DOCSLIB.ORG

Venice Distinguished Itself from the Other Italian City States by Being A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Venice Distinguished Itself from the Other Italian City States by Being A OCTAVIA REINCARNATED: BUSENELLO’S AND MONTEVERDI’S L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA JACQUES BOOGAART Venice distinguished itself from the other Italian city states by being a republic, without a court and its luxurious display of theatrical spectacle; it was a much envied commercial town, governed by its wealthy oligarchy in a complex manner of election in order to prevent the predominance of a single family. During the seventeenth century its prosperity was already in decline but the city still attracted hosts of foreigners and functioned, as it still does, as a place to divert the senses, especially during its famous Carnival which started at the feast of St Stephen (26 December) and ended on Shrove Tuesday. When in 1637 the opera L’Andromeda was performed by the travelling company of Francesco Manelli and Benedetto Ferrari in the (already existing) Teatro San Cassiano this was something of a nouveauté which was enthusiastically received and followed up in the succeeding years by many new works composed by Venetian librettists and musicians. Operas were performed in commercially exploited theatres where everyone who could afford a ticket attended; Venetian opera differed in this from court opera where admission was on invitation. 1637 may be thus called the birth year of public opera. Since the theatre directors – mostly members of the aristocratic class – were entrepreneurs, out for profit, they did not waste much money on lavish decorations, variety of instrumental colours, choirs and ballets, as had been the case with court opera which had to show off the wealth of the prince. Instead they concentrated on the most popular attraction: famous singers, accompanied by a small number of continuo instruments and a few strings. Stage settings were sumptuous, often with virtuosic machinery, but also standardized so as to be usable for more than one particular occasion. 38 Jacques Boogaart Although the genre was new to Venice, the city already housed a famous composer of opera. In 1613 the procurators of San Marco had appointed Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) as the basilica’s maestro di cappella. This position required the performance and composition of church music. Nevertheless, as his letters testify, his greatest interest remained the composition of theatrical music for which in his Mantuan years he had won great renown throughout Italy; he did not “let a day pass without making something in the genre of theatrical song”.1 Yet Monteverdi was not quick to respond to the new challenge of public opera; not before 1640 did he rework his famous Arianna from 1608, originally written for the Gonzaga court (the music of which is lost except for the famous Lamento), for performances on the Venetian stage. Only thereafter did he compose, probably stimulated by his friend, the librettist Giacomo Badoaro, in quick succession three operas in a wholly new style, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (1640, libretto by Giacomo Badoaro), Le nozze di Enea e Lavinia (1641, libretto probably by Michelangelo Torcigliani, music lost) and, in the year of his death at the age of 76, L’incoronazione di Poppea.2 No opera from the seventeenth century has provoked so much dissent as L’incoronazione di Poppea, first performed during Carnival 1643 in the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo, to a libretto by the Venetian aristocrat and lawyer Gian Francesco Busenello (1598-1659), and set to music by an aged and sickly Monteverdi, with, as is generally assumed, additions and modifications by younger composers.3 The ongoing discussion caused by the uncertain status and evaluation of the sources sometimes goes even so far as to deny Monteverdi’s authorship for almost all of the music,4 but in general scholars 1 Letter to Alessandro Striggio, 4 April 1620: “...non mancherò alla giornata di far qualche cosa in tal genere di canto rapresentativo...”, in Claudio Monteverdi: Lettere, dediche e prefazioni, ed. Domenico de’ Paoli, Rome 1973, 163. Where not otherwise indicated, translations are my own. 2 Between L’Arianna and his last operas several theatrical works are known to have been performed but they are for the most part lost: see Tim Carter, Monteverdi’s Musical Theatre, New Haven, CT and London, 2002, 197-236. 