Claudio Monteverdi's Orfeo and the development of Baroque Op
Any aspiring musician in this day and age should expect certain things from opera productions; drama, lyricism, and sensitive instrumental accompaniment. But if we observe operas written in the 16th century, we will find a very different style of vocal drama, a formality and dryness that has all but vanished in operas developing past the baroque, classical, and romantic eras. Then, is it possible to trace the seeds of expressive opera back to a specific work or composer at the dawn of the baroque? When asked to consider this question, the opera Orfeo, and its composer, Claudio Monteverdi, inevitably comes to mind, as possessing these seeds for future growth. But how can one justify giving credit to Orfeo, and to Monteverdi, for such radical change in the opera world over the years to follow?_____Before Monteverdi entered the baroque opera scene (which was early in the 17th century), opera was established as a lavish and extravagant, although not entirely refined art. Evolving from the intermedi and the madrigal-cycles of the late 16th century, opera was reserved for royalty and their special events, and was more theatrical than musical. Opera relied on costumes and scenery to bedazzle the audience, rather than the expressi
When Padre Cherubino Ferrari spoke of Orfeo, he said "The music serves the poetry so fittingly that it cannot be replaced by anything better" (Stevens, 132). When Monteverdi wrote Orfeo, he used different instrument groups with specific timbres, to suggest certain "spheres" in which the music took place (Grove 17: 39). By placing recitatives between his familiar forms of duets and madrigals (along with dances), he was able to expand Renucci's libretto into a five-act opera, with a new libretto by Striggio. By the time he became director, there had already been two productions of an opera based on the myth of Orpheus and Euridice in Italy, in the towns of Milan and Florence. Monteverdi said, "the text should be the master of the music, not the slave" (Machlis & Fourney, 366). As Monteverdi's contemporaries began working with the new and popular form of opera which had become so popular in Venice, and shortly thereafter all over Europe, it had "moved from being something of an intellectual speculation, performed for a small group of connoisseurs, to a grand, expensive spectacle" (Oliver, 3). _____By Monteverdi being more demanding of his musicians, and taking a chance when the change into the Baroque era seemed inevitable, he was able to write an opera which is still performed and recorded today. In 1589, Monteverdi left Cremona for Milan, hoping to gain a position in the choir there, which ultimately he did not (Sun, 2). It wasn't until 1601 that he was given the position of maestro di cappella in the Mantuan academy, at which point he was already married, had three children, and was in his mid-thirties (Grove 17: 30). A small, narrow room was picked for performance in the apartments of Lady Ferrara, who was the sister of Duke Vincenzo (Kelly, 31). Monteverdi then left Mantua for Cremona to stay with his father, who requested to be honorably dismissed from the court of Vincenzo, because of his poor health and even poorer salary. Although Monteverdi and his contemporaries rarely wrote for ensembles as large as 40 members (probably for financial reasons), as orchestras grew during the classical and romantic eras, ensembles began to reach the proportions of Orfeo once more. This he carried over to his opera, which was both a new medium for him, and generally speaking for the public, in the form that he intended to write it. Clearly Orfeo led the way for the last 400 years in that we have enjoyed opera, before its time in size and stature, and a testament to the hard work and innovation of this great composer, Claudio Monteverdi.
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