Opera: History, Origins and Major Styles from Florence to Europe

The Florentine Camerata de' Bardi

Humanists, musicians, poets, and intellectuals gathered in late Renaissance Florence under the patronage of Count Giovanni de' Bardi. They discussed how to guide the trends of music and drama. Among them were Caccini, Strozzi, Cavalieri, Galilei, and Ruccini.

Motivation: they believed music had become corrupted, and they sought a return to antiquity in order to improve society. Their style featured sung melody and recitation, accompanied by chords played on strings, plucked instruments, and keyboard. A single actor narrating the story, however, proved monotonous.

Dafne by Jacopo Peri is considered the first opera, though it is not preserved. Euridice by Peri was premiered in Florence on the occasion of the wedding of Maria de' Medici and Henry IV of France, in 1600, and Caccini staged it as well. Monteverdi's L'Orfeo is regarded as the first major masterpiece of the genre. Other early works include The Return of Ulysses and The Coronation of Poppea by Monteverdi, and Ariadne, all pastoral and mythological in subject.

Caccini established the foundations of the new operatic style. The "Nuova musica" (new music) revolutionized the field through the use of dramatic declamation in music (recitative), free rhythm over prose, a clear line supported by a simple harmony, and light instrumental accompaniment.

Aria: a melodic passage for a soloist, sung in a simple, strophic form, accompanied by lute or keyboard, with the bass line figured and the voice kept low.

Recitative derives from Jewish psalm chanting and was transformed into an instrumental narrative style, accompanied by a basso continuo. Key composers include Schütz (German), Rameau and Lully (French), and Purcell (English). In the Classical period, Haydn and Mozart used it extensively; in the nineteenth century, Rossini, Donizetti, and Wagner; and in the twentieth century, Schnebel.

Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the aria evolved from simple strophic songs into a tripartite form. The da capo aria, associated with Scarlatti, became standard. In the nineteenth century, Wagner further transformed it, and in the twentieth, Debussy.

• Arioso: a form between recitative and aria, lyrical and without a clearly defined theme. The first Venetian operas by Monteverdi and Cavalli used it to avoid monotony. It has short dimensions, usually two slow and two fast movements, and sustains expression.
• Arietta: a short aria, found within spoken dialogue in light operas of the eighteenth century.
• Air: an independent piece, with a tempo and character indicated, often popular in nature and derived from dance.
• Ayre: a variant of pieces composed for the English lute school of the Elizabethan sixteenth century.

The main schools were the Venetian (Monteverdi, Cavalli, Cesti), the Florentine (Peri, Caccini), the Neapolitan, and the Roman.

• Opera seria: aristocratic and mythological in subject, with lyrical arias on serious texts, narrative recitative, great singers (castrati), and chorus. Major figures include Scarlatti and Telemann.
• Opera buffa: popular in character, with protagonists from the middle class who criticize the aristocracy. It uses few singers and a small orchestra, has a folk character, short phrases, repeated cadences, and a national flavor.

Influenced by Italian and French masques, Henry Purcell composed works based on texts by Shakespeare and Dryden. His peak achievement is Dido and Aeneas, noted for English refinement and expressive laments. Other composers of the period include Geminiani, Handel, Bononcini, and Gallupi.

Italian opera set the model. Schütz's Dafne appeared in Vienna, where the Italian style, recitative, Cavalli, and Cesti triumphed. In Munich, Kerl and Steffani worked; in Hamburg, the aim was to build a national opera, exemplified by Kusser and Keiser, whose comic operas were influenced by French and Italian models.

Lully's works grew out of court airs and ballets, including the Ballet comique de la Reine. Of Italian origin, his music for dancing pleased Louis XIV. His ballet-operas were lyrical tragedies such as Armide, Cadmus, and Alceste, and he developed the overture as an instrumental introduction.