3 The additions include the famous final duet of which the text is certainly not by Busenello and the music probably not by Monteverdi. For the authorship of the music, see especially Alan Curtis, “La Poppea impasticciata, or Who Wrote the Music to L‘Incoronazione (1643)?”, Journal of the American Musicological Society, XLII/1 (1989), 23-54. 4 As for example in the CD-booklet by Stefano Aresi accompanying the recording Il Nerone, ossia L’incoronazione di Poppea, by La Venexiana, dir. by Claudio Cavina, .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Recommended Solos and Ensembles Tenor Trombone Solos Sång Till
    Recommended Solos and Ensembles Tenor Trombone Solos Sång till Lotta, Jan Sandström. Edition Tarrodi: Stockholm, Sweden, 1991. Trombone and piano. Requires modest range (F – g flat1), well-developed lyricism, and musicianship. There are two versions of this piece, this and another that is scored a minor third higher. Written dynamics are minimal. Although phrases and slurs are not indicated, it is a SONG…encourage legato tonguing! Stephan Schulz, bass trombonist of the Berlin Philharmonic, gives a great performance of this work on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn8569oTBg8. A Winter’s Night, Kevin McKee, 2011. Available from the composer, www.kevinmckeemusic.com. Trombone and piano. Explores the relative minor of three keys, easy rhythms, keys, range (A – g1, ossia to b flat1). There is a fine recording of this work on his web site. Trombone Sonata, Gordon Jacob. Emerson Edition: Yorkshire, England, 1979. Trombone and piano. There are no real difficult rhythms or technical considerations in this work, which lasts about 7 minutes. There is tenor clef used throughout the second movement, and it switches between bass and tenor in the last movement. Range is F – b flat1. Recorded by Dr. Ron Babcock on his CD Trombone Treasures, and available at Hickey’s Music, www.hickeys.com. Divertimento, Edward Gregson. Chappell Music: London, 1968. Trombone and piano. Three movements, range is modest (G-g#1, ossia a1), bass clef throughout. Some mixed meter. Requires a mute, glissandi, and ad. lib. flutter tonguing. Recorded by Brett Baker on his CD The World of Trombone, volume 1, and can be purchased at http://www.brettbaker.co.uk/downloads/product=download-world-of-the- trombone-volume-1-brett-baker.
    [Show full text]
  • Join the National Philharmonic in a Triumphant
    West End Off-Broadway United States International Entertainment Log In Re Washington, DC Sections Shows Chat Boards Jobs Students Video Industry Insider Join the National Philharmonic In a Hot Stories BroadwayWorld TV Triumphant Celebration of Poland's 100th Anniversary of Independence Complete Casting Announced for HOW TO by BWW News Desk May. 23, 2018 Tweet Share SUCCEED at the Kennedy Center TV Exclusive: Florida State Universi The National Philharmonic ends its 2017-2018 Southern Heat to Broadway S season at The Music Center at Strathmore with a musical celebration, "100th Anniversary of Poland's Independence," on Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at the Concert Hall at the Music Center at Parris, Breckenridge, & More Strathmore. Conducted by world-renowned Join Drew Gehling in DAVE at Arena Stage Polish Maestro Miroslaw Jacek Baszczyk, the 10 DAYS TO GO ­ CLICK HERE TO V concert will feature music composed by LIVE UPDATE: Poland's greatest musicians, performed by SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS or ME some of today's leading vocalists and musicians. for Best Musical... The performance will commence with an introduction by the Ambassador of Poland, Mosaic's Third Season Concludes With Epic World Piotr Wilczek. The 100th anniversary of Poland has signicant meaning for The National Premiere Starring Hadi Philharmonic, which is led by Polish-born Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski. Tabbal One of The National Philharmonic's veteran artists, Brian Ganz-who will perform at the Polish celebration concert-is also a frequent performer of Frédéric Chopin, beginning a quest in 2011 to perform all of the great Polish composer's works.
