Opera series introduction
Opera as a genre emerges in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and continues unbroken to the present day. Baroque opera inhabits the complex musical, political and social realms of European society and marries texts, myriad forms of instrumental and vocal sub-genres, dances, choruses, and spectacle to provide not only a fascinating musical product but also a unique lens through which we can better understand given places and moments in time. In this five-part series, the historical and social context of Baroque opera will be considered together with practical insights on historical performance practices drawn from primary sources, demonstrated with musical examples, and put into performance by leading singers of historically informed performance.
Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607): A Lamenting Tenor and a New Genre?
Aaron Sheehan (tenor) and Linda Pearse (lecture)
Sing and play along with one of the earliest operas, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo – favola in musica. In this first class we will consider the formative elements of early opera, including the Commedia dell’arte and its influential singers, the Italian madrigal, and the use of continuo, as well as important intellectual thoughts and scientific developments during the decades surrounding the turn of the seventeenth century in Italy. Opera is often cast as a new development but many of its ingredients were already present in other musical and dramatic forms. Grammy award-winning early music specialist Aaron Sheehan will provide musical instruction and perform examples.
We will examine the recitative lament “Tu sei morta” for tenor voice and consider it together with examples of ornamentation provided in the introduction to Giulio Caccini’s publication Le nuove musiche (1602). How did this aria codify key aspects of the lament? What might this excerpt teach us about approaches to performing early Italian music? We will also consider the virtuoso aria “Possente spirto” with its numerous ritornelli for a changing roster of instruments that heighten the intensity of Orfeo’s plea to pass into Hades and save Euridice. Materials and play-along recordings will be provided in advance. Join us as we set the stage for opera!