The Fandom of the Opera: How the Audience for a Centuries-Old Art Form Helped Create the Modern Media World
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The Fandom of the Opera: How the Audience for a Centuries-Old Art Form Helped Create the Modern Media World Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 1 What Is Opera? Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 2 What Is Opera? a form of musical theater Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 3 What Is Opera? a form of musical theater that I recognize when I hear it? Justice Potter Stewart Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 4 What Is Opera? a form of musical theater that is entirely sung? http://markllewelynevans.co.uk/abc-of-opera-workshops-and-programmes-for-children/ Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 5 The ABC Operas opera opera with spoken words opéra-comique Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 6 Some Other Popular “Operas” singspiel operetta bühnenweihfestspiel Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 7 What Is Opera? Latin: opus = work, opera = works Singing Instrumental Music Storytelling Opus Acting [a piece of work] Visual Arts © Berkeley Stage Craft Breathed http://www.be Dancing rkeleybreathed .com/ Nudity & Erotica (ok, not always, but sex often) “exotick & irrational” - Samuel Johnson Los Angeles Opera web site Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 8 Not Cheap! “Of all the noises known to man, opera is the most expensive” - attributed to Molière Thank You Very Much! Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 9 When Was The First Opera? Galileo’s father: ancient Greece Vincenzo Galilei’s Ludus Danielis 13th century opera book 1581 Poliziano’s Fabula di Orfeo c.1480 Leonardo da Vinci designed stage machinery Dafne 1597/8 “studies for the staging of Poliziano’s Orfeo” from the Codex Arundel c. 1506 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 10 Why Is Galileo Called Galileo? Isaac Newton Johannes Kepler Nicholas Copernicus Edmund Halley Claudius Ptolemy Christiaan Huygens Giovanni Cassini Galileo Galilei Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 11 Vincenzo Galilei, 1520-1591 father of opera founding member of Count Bardi’s Camerata father of modern acoustics equations for tuning strings and pipes father of Galileo chose mellifluous name taught him to experiment Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 12 Invention of the Opera House: 1637 orchestra in front of stage boxes to rent & sell to the rich large size melodramma > melodrama sound ducts tickets libretto for 1st opera in an th 17 -century opera ticket opera house Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 13 Spectacular from the Start Alfonso Parigi opera design, Florence, 1637 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 14 Drottningholms Slottsteater, 1766 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 15 Curtain, Wind, Thunder Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 16 Wing Flats Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 17 Flies Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 18 Flying Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 19 Traps & Elevators Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 20 Ocean Waves Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 21 In Operation Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 22 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3earliest-known opera criticism in the U.S. 23 Pre-Electricity Lighting Equipment example of a bozza for color and focus 1638 remote-controlled lighting dimmer Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 24 Lighting Control fiber optic Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 25 Pre-Electricity Lighting Effects Mnichovo Hradiste Simulated Lighting Change “The Development of Scenic Spectacle” Appalachian State University used with permission of Frank Mohler, professor emeritus http://spectacle.appstate.edu/movies/mnichovo-hradiste-lighting-change Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 26 And Audience Lighting? pre-mid-19th-century candle wicks weren’t consumed & had to be trimmed backstage: stagehands onstage: performers sconces: footmen chandelier: ? pair of snuffers made in 1680 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 27 Darkened Room & Exit Lighting Source gallica.bnf.fr / National Library of France Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 28 Flame-Based Lighting Consumes Oxygen Generates CO2 breathing difficulty Lavoisier venting Generates Heat Causes Cold Drafts Sets Things Afire Matisse at opera Ventilating and Heating, John Shaw Billings, night of deadly fire The Engineering Record, 1893 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 29 Salle Le Peletier 1873 Fire codes, extinguishers Vienna Opera: 21-man “fire watch” Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 30 Symbiotic Relationship of Opera & New Media New Media Get from Opera Opera Gets from New Media prestige, funding reduced expenses (in house) stories, characters, & stars new audiences existing audiences new revenue streams Media Existing in 1637 books motion-picture projection automated music