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Commentary
    PERFORMANCE COMMENTARY . It seems, however, far more likely that Chopin Notes on the musical text 3 The variants marked as ossia were given this label by Chopin or were intended a different grouping for this figure, e.g.: 7 added in his hand to pupils' copies; variants without this designation or . See the Source Commentary. are the result of discrepancies in the texts of authentic versions or an 3 inability to establish an unambiguous reading of the text. Minor authentic alternatives (single notes, ornaments, slurs, accents, Bar 84 A gentle change of pedal is indicated on the final crotchet pedal indications, etc.) that can be regarded as variants are enclosed in order to avoid the clash of g -f. in round brackets ( ), whilst editorial additions are written in square brackets [ ]. Pianists who are not interested in editorial questions, and want to base their performance on a single text, unhampered by variants, are recom- mended to use the music printed in the principal staves, including all the markings in brackets. 2a & 2b. Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 Chopin's original fingering is indicated in large bold-type numerals, (versions with variants) 1 2 3 4 5, in contrast to the editors' fingering which is written in small italic numerals , 1 2 3 4 5 . Wherever authentic fingering is enclosed in The sources indicate that while both performing the Nocturne parentheses this means that it was not present in the primary sources, and working on it with pupils, Chopin was introducing more or but added by Chopin to his pupils' copies.
    [Show full text]
  • French Secular Music in Saint-Domingue (1750-1795) Viewed As a Factor in America's Musical Growth. John G
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1971 French Secular Music in Saint-Domingue (1750-1795) Viewed as a Factor in America's Musical Growth. John G. Cale Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Cale, John G., "French Secular Music in Saint-Domingue (1750-1795) Viewed as a Factor in America's Musical Growth." (1971). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2112. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2112 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 72-17,750 CALE, John G., 1922- FRENCH SECULAR MUSIC IN SAINT-DOMINGUE (1750-1795) VIEWED AS A FACTOR IN AMERICA'S MUSICAL GROWTH. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College;, Ph.D., 1971 Music I University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FRENCH SECULAR MUSIC IN SAINT-DOMINGUE (1750-1795) VIEWED AS A FACTOR IN AMERICA'S MUSICAL GROWTH A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Music by John G. Cale B.M., Louisiana State University, 1943 M.A., University of Michigan, 1949 December, 1971 PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print.
    [Show full text]
  • Studio N. 114-2020/C
    Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato Studio n.114-2020/C IL CONTENUTO ATIPICO DEL TESTAMENTO di Vincenzo Barba (Approvato dalla Commissione Studi Civilistici il 13 ottobre 2020) Abstract Lo studio, movendo da una analisi storica della nozione di testamento intende dimostrare le sue straordinarie potenzialità, precisando che non è l’unico atto di ultima volontà. Si chiarisce che con il testamento la persona può regolare non solo i suoi interessi patrimoniali, ma anche tutti gli interessi non patrimoniali, anche oltre i casi previsti dalla legge. La distinzione tra contenuto tipico e atipico del testamento è servita storicamente per distinguere tra disposizioni patrimoniali e no; essa tuttavia non può servire, nella contemporaneità, né per definire il concetto di testamento, né per individuare la disciplina applicabile. Questa distinzione non serve per escludere la rilevanza testamentaria della regolamentazione degli interessi non patrimoniali, ma per affermare la possibilità di regolamentare questi interessi non soltanto con il testamento, ma anche con l’atto di ultima volontà, diverso dal testamento. Leggendo insieme gli artt. 587 e 588 Cod. civ. non può dirsi che il testamento è limitato al contenuto attributivo, ossia quello che si risolve nell’istituzione di erede o nel legato, ma che il testamento è l’atto regolativo della successione a causa di morte della persona e che al solo testamento è riservata la possibilità di contenere istituzioni di erede o di legato. Con intesa che tutti gli altri profili successori della persona e, in specie quelli non patrimoniali, e comunque, quelli non incidenti sulla delazione possono essere regolati anche con atti di ultima volontà diversi dal testamento, la cui forma deve essere valutata, salvo che non sia espressamente preveduta dalla legge, in ragione degli interessi che l’atto compone e della sua funzione.
