Opera was born in Italy. Its way was prepared by musical discussion among a small group of nobles, poets, and composers who began to meet regularly in Florence around 1575. This group was known as the Camerata (Italian for fellowship or society)
The Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greek tragedy. Since no actual dramatic music had come down to them from the Greeks, they based their theories on literary accounts that had survived. It was believed that the Greek dramas had been sung throughout in a style that was midway between melody and speech. The Camerata wanted the vocal line to follow the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech. Because it was modeled after speech, the new vocal style became known as recitative (recited). It was sung by a soloist with only a simple chordal accompaniment. The new music was therefore homophonic in texture. Polyphony was rejected by the Camerata because different words sounding simultaneously would obscure the all-important text.
Much baroque opera was composed for ceremonial occasions at court and was designed as a display of magnificence and splendor. The subject matter was drawn from Greek tragedy and ancient history. Not only were aristocratic patrons of the baroque fascinated by the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, but they identified with Greek and Roman heroes and divinities. Opera did indeed reflect the creative urge of composer and librettist, but it also was a way to flatter the aristocracy. The radiant appearance of Apollo (the god of poetry, music, and the sun) might symbolize a prince’s enlightened rule.
The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637; now anyone with the price of admission could attend an opera performance. Between 1737 and 1800 there were seventeen opera houses in Venice alone, as well as many in other Italian cities---ample evidence that opera had been born in the right place at the right time. Hamburg, Leipzig, and London, had public opera houses by the early 1700’s, but, on the whole, public opera outside Italy took longer to develop.
Venetian opera became a great tourist attraction. An English traveler wrote in 1645 about the opera and its “variety of scenes painted and contrived with no less art of perspective and machines for flying in the air, and other wonderful motions; taken together, it is one of the most magnificent and expensive diversions the wit of man can invent.” The stage machinery of baroque opera bordered on the colossal; stage effects might include gods descending on clouds or riding across the sky in chariots, ships tossing, boulders splitting. And set design was an art itself. Painters turned backdrops into cities with arches and avenues that stretched into the distant horizon.
Baroque opera marked the rise of virtuoso singers. Chief among these was the castrato, a male singer who had been castrated before puberty. (Castration of boy singers was common in Italy from 1600 to 1800; it was usually done with the consent of impoverished parents who hoped their sons would become highly paid opera stars)
A castrato combined the lung power of a man with the vocal range of a woman. His agility, breath control and unique sound (which was not like a woman’s) intrigued listeners. With their soprano or alto vocal ranges, they played male roles such as Caesar and Nero---baroque audiences evidently were more interested in vocal virtuosity than dramatic realism. Some baroque operas cannot be performed today, because contemporary singers aren’t able to manage the fiendishly difficult castrato parts.
During the late baroque, operas consisted largely of arias linked by recitatives. These recitatives were usually accompanied by a basso continuo, in which case they are called secco recitatives. At emotional high points and moments of tension, however, they might be supported by the orchestra; they are then called accompanied recitatives.
All action stopped during the aria, when the singer faced the audience, expressed the feelings of the character, and displayed vocal virtuosity. By combining virtuosity, nobility, and extravagance, baroque opera perfectly expressed the spirit of a grand age.
text from Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien
The Camerata wanted to create a new vocal style modeled on the music of ancient Greek tragedy. Since no actual dramatic music had come down to them from the Greeks, they based their theories on literary accounts that had survived. It was believed that the Greek dramas had been sung throughout in a style that was midway between melody and speech. The Camerata wanted the vocal line to follow the rhythms and pitch fluctuations of speech. Because it was modeled after speech, the new vocal style became known as recitative (recited). It was sung by a soloist with only a simple chordal accompaniment. The new music was therefore homophonic in texture. Polyphony was rejected by the Camerata because different words sounding simultaneously would obscure the all-important text.
Much baroque opera was composed for ceremonial occasions at court and was designed as a display of magnificence and splendor. The subject matter was drawn from Greek tragedy and ancient history. Not only were aristocratic patrons of the baroque fascinated by the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, but they identified with Greek and Roman heroes and divinities. Opera did indeed reflect the creative urge of composer and librettist, but it also was a way to flatter the aristocracy. The radiant appearance of Apollo (the god of poetry, music, and the sun) might symbolize a prince’s enlightened rule.
The first public opera house opened in Venice in 1637; now anyone with the price of admission could attend an opera performance. Between 1737 and 1800 there were seventeen opera houses in Venice alone, as well as many in other Italian cities---ample evidence that opera had been born in the right place at the right time. Hamburg, Leipzig, and London, had public opera houses by the early 1700’s, but, on the whole, public opera outside Italy took longer to develop.
Venetian opera became a great tourist attraction. An English traveler wrote in 1645 about the opera and its “variety of scenes painted and contrived with no less art of perspective and machines for flying in the air, and other wonderful motions; taken together, it is one of the most magnificent and expensive diversions the wit of man can invent.” The stage machinery of baroque opera bordered on the colossal; stage effects might include gods descending on clouds or riding across the sky in chariots, ships tossing, boulders splitting. And set design was an art itself. Painters turned backdrops into cities with arches and avenues that stretched into the distant horizon.
Baroque opera marked the rise of virtuoso singers. Chief among these was the castrato, a male singer who had been castrated before puberty. (Castration of boy singers was common in Italy from 1600 to 1800; it was usually done with the consent of impoverished parents who hoped their sons would become highly paid opera stars)
A castrato combined the lung power of a man with the vocal range of a woman. His agility, breath control and unique sound (which was not like a woman’s) intrigued listeners. With their soprano or alto vocal ranges, they played male roles such as Caesar and Nero---baroque audiences evidently were more interested in vocal virtuosity than dramatic realism. Some baroque operas cannot be performed today, because contemporary singers aren’t able to manage the fiendishly difficult castrato parts.
During the late baroque, operas consisted largely of arias linked by recitatives. These recitatives were usually accompanied by a basso continuo, in which case they are called secco recitatives. At emotional high points and moments of tension, however, they might be supported by the orchestra; they are then called accompanied recitatives.
All action stopped during the aria, when the singer faced the audience, expressed the feelings of the character, and displayed vocal virtuosity. By combining virtuosity, nobility, and extravagance, baroque opera perfectly expressed the spirit of a grand age.
text from Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien
