Forgotten Reality, Remembered Fiction, Production Values and Court Opera
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Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 FORGOTTEN mITY, REMEMBERED FICTION: PRODUCTION VALUES AND COURT OPERA, 1598-1608 Peter Eliot Weiss A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Centre for Study of Drama University of Toronto O Copyright by Peter Eliot Weiss 1999 National Library Biblioth4que nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wetllimgton Ottawa ON K1A ON4 O(tawaON K1AW Canada cana8a The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive pennettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliotheque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, preter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette these sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/£ilm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format electronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriete du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantid extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent &re imprimes reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. FORGOTTEN REAL1 TY, REMEMBERED FICTION: PRODUCTION VALUES AND COURT OPERA, 1598-1608 A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Peter Eliot Weiss Graduate Centre for Study of Drama University of Toronto ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to construct hypothetical productions of early operas by combining elements taken from documentation of performance practice at the time when the operas were created and fragmentary evidence of actual productions. To this end, I discuss the following operas: La Dafne by Jacopo Peri and Jacopo Corsi, with a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini; La rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo by Emilio def Cavalieri, with a libretto by Agostino Manni; LrEuridice by Jacopo Peri, with a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini; I1 rapimento di Cefalo by Giulio Caccini, with a libretto by Gabriello Chiabrera; L' Euridice by Giulio Caccini, a setting of the same libretto by Rinuccini; LfOrfeo by Claudio Monteverdi with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio; La Dafne by Marco da Gagliano, libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini; and, finally, Monteverdits Arianna, which also had a libretto by Rinuccini. Another way to describe a "hypothetical productionn would be "historicized ideal performance text." An "ideal performance textn is an imaginative construct that comes into being along with awareness of a theatrical representation, either present, past or future. It becomes "historicized" when it is created from documentary evidence. My historicized ideal performance texts are not reconstructions of actual performances but readings of the documentary material constantly visualizing the operas in performance. In my thesis I argue that looking at early court operas in the years from 1598 to 1608 from a theatrical perspective organizes the discussion of issues of performance with regard to these operas and allows a pattern to emerge, from early explorations in the staging of sung narrative, to an example of the form fully realized, a decade later. Production values evolve, though not in a linear fashion, from modest to relatively elaborate as the form itself matures and its integrity becomes more able to withstand the pressures of spectacle. In addition, by 1608 early court opera seems established enough to warrant a history of its early development. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my committee, Mary Ann Parker, Domenico Pietropaolo and Olga Pugliese for the enormous support and encouragement that they have given me, along with the very necessary advice. In addition I would like to thank the staff of the Graduate Centre for Study in Drama for helping me in every way possible and making my time there as pleasant as it was stimulating and intense. The librarians on the fourth floor of Robarts Library and in the Music Library were also extremely patient and helpful and I owe them, as well, a debt of gratitude. I would like to thank my large and supportive family for their understanding and encouragement - in Vancouver, my son, Joseph and his mother Kathleen and in Ottawa, my brother Ron, sister-in-law Debbie and their family. Here in Toronto, I want to thank my partner Mike Sweeney for so generously sharing his piano and enormous knowledge of music, always answering my questions without ever making me feel embarrassed because they were elementary. For their generous support, I would like to thank the University of Toronto for the Mary H. Beatty Fellowship and the Arthur Lindsay Fernie Award, which allowed me to travel to Mantua, Florence, Venice, Rome and London to carry out research. I would like to thank the Government of Ontario for two Ontario Graduate Scholarships, in 1996 and 1997, and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the doctoral fellowship that I received in 1998. Finally, I would like to mention again my two supervisors, Mary Ann Parker and Domenico Pietropaolo who first suggested the topic. It was only their unwavering belief in my ability to assimilate the necessary knowledge and organize the disparate elements that make up the fascinating history of early court opera that enabled me to believe I could do it. I thank them, with deep gratitude and tremendous respect. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................... -1 NOTES TO PREFACE .......................................... 14 INTRODUCTION: CONTEXTUAL CONCERNS PERTAINING TO EARLY OPERA Introduction .........................................17 Definitions .......................................... 20 The Theoretical Conception of Court Opera ............35 Theatre ............................................. .37 Dramatic Structure ................................... 38 Performance Space ........................e...........43 Setting ..............................................45 Machines ............................................. 47 Costumes ............................................. 52 Lighting ............................................ -54 Staging Practices .................................... 57 Acting and gesture ................................... 60 Court Performances at the Turn of the Seventeenth- Century .............................................. 65 Music ................................................ 67 Theatrical Dance. .................................... 77 Court Entertainments ................................. 97 The Medici Court and its Intemedi ................... 97 The Gonzaga Court and I1 pastor fido ................105 Conclusion .......................................... 112 Endnotes ............................................ 114 CHAPTER ONE: EARLY EXPERIMENTS IN MUSICAL THEATRE Introduction ........................................ 136 Jacopo Corsi ........................................ 140 Jacopo Peri ......................................... 143 Ottavio Rinuccini ................................... 145 La Dafne ............................................ 146 Emilio de' Cavalieri ................................ 161 Rappresentatione de Anima. et di Corpo .............. 165 Prologue ............................................ 168 Act One ............................................. 168 Act TWO ............................................. 170 Act Three ........................................... 175 Conclusion ..........................................180 CHAPTER TWO: COURT CELEBRATIONS IN FLORENCE IN 1600 Introduction ........................................ 194 Giulio Caccini ...................................... 196 Gabriello Chiabrera.... ............................. 200 The Art of Story Spoken in Song .....................201 The Production of Court Opera in 1600 ...............207 Reconstruction of the 1600 Performance of Euridice ..211 Prologue ............................................ 215 Scene One ...........................................217