Italian opera. Opera history

Opera is one of the most important musical and theatrical genres. It is a mixture of music, vocals, painting and acting skills, and is highly valued by adherents of classical art. It is not surprising that in music lessons, the first thing a child is given is a report on this topic.

Where does it begin?

It begins with an overture. This is the intro performed symphony orchestra . Designed to set the mood and atmosphere of the play.

What's going on

The overture is followed by the main part of the performance. This is a grandiose performance, divided into acts - complete parts of the performance, between which there are intermissions. Intermissions can be long, so that the audience and participants in the production can rest, or short, when the curtain is lowered only to change the scenery.

The main body driving force All are solo arias. They are performed by actors - characters in the story. Arias reveal the plot, character and feelings of the characters. Sometimes recitatives are inserted between the arias - melodious rhythmic cues - or the usual Speaking.

The literary part is based on the libretto. It's kind of a scenario summary works . In rare cases, poems are written by composers themselves., such as Wagner. But most often the words for the opera are written by the librettist.

Where does it end?

The finale of the opera performance is the epilogue. This part performs the same function as the literary epilogue. This could be a story about future fate heroes, or summing up and defining morality.

Opera history

Wikipedia has a wealth of information on this topic, but this article provides a condensed history of the musical genre mentioned.

Ancient tragedy and the Florentine Camerata

The birthplace of opera is Italy. However, the roots of this genre go back to Ancient Greece, where for the first time they began to combine stage and vocal art. Unlike modern opera, where the main emphasis is on music, in ancient Greek tragedy They only alternated between normal speech and singing. This art form continued to develop among the Romans. In ancient Roman tragedies, solo parts gained weight, and musical inserts began to be used more often.

Second life ancient tragedy got it at the end XVI century. Revive ancient tradition decided by the community of poets and musicians - the Florentine Camerata. They created a new genre called "drama through music." In contrast to the polyphony popular at that time, camerata works were monophonic melodic recitations. Theater production and musical accompaniment were intended only to emphasize the expressiveness and sensuality of poetry.

It is believed that the first opera production was released in 1598. Unfortunately, from the work “Daphne”, written by the composer Jacopo Peri and the poet Ottavio Rinuccini, in our time only the title remains . But “Eurydice” belongs to them., which is the earliest surviving opera. However, this is a glorious work for modern society- just an echo of the past. But the opera “Orpheus,” written by the famous Claudio Monteverdi in 1607 for the Mantuan court, can still be seen in theaters to this day. The Gonzaga family, which ruled Mantua at that time, made a significant contribution to the emergence of the opera genre.

Drama Theater

The members of the Florentine Camerata could be called "rebels" of their time. Indeed, in an era when the fashion for music is dictated by the church, they turned to the pagan myths and legends of Greece, renouncing the aesthetic norms accepted in society, and created something new. However, even before them unusual solutions brought drama theatre. This trend flourished during the Renaissance.

By experimenting and focusing on the audience's reaction, this genre developed own style. Representatives drama theater used music and dance in their productions. The new kind art enjoyed enormous popularity. It was the influence of the dramatic theater that helped “drama through music” reach a new level of expressiveness.

Opera art continued develop and gain popularity. However, truly this musical genre flourished in Venice when Benedetto Ferrari and Francesco Manelli opened the first public opera house, San Cassiano, in 1637. Thanks to this event, musical works This type ceased to be entertainment for courtiers and reached the commercial level. At this time, the reign of castrati and prima donnas in the world of music began.

Distribution abroad

Already by the middle of the 17th century, the art of opera, with the support of the aristocracy, developed into a separate independent genre and accessible entertainment for the masses. Thanks to traveling troupes, this type of performance spread throughout Italy, and began to win audiences abroad.

The first Italian representation of the genre to be presented abroad was called Galatea. It was performed in 1628 in the city of Warsaw. Not long after, another work was performed at court - “La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina” by Francesca Caccini. This work is also the earliest extant opera written by women.

Francesco Cavalli's Jason was the most popular opera of the 17th century. In this regard, in 1660 he was invited to France for a wedding Louis XIV. However, his “Xerxes” and “Hercules in Love” were not successful with the French public.

Antonio Cesti, who was asked to write an opera for the Austrian Habsburg family, achieved more success. His grandiose performance Golden Apple"lasted two days. The unprecedented success marked the rise of the Italian operatic tradition in European music.

Seria and buffa

In the 18th century, opera genres such as seria and buffa gained particular popularity. Although both originated in Naples, the two genres represent fundamental opposites. Opera seria literally means "serious opera". This is a product of the era of classicism, which encouraged purity of genre and typification in art. The series is distinguished by the following qualities:

• historical or mythological stories;
• the predominance of recitatives over arias;
• separation of the roles of music and text;
• minimal character customization;
• static action.

The most successful and famous librettist in this genre was Pietro Metastasio. Different composers wrote dozens of operas based on his best librettos.

At the same time, the buffa comedy genre was developing in parallel and independently. If the series tells stories of the past, then buffa devotes its plots to modern and everyday situations. This genre evolved from short comedy skits, which were staged during intermissions of the main performance and were separate works. Gradually this type of art gained popularity and was realized as full-fledged independent performances.

Gluck reform

German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck firmly imprinted his name in the history of music. When opera seria dominated the stages of Europe, he persistently promoted his own vision opera art. He believed that drama should rule the show, and the task of music, vocals and choreography should be to promote and emphasize it. Gluck argued that composers should abandon spectacular performances in favor of "simple beauty." That all elements of the opera should be a continuation of each other and form a single harmonious plot.

He began his reform in 1762 in Vienna. Together with the librettist Ranieri de Calzabigi, he staged three plays, but they did not receive a response. Then in 1773 he went to Paris. His reform activities lasted until 1779, and caused a lot of controversy and unrest among music lovers . Gluck's ideas had a great influence on the development of the opera genre. They are also reflected in reforms of the 19th century century.

Types of opera

Over more than four centuries of history, the opera genre has undergone many changes and brought a lot to music world. During this time, several types of opera emerged:

Nikolaevskaya comprehensive school №18

Essay
on the topic: “Italy is the birthplace of opera. Russian ballet"

Performed:
11th grade student
Goncharenko Marina

Nikolaev
2014

Italy is the birthplace of opera

The birthplace of opera is Italy. Brought to life by the humanistic ideals of the Italian Renaissance, this genre arose at the end of the 16th century. In the unity of poetry, music and theater, a group of enlightened Florentine poets and musicians were looking for ways to revive ancient theater, to the creation of synthetic art capable of truthfully expressing human feelings. The Florentines proclaimed the dominance of poetry over music; Having abandoned medieval polyphony, they put forward a new, homophonic-recitative style. According to B. Asafiev, the recitative pastorals of the Florentines were “their own city’s propylaea” to the opera.

During the first half of the 17th century. opera gradually took shape as a genre, acquiring a new direction in its development: going beyond the narrow circle of Florentine poets and musicians, it came into contact with a wide audience in Mantua, Rome, then in Venice, where in the 30s. XVII century The world's first permanent opera house was opened. Chamber performances of the Florentines gave way to magnificent theatrical performances; at the same time, music began to take precedence over the text - the declamatory style was gradually replaced by the cantilena.

Highest Achievement Italian opera The 17th century is the work of two remarkable composers: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725).

Monteverdi worked in Mantua and then in Venice, where he created his best works. He was the first great opera composer to embody theater stage strong characters and great passions. He enriched the opera with a number of new musical and expressive means; he combined melodious recitation with cantilena; He subordinated melody, harmony and orchestral writing to a dramatic concept. Ahead of his era, Monteverdi followed the path of creating a realistic musical drama.

In the performances of subsequent Italian composers, the dramatic content gradually faded into the background; with this in opera music The role of virtuoso singing increased more and more.

The development of Italian opera in the second half of the 17th and 18th centuries. associated with lush flowering vocal art. The work of A. Scarlatti laid the foundation for the famous Neapolitan school, which at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries took the dominant place previously held by Venetian school. Having adopted the experience of Florentine, Roman and Venetian masters, the Neapolitans used their creative achievements.

In Naples, the genre of Italian opera finally took shape, where music dominated the text, where the types of vocal forms were determined and the art of singing flourished. Wonderful Italian singers became famous throughout the world not only for their beautiful voices, but also for their highest vocal skill, called bel canto. However, throughout the 18th century. the art of bel canto gradually took on an increasingly external, virtuosic character. The best Italian singers possessed the creative gift of improvisation; While performing arias, they varied them and improvised cadences. Trying to imitate the famous masters of bel canto, less talented vocalists often crossed the boundaries of what was artistically justifiable in their performance.

The singers' passion for virtuosic technique also influenced the work of composers. Yielding to the tastes of the public and the habits of the singers, composers often overloaded arias with virtuoso embellishments. Acquiring an external shine, the music gradually lost the emotional expressiveness that marked the work of A. Scarlatti and his closest followers. Virtuoso singers took first place in opera, pushing the composer and librettist into the background. When composing an opera, it was necessary, first of all, to provide “spectacular numbers” for the public’s favorites performing in it.
The composers of the Neapolitan school, even during its peak period, were little concerned with issues of dramaturgy....

Puccini. Italy, recognized homeland this genre musical art, V different eras gave the world unsurpassed masterpieces, however, the 19th century is rightfully considered the “golden age” of Italian opera.

"On opera stage Even the smallest joys or dull passions give pleasure. We are not talking about the painful tension that accompanies the growing vibrato, and not only about the insane rush of the voice shaking the walls of the theater. We are talking about a genuine effort to get off the ground, about the fluttering of wings. With such exposure of feelings, the audience, in turn, also trembles. After all, this is about her,” wrote the famous Italian musical critic Gustavo Marchesi.

Among all types performing arts opera is the most synthetic, combining genres that are far from each other - music, poetry and theater. Modern opera owes its appearance to the community of Italian poets and musicians “Florentine Circle”, which formed at the very beginning of the 17th century. A group of talented like-minded people set themselves the goal of reviving the fusion of great genres of art, following the example of ancient authors. Therefore, the birthplace of modern opera is, without a doubt, Italy. Over the next three centuries, a galaxy of Italian composers who adopted a new musical genre secured their country’s reputation as a true “queen of opera.” Among the great opera composers of the world, most of the names are Italian - Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini.

At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Italian opera art was experiencing a period of stagnation. The traditional opera seria and opera buffa have exhausted their capabilities. The activities of the largest Italian composer of that time, Gaspare Spontini, took place outside his homeland. At the same time, the richest traditions of opera singing were preserved in Italy. Bel canto or “beautiful singing” - a vocal technique that arose in the mid-17th century, reaches highest point in the works of the great Italian composers of the 19th century V.

Bel Canto- a performance style characterized by lightness and beauty of sound, impeccable cantilena (melody), grace and virtuosity. This style originated in Italy in the mid-17th century. and was formed on the basis phonetic features Italian language. The influence of bel canto on the vocal schools of Europe was so strong that opera composers wrote their works based on the features of this style. In addition to Italy, bel canto showed itself in the works of G.F. Mendel, K.V. Gluck and especially W.A. Mozart.

Having formed as a genre in Italy, opera quickly spread throughout Europe from 1597. However, the trendsetters in the new art form invariably remained Italian composers, such as Claudio and Alessandro Scarlatti.

Originating as a "drama with music", opera early XIX V. turned into pure musical performance, in which there was almost no place left for recitative - rhythmic chanting - and arias organically fit into the plot of the performance. An aria (literally "air") is a long solo number. During the performance of the aria, everything stage action froze, and almost every phenomenon usually ended with it.

The recitative preserved in the dialogues was usually accompanied by chords of the harpsichord (harpsichord), when the exchange of remarks took place in the process of developing the action, and introductions of the entire orchestra to express strong feelings or experience.

In those days, the aria was a solo number of the da capo (“first”) type, that is, the main theme was performed first, followed by a secondary theme, followed by a repetition main topic. In the third part, completely unnecessary from the point of view of the plot, it was demonstrated vocal skill performer, and, in fact, for this reason the entire aria was included in the opera. Famous singers decorated their parts with such virtuosic passages that they eventually turned into incredibly complex vocal numbers that brought the audience into frantic delight.

The greatest opera performers of the era were castrati - male singers who were castrated as children to preserve their boyish soprano voice. Such a voice, supported by the strength of an adult organism, was distinguished by amazing purity and flexibility, and in the 18th century the hearts of the public were captivated by outstanding castrati singers, one of whom was Farinelli (1705-82).

