OPERA SERIA
Drawing of Baroque theatre in Austria, late 18th century.
Handel’s operas dominated the stages well into the 18th century and have defined the opera seria genre. Composer and theorist Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) who is attributed to writing the “first” opera—or at least the first one that has stood the test of time—premiered L’Orfeo in 1607. Monteverdi fueled a movement with the primary intention being dramatic impact. Music would no longer be to just delight, but used instead to morally and politically instruct through storytelling to inspire empathy. Early opera seria that influenced Handel’s work included Francesco Cavalli’s Giasone (1649), who for the first time separated the aria and recitative into two distinct musical forms; and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (1683), the first opera in English.
16
OPERA SERIA
FUN FACT: The great Roman orator Cicero defined oratory as to “delight and instruct” through connecting to people’s emotion, often in a political context.
The subjects of opera seria were inspired by ancient Greek, Roman, and biblical heroes, and often took place in “exotic” change were to are lands. Plots are centralized around six main characters and feature political intrigue, disguises, and seduction. The central conflict is often between love and duty, while underscoring moral messages that virtue should be celebrated and sin forgiven. Characters express deep and often conflicting emotion—a word choice - too much “character” in sentence that continues to characterize opera even as operatic conventions evolve.
