8/6/2019 A Brief History of Italian Opera

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A Brief History of Italian Opera

Around the year 1600, Italian composers started writing theater pieces that use music all the way

through them. Instead of speaking, characters in operas sing their lines. From Claudio Monteverdi,

who wrote the earliest opera that is still performed, through Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and

Puccini, Italy has produced some of the worlds finest opera composers

Opera is a part of Western classical music tradition, that started in the 16th century; where

singers and musicians perform a dramatic work, w hich includes a text and musical score.

Opera comprises of many elements of spoken theater; such as, acting, scenery, costumes

and even dance, played along with an orchestra or a small musical ensemble. Mozart was

one of the most well -known figure in Itali an Opera, who started seria,the most esteemed

form of Italian opera. Later, he became popular for his Italian comic operas like, The

Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte and The Magic Flute. Rossini, Bellini, Verdi

and Puccini were some of the most famous opera composers. Some of the famous Italian

Opera, an integral part of the Western classical music tradition, is a beautiful blend ofmusic, dance

and drama. It is an exquisite art form wherein singers and musicians put up a dramatic work on stage.

An opera house is a theater consisting of a stage, an orchestra pit, backstage facilities and seating for

the audience that is used for opera performances. Opera has a glorious history that begins with the

popular works by Monteverdi, Purcell and Cavalli of the seventeenth century and ranges right up to

the twentieth century works of Messiaen, Berio, Adams and others. Lets take a tour to the era that

witnessed the origin of opera and also look at a brief history of this popular art form.

When and where did opera begin? Dafne, created by Jacopo Peri, an Italian composer and

singer, is regarded as the earliest opera composition. It was largely inspired by an elite circle

of Florentine humanists. The orchestration of Dafne consisted of a harpsichord, a lute, a viol,

a triple flute and an archlute. Sadly, no one has been able to trace it till date. Euridice, awork of the same composer has survived and is one of the ancient operas surviving today.

Euridice was composed for the marriage of Henry IV and Maria de Medici.

By 1637, the opera had not remained confined to the court. Public performances of operas

had begun. They soon acquired a style of their own and began gaining appreciation from

society. However, opera had to face criticism from some sections of society, whi ch believed

that it had lost its dramatic purity. There was a fear among certain people that opera might

lose its original form. Bel canto, literally meaning 'beautiful singing', is an Italian opera that

requires agility and pitch control for performance. It received greater impetus in the

nineteenth century, wiping out criticism and fear in the minds of the masses