    [Show full text]
  • A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company
    A Culture of Recording: Christopher Raeburn and the Decca Record Company Sally Elizabeth Drew A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Sheffield Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of Music This work was supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council September 2018 1 2 Abstract This thesis examines the working culture of the Decca Record Company, and how group interaction and individual agency have made an impact on the production of music recordings. Founded in London in 1929, Decca built a global reputation as a pioneer of sound recording with access to the world’s leading musicians. With its roots in manufacturing and experimental wartime engineering, the company developed a peerless classical music catalogue that showcased technological innovation alongside artistic accomplishment. This investigation focuses specifically on the contribution of the recording producer at Decca in creating this legacy, as can be illustrated by the career of Christopher Raeburn, the company’s most prolific producer and specialist in opera and vocal repertoire. It is the first study to examine Raeburn’s archive, and is supported with unpublished memoirs, private papers and recorded interviews with colleagues, collaborators and artists. Using these sources, the thesis considers the history and functions of the staff producer within Decca’s wider operational structure in parallel with the personal aspirations of the individual in exerting control, choice and authority on the process and product of recording. Having been recruited to Decca by John Culshaw in 1957, Raeburn’s fifty-year career spanned seminal moments of the company’s artistic and commercial lifecycle: from assisting in exploiting the dramatic potential of stereo technology in Culshaw’s Ring during the 1960s to his serving as audio producer for the 1990 The Three Tenors Concert international phenomenon.
    [Show full text]
  • The Italian Girl in Algiers
    Opera Box Teacher’s Guide table of contents Welcome Letter . .1 Lesson Plan Unit Overview and Academic Standards . .2 Opera Box Content Checklist . .8 Reference/Tracking Guide . .9 Lesson Plans . .11 Synopsis and Musical Excerpts . .32 Flow Charts . .38 Gioachino Rossini – a biography .............................45 Catalogue of Rossini’s Operas . .47 2 0 0 7 – 2 0 0 8 S E A S O N Background Notes . .50 World Events in 1813 ....................................55 History of Opera ........................................56 History of Minnesota Opera, Repertoire . .67 GIUSEPPE VERDI SEPTEMBER 22 – 30, 2007 The Standard Repertory ...................................71 Elements of Opera .......................................72 Glossary of Opera Terms ..................................76 GIOACHINO ROSSINI Glossary of Musical Terms .................................82 NOVEMBER 10 – 18, 2007 Bibliography, Discography, Videography . .85 Word Search, Crossword Puzzle . .88 Evaluation . .91 Acknowledgements . .92 CHARLES GOUNOD JANUARY 26 –FEBRUARY 2, 2008 REINHARD KEISER MARCH 1 – 9, 2008 mnopera.org ANTONÍN DVOˇRÁK APRIL 12 – 20, 2008 FOR SEASON TICKETS, CALL 612.333.6669 The Italian Girl in Algiers Opera Box Lesson Plan Title Page with Related Academic Standards lesson title minnesota academic national standards standards: arts k–12 for music education 1 – Rossini – “I was born for opera buffa.” Music 9.1.1.3.1 8, 9 Music 9.1.1.3.2 Theater 9.1.1.4.2 Music 9.4.1.3.1 Music 9.4.1.3.2 Theater 9.4.1.4.1 Theater 9.4.1.4.2 2 – Rossini Opera Terms Music
    [Show full text]
  • Music Braille Code, 2015
    MUSIC BRAILLE CODE, 2015 Developed Under the Sponsorship of the BRAILLE AUTHORITY OF NORTH AMERICA Published by The Braille Authority of North America ©2016 by the Braille Authority of North America All rights reserved. This material may be duplicated but not altered or sold. ISBN: 978-0-9859473-6-1 (Print) ISBN: 978-0-9859473-7-8 (Braille) Printed by the American Printing House for the Blind. Copies may be purchased from: American Printing House for the Blind 1839 Frankfort Avenue Louisville, Kentucky 40206-3148 502-895-2405 • 800-223-1839 www.aph.org [email protected] Catalog Number: 7-09651-01 The mission and purpose of The Braille Authority of North America are to assure literacy for tactile readers