Opera Seria

Until the 19th century. The leading roles in opera seria ("serious operas") were performed by male sopranos, and only later were they replaced by tenors. Opera Seria was very far from real life action, and its plots - as a rule, episodes from ancient history in a free interpretation - amaze modern audiences with their artificiality. However, it was in this genre that Italian opera conquered all of Europe, where almost all performances were performed on Italian. Even the German Handel and the great opera reformers Gluck and Mozart wrote music to Italian librettos. Only France formed its own national tradition, the foundations of which were laid by Jean Baptiste Lully. However, he also began his life path in Florence under the name Giovanni Battista Lulli.

Opera buffa

TO mid-18th century century, opera buffa, or comic opera, began to compete with opera seria. In this fun musical performance acted with a rapid change of events simple people in ordinary everyday situations, and even getting into ridiculous or predicaments, the characters showed real emotions (unlike the pompous outpourings in the opera seria). In opera buffa, familiar vices were ridiculed, such as greed and vanity. Offering the viewer a completely different tradition, opera buffa also gained significant popularity outside of Italy, and in France it even provoked the pamphlet “war of the buffons.” The brilliant composers Pergolesi, Paisiello and Cimarosa worked in this genre.

In the 18th century The clear line between serious and comic opera gradually became blurred, and comic characters and episodes began to appear in serious opera. With the development of ensembles in which different characters, leading a common melody, simultaneously expressed different feelings, the aria lost its leading position. These and a number of other changes gave the opera greater flexibility and drama. By 1800, the era of castrati had come to an end, although the soloists - now, as a rule, women (prima donnas) - still performed the most complex virtuoso arias, the popularity of which sometimes even eclipsed the glory of their performer!

Rossini

No matter how great the achievements of past eras were, the 19th century rightfully became the golden age of Italian opera. The first great composer of the new formation was Gioachino Rossini, a prolific genius who wrote serious and comic operas with equal brilliance. To this day, his comic operas “The Italian in Algiers” (1813) and the famous “The Barber of Seville” (1816) are loved by the public. The latter was written in less than two weeks, and the author borrowed some fragments from his old works.

In 1824, Rossini moved to Paris, which by that time had become the musical capital of Europe, and began writing operas in french style with the same ease as in Italian. His William Tell (1829), a grand opera about the legendary Swiss archer, is so drawn out that it is rarely performed without cuts these days. But its overture (orchestral introduction before the curtain goes up) has become the most popular classical work.

After William Tell, the maestro stopped writing for the stage, although by that time he had barely reached the age of 37 and was in the prime of his strength and talent. The reasons for this decision still remain a mystery. Rossini spent the rest of his life - 39 years - in complete contentment and prosperity.

Romantics

Rossini's followers were deeply influenced by romanticism - ideologically and artistic direction in European and American spiritual culture, which revered highest values the struggle of passions and extreme individualism.

A true tragic masterpiece was Gaetano Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), based on W. Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor. And the episode of the imaginary wedding of the distraught Lucia with her dead lover became, perhaps, the most famous “scene of madness” in the history of opera. Such scenes were very popular in romantic operas, where tragic passions invariably raged.

While paying tribute to romantic suffering, Italians have not lost their taste for comic opera; the same Donizetti worked masterfully in both genres, leaving about 70 operas to his descendants. His contemporary Vincenzo Bellini died in his young years, having managed to create only a few recognized masterpieces, including Norma (1831), the action of which is quite in the spirit of romanticism and takes place among the Gallic Druids fighting the Roman conquerors. Donizetti and Bellini were masters of bel canto (literally "beautiful singing"). Bel canto differs from the ornamental style of the era of castrati in its exquisite lyricism, to which the master is able to impart the depth of genuine feeling.

Verdi

The greatest Italian opera composer was Giuseppe Verdi, who lived a long 87-year life and created whole line immortal works- from "Oberto" (1830) to "Falstaff" (1893). Verdi - coming from a poor background peasant family- managed to find a wealthy patron who agreed to pay for his studies. But the Milan Conservatory, not identifying talent in the young man, refused to admit him, and he had to achieve success through hard work and private lessons.