playback automata image projection c. 1420 musical clock 1625 Giovanni da Fontana Metropolitan Museum of Art Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3Bellicorum instrumentorum liber 31 Media in the Opera House 1637: sound ducts by 1726: on-stage projection 1901: archival/ study recordings 1903: electronic assistance for the hearing impaired 1908: sound Lionel Mapleson making surveillance 1st non-interfering location recordings Acousticon hearing-aid Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 32 Early Moving-Image Projection in Opera 1728 book Hamburg Opera (no later than 1726) magic lantern Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 33 Electric Arc Projection 1849 electric-arc sunrise effect, Paris Opera, Jules Duboscq later rainbow, spouting fountain, etc. Nature applauds battery-fume safety 1st patent of photographic motion- picture projection system, 1852 (in 3D!) Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 34 Photography 1841: Antoine Claudet takes the first snapshots—of members of the Italian Opera in poses that could not be held long (destroyed in a studio fire) Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 35 “No Opera, No X-Rays!” Percy Brown, ARRS 1881: 1st opera house electric incandescent light London, soon followed by Boston, Brno, Paris 1882: 1st Edison central power plant so opera houses needed their own generators 1895: Roentgen writes-up discovery of x-rays 1896: Ernest Codman qualified as “expert in X-ray” in Boston court 1896 1st “skiagrapher” at Boston Children’s Hospital Codman Bowditch power from opera house (when performing) X-ray Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 36 Current Projection: Real-Time Interactive CG Sensors: infra-red cameras microphones rotational encoders Processing interactive images depth selection video warping Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 37 warp engines deal with motion of individual planks; depth planes for 3D effect Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/arts/music/19ring.html 38 Kurt Weill Operas Incorporate Media 1927: Royal Palace - movie 1937: Berg’s Lulu 1928: Der Zar läßt sich photographieren - phonograph record (distributed with the score) 1930: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny - loudspeaker from the 1937 film scene of Berg’s Lulu Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 39 First Out-of-House Opera Medium: Books libretto = little book 1598 – gift Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 40 First Out-of-House Opera Medium: Books cheaper paper 1598 – gift 1600 – for sale Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 41 First Out-of-House Opera Medium: Books 1711 – multi-sales translation & reading light (Handel’s candles) 1598 – gift 1600 – for sale Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 42 Live Titles anticipates the teleprompter 1881: UK patent 4267 (gas lit) 1976: Live from Lincoln Center 1983: Surtitles 1995: Met Titles 2007: multilingual Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 43 2014 On Site Opera’s Pigmalion (1748) Google Glass major role Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 44 Beyond the Opera House: 1673 Athanasius Kircher Phonurgia Nova Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 45 Prediction of Other Opera Media Charles Wheatstone’s “enchanted lyre” “telephone concerts” “Who knows but by these means the music of the opera, performed at the King’s Theatre, may ere long be simultaneously enjoyed at Hannover Square Rooms, the City of London Tavern, and even at the Horn’s Tavern in Kennington.” Repository of Arts, September 1, 1821 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 46 The Telephone: Loss of the Visual 1848: home-delivery for a fee, Punch 1849: electric tests, Havana Opera 1876: NY Times predicts BO drop 1877: Du Maurier cartoon in Punch aria Providence Boston also from Philadelphia 1878: Don Pasquale in Bellinzona 1880: Zürich to Bâle, 80 km microphone for opera first courtesy home listeners Punch, December 14, 1877 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 47 “The Drama in America” March 25, 1877, p. 4 “Music at a Distance” June 17, 1877, p. 14 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 48 Antonio Meucci head of special effects at Florence opera house technical director at Havana opera house began working on the telephone in 1849 moved to U.S. in 1850 HR 269 2002 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 49 Electronic Media vs. Ticket Sales NY Times – March 22, 1876 Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 50 The Frys of Philadelphia William (father): creator & publisher of The National Gazette 1820-41 Musical Fund Society member, proposer of the Academy of Music Joseph Reese: lawyer, publisher, librettist, translator, banker William Henry: composer, music critic, reporter Edward Plunket: editor, impresario Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec. 2-3 51 William Henry Fry 1st grand opera by an American performed on an American stage opened June 4, 1845 at the Chestnut Street Theatre (original Chestnut Street Theatre was the 1st lit by gas in the U.S.) later translated to Italian Mark Schubin, Opera Philadelphia, 2018 Dec.