through the standardization of braille and/or tactile graphics. BANA promotes and facilitates the use, teaching, and production of braille. It publishes rules, interprets, and renders opinions pertaining to braille in all existing codes. It deals with codes now in existence or to be developed in the future, in collaboration with other countries using English braille. In exercising its function and authority, BANA considers the effects of its decisions on other existing braille codes and formats, the ease of production by various methods, and acceptability to readers. For more information and resources, visit www.brailleauthority.org. ii BANA Music Technical Committee, 2015 Lawrence R. Smith, Chairman Karin Auckenthaler Gilbert Busch Karen Gearreald Dan Geminder Beverly McKenney Harvey Miller Tom Ridgeway Other Contributors Christina Davidson, BANA Music Technical Committee Consultant Richard Taesch, BANA Music Technical Committee Consultant Roger Firman, International Consultant Ruth Rozen, BANA Board Liaison iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Kenneth E. Querns Langley Doctor of Philosophy
    Reconstructing the Tenor ‘Pharyngeal Voice’: a Historical and Practical Investigation Kenneth E. Querns Langley Submitted in partial fulfilment of Doctor of Philosophy in Music 31 October 2019 Page | ii Abstract One of the defining moments of operatic history occurred in April 1837 when upon returning to Paris from study in Italy, Gilbert Duprez (1806–1896) performed the first ‘do di petto’, or high c′′ ‘from the chest’, in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell. However, according to the great pedagogue Manuel Garcia (jr.) (1805–1906) tenors like Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794–1854) and Garcia’s own father, tenor Manuel Garcia (sr.) (1775–1832), had been singing the ‘do di petto’ for some time. A great deal of research has already been done to quantify this great ‘moment’, but I wanted to see if it is possible to define the vocal qualities of the tenor voices other than Duprez’, and to see if perhaps there is a general misunderstanding of their vocal qualities. That investigation led me to the ‘pharyngeal voice’ concept, what the Italians call falsettone. I then wondered if I could not only discover the techniques which allowed them to have such wide ranges, fioritura, pianissimi, superb legato, and what seemed like a ‘do di petto’, but also to reconstruct what amounts to a ‘lost technique’. To accomplish this, I bring my lifelong training as a bel canto tenor and eighteen years of experience as a classical singing teacher to bear in a partially autoethnographic study in which I analyse the most important vocal treatises from Pier Francesco Tosi’s (c.
    [Show full text]
  • Gli Esiliati in Siberia, Exile, and Gaetano Donizetti Alexander Weatherson
    Gli esiliati in Siberia, exile, and Gaetano Donizetti Alexander Weatherson How many times did Donizetti write or rewrite Otto mesi in due ore. No one has ever been quite sure: at least five times, perhaps seven - it depends how the changes he made are viewed. Between 1827 and 1845 he set and reset the music of this strange but true tale of heroism - of the eighteen-year-old daughter who struggled through snow and ice for eight months to plead with the Tsar for the release of her father from exile in Siberia, making endless changes - giving it a handful of titles, six different poets supplying new verses (including the maestro himself), with- and-without spoken dialogue, with-and-without Neapolitan dialect, with-and-without any predictable casting (the prima donna could be a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto at will), and with-and-without any very enduring resolution at the end so that this extraordinary work has an even-more-fantastic choice of synopses than usual. It was this score that stayed with him throughout his years of international fame even when Lucia di Lammermoor and Don Pasquale were taking the world by storm. It is perfectly possible in fact that the music of his final revision of Otto mesi in due ore was the very last to which he turned his stumbling hand before mental collapse put an end to his hectic career. How did it come by its peculiar title? In 1806 Sophie Cottin published a memoir in London and Paris of a real-life Russian heroine which she called 'Elisabeth, ou Les Exilés de Sibérie'.