From the very first steps composer career Verdi suffered several hard blows - failure early works, and then the death of his wife and two children. At one time he seemed ready to give up writing forever, but, fortunately, one supportive impresario showed him the libretto ( literary text) "Nabucco". Inspired by the heroic plot, Verdi immediately got down to business, and in 1842 the premiere took place new opera. It owed its enormous success in part to the famous chorus "Va pensiero", in which the Jews captive in Babylon yearn for their lost homeland. The Italians saw here a hint of their own oppressed position under Austrian rule, and scenes with hidden patriotic meaning appeared every now and then in Verdi's subsequent operas.

Opera masterpieces

Meanwhile, in the 1850s. from the pen of Verdi, one after another, the operas that glorified his name came out: “Rigoletto” (1851), “Il Trovatore” (1853) and “La Traviata” (1853), in which melodic richness is combined with the depth of human experiences.

The peaks of Verdi's work also include the grandiose "Egyptian" opera "Aida" (1871) and two masterpieces based on Shakespeare's plays, created in his later years - "Othello" (1877) and "Falstaff" (1893). Vivid romanticism and slightly exaggerated characters of Verdi reigned on the opera stage for many years, until in 1890 the developing creative direction- verism or realism. New operas brought ordinary peasants and other characters from the lower classes to the stage for the first time; everyday passions seethed in them furiously.

The most famous are two short operas, often performed in the same performance - "Rural Honor" (1890) by Pietro Mascagni and "Pagliacci" (1892) by Ruggero Leoncavallo. In both, stories of love and jealousy unfold before the viewer, and both end with the death of the heroes.

Puccini

Verdi's worthy successor was Giacomo Puccini, who brought his brilliant gift as a melodist to opera. Many of his arias - for example, the famous aria of Calaf from the opera "Turandot" - are literally on everyone's lips and have long become "popular classics".

The opera "Manon Lescaut" (1893) brought its creator his first success. They say that after the premiere the curtain rose at least 50 times. Three subsequent works were included in the golden fund of opera classics: La Bohème (1896) about the life and love of poor Parisian poets and artists; melodramatic "Tosca" (1900) and "Madama Butterfly" (1904), sad story love of a young Japanese girl. He also wrote the western opera "The Girl from the West" (1910), and the Chinese opera "Turandot" full of dark romance. Working on the last opera, interrupted by the composer's death in 1924, was completed by Francesco Alfano, and Turandot premiered in 1926.

With the passing of Puccini, the great lyric-dramatic tradition of Italian opera of the 19th century ended.

I associate it with opera. When I was in Rome, it seemed to me that for every quarter there were a couple musical theaters. There were posters everywhere offering an extensive program: operas, concerts, solo performances famous singers.

Vaguely familiar to each of us from childhood, the funny songs “Figaro here, Figaro there”, “The heart of a beauty is prone to betrayal” are Russian translations of arias from the famous Italian operas “The Barber of Seville” and “Rigoletto”.

Is Italy really the birthplace of opera?

Yes, this is where this musical genre originated back in the 15th century. It grew out of the so-called “spiritual mysteries”, which were performed with polyphony in churches on holidays. These progenitors of modern opera were written only in biblical stories, but gradually the genre began to go beyond the temples. Over time, the libretto (content) became more secular, and musicians created their works, drawing inspiration from the plots famous writers, folk legends, fairy tales.

Gradually the opera spread throughout Europe. Now in the best theaters around the world, along with Italian musicians, you can hear German, Russian and French masters. Along with them stand such giants as the German Richard Wagner, the Frenchman Georges Bizet, the Russian composers Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Modest Mussorgsky.

Achievements of Italian opera

1) The greatest musicians Italians are considered in this genre: Giuseppe Verdi ("Rigoletto", "La Traviata", "Aida", "Nabucco"), Gioachino Rossini ("The Barber of Seville", "Othello", "Italian in Algiers"), Gaetano Donizetti (" love potion", "Lucia di Lammermoor").

2) The most famous opera singers Italians too. Even people far from opera are familiar with such names as Enrico Caruso, Cecilia Bartolli, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli.

3) Italian opera houses are the best in Europe. This is the famous Milanese La Scalla, the Rome Opera House, and the Arena di Verona.

4) Works by Italian musicians are a must in the repertoire of every season of every self-respecting musician opera house, no matter what country he is in. Some directors try to add modern notes to classic productions, but they don’t always succeed.