidor’s original opera, Le Maréchal ferrant, was performed in French. Can you learn these new vocabulary words?
Horse – un cheval
Hammer – un marteau
Music -la musique
Love – l’amour
Family – la famille
OPERA STARTS WITH OH! IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM PART OF
KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD LOVE THIS?
Send them this link and have them register for the next class or the full series!