    [Show full text]
  • Don Giovanni Press Release 10.9.18
    For Immediate Release October 9, 2018 Contact: Lana Sadowski, Director of Marketing, Hampton Roads P.O. BOX 2580 ● Norfolk, VA 23501 PHONE: 757.627.9545 X 3316 EMAIL: [email protected] Virginia Opera Presents W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni Tale of Merciless Seducer Returns in Sixth Company Production: Performances Statewide November 2–18 Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, Virginia (October 9, 2018) — As the second opera production in its 44th season, Virginia Opera announces a new production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ever-popular opera Don Giovanni. Statewide performances begin November 2, and conclude November 18, 2018 (please see complete list of venue locations and dates below). First performed in 1787 as Il dissoluto punito ossia il Don Giovanni (The rake punished also Don Giovan- ni), Mozart’s two-act opera traces the storied tale of the merciless seducer Don Juan in what has be- come one of the top ten most globally performed and timeless morality tales in operatic history. Come- dy and tragedy intermingle in ways only supernatural forces can address in the narrative of the legend- ary Spanish nobleman’s compulsive and destructive amorous conquests, leaving his ultimate fate in the hands of demons from the underworld as it reminds audiences that even those most powerful cannot avoid the consequences of their actions. Virginia Opera’s 2018 production of Don Giovanni represents the sixth time the company has ap- proached the classic—the last occurring in 2010—and, with it, acclaimed director Lillian Groag’s 24th VO production. Groag’s beloved veteran status is bookended by the exciting collection of emerging vocal talents making VO company debuts within the production.
    [Show full text]
  • Benedetto Ferrari – Poeta Dei Primi Drammi Per Musica Veneziani1
    Musica Iagellonica 2013 ISSN 1233-9679 Anna SZWEYKOWSKA (Kraków) Benedetto Ferrari – poeta dei primi drammi 1 per musica veneziani A Firenze il teatro musicale nacque nel clima di una cultura raffinata, esclu- siva. Le tematiche trattate toccavano problemi d’amore con l’iniziale maiuscola del sostantivo, sviluppato e vissuto entro categorie altamente astratte volte ad instaurare corrispondenze con la cultura letteraria e filosofica dell’élite fiorenti- na. A Venezia dominava invece un ambiente sociale e culturale profondamente diverso. La mancanza di un’università a Venezia costringeva la gioventù a for- marsi presso la vicina Padova, dove gli studi più spesso affrontati erano quelli di diritto, finalizzati ad ottemperare alle necessità di una buona amministrazione della Repubblica. I letterati non potevano contare su un grande mecenatismo locale: il sistema democratico non tollerava né uno sfarzo eccessivo, né un acce- so panegirismo. Per tali ragioni nella città non sussistevano condizioni tipiche cortigiane che permettessero di importarvi direttamente i modelli del teatro musicale fino ad allora sviluppati. Questa forma di teatro fece pertanto la sua apparizione a Venezia con notevole ritardo (due anni più tardi che in Polonia) e in una forma parzialmente diversa. Neppure a Venezia si faceva a meno di un certo tipo di mecenatismo; tuttavia, come era naturale avvenisse in una città 1 Il presente articolo è tratto da un più ampio studio incompiuto dell’Autrice, dedicato ai primi librettisti veneziani. Di tale studio si ripropone in particolare il primo capitolo, riguar- dante l’opera di Benedetto Ferrari, revisionato e integrato dalla redazione. 25 Anna Szweykowska mercantile, tale tipo di patronato non era libero dal calcolo finanziario.
    [Show full text]