Early Opera The Birth of Opera: Florence, Mantua, and Venice

Opera: The word literally means "work," was first employed in the Italian phrase opera drammatica in musica (a dramatic work, or play, set to music). In the West, opera first appeared in Florence, Italy, at the turn of the seventeenth century. The fundamental idea of opera is that sung music can heighten the emotional intensity of a dramatic text.

Early Opera in Florence Florentine Camerata: A "club" or "circle" of prominent Florentines gathered to discuss literature, arts, and science in the home of Count Giovanni Bardi as early as the 1570s. The members of the Camerata sought to create a modern music that approximated the vocal declamation of ancient Greek tragedy.

Composer-singer Jacopo Peri portraying the mythological poet-singer Arion in Florence in 1589 Jacopo Peri: He was composer and singer that is known for creating the first true operas: 1)Dafne – The first known opera to have been written. Only a few parts of this opera remain today 2) Euridice – The first opera that remains today.

The Orpheus Legend is the mythological tale of the poet-singer Orpheus, the son Apollo, of the Greek god of the sun and of music. Orpheus (in Italian Orfeo) falls in love with the beautiful human Euridice, who dies shortly after their marriage as a result of a snake bite. Through the divine musical powers of his voice, Orpheus descends to the Underworld determined to restore Euridice to life. This he nearly accomplishes, overcoming the furies of Hades with the beauty of his expressive song. This mythological tale is important to the history of opera as numerous composers would set it to dramatic music over the next three centuries.

Early opera in Mantua: Monteverdi's Orfeo. Claudio Monteverdi—In the early 1600s Monteverdi took the idea for his opera from the legend of Orpheus and Euridice and titled it Orfeo (1607. Compared to earlier settings of the Orpheus legend, Monteverdi's is a richer, more complex version. As well as a larger number and variety of instruments, Orfeo features diverse kinds of music: choral songs, choral dances, instrumental interludes, and various kinds of solo singing.

Early opera in Venice When the first public theater opened in Venice in 1637, opera as we know it today was born. While in Florence, Rome, and Mantua opera was sponsored by aristocratic courts, in Venice it became the enterprise of wealthy merchant families who saw it as a way to make money. The audience was no longer a select group of two-hundred aristocratic guests, but a fee-paying crowd of as many as 1,500 drawn from many sections of society. Many Changes took place to the Opera 1. Star singers acquired great importance and wealth as opera houses competed amongst themselves for audience. 2. composers were forced to tailor the music to suit the voice of leading singers, while librettists wrote texts that would appeal to their audience 3.stage machinery and elaborate sets created an air of the spectacular

In 1613 Monteverdi quit his job in Mantua and moved to Venice, where he had accepted the prestigious position of maestro di cappella (director of music) at St. Mark's Basilica. In 1640, three years after the first public theater was opened for business in Venice, Monteverdi returned to the operatic stage. He did so with Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses), followed by Le nozze d'Enea (The Marriage of Aeneas, 1641) and L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea, 1642). The latter, based on a historical rather than mythological subject matter, is considered by many today as the greatest opera of the seventeenth century. Monteverdi Continued..

Example from Monteverdi’s Orpheo..\..\..\..\..\Public\Desktop\RealPlayer SP.lnk

Individual Project Each student will be given a manila folder. This folder is going to be your own personal project board. This project will count as part of your test grade! Using this folder as your board, you are to cover the following topics within your presentation. You may use pictures but they must relate to the area that you are using them in. All Pictures must be labeled as to what they are. BE CREATIVE!!!!! –Baroque charateristics (type of music, instruments, vocabulary) –Famous Composers – (pick on of the composers we have talked about and explain about their life and accomplishments –Opera – (Using the information you have been given, create an explanation of what you have learned)