These low class character were often given little catchy songs and simple dances, that actually were very successful with the audience. Most of the characters were mythological gods and heroes, and then kings and warriors, and eventually their stories were seasoned with comedic characters that were of lower class, like fauns, shepherds, and villagers. These early operas were like sung recitations, and they sounded closely to what we call now recitative. They were trying the recreate Greek theater (most early operas have classical stories) and they thought that theater in classical Greece was actually sung, so they decided to sing the whole thing. La Dafne by Jacobo Peri was performed in 1598 in Florence, and it started a series of similar plays that were sung throughout. Opera as an art form has the particularity that we know which one was the first one, which is something that can be said for rarely any art. Since we are talking about this continuum in time, let me talk really briefly about the history of opera. Evolution as the constant change that any art form is subject to, because of the constant search of artists to be more expressive, more interesting, more appealing. Certainly of the three most performed composers nowadays (Verdi, Mozart and Puccini) he is the latest, and so his operas could be considered at the top of the evolution of opera. Puccini is considered by many the height of opera. (A link to the recording of this talk is at the bottom of the page - many thanks!)ĭo you love Puccini? He’s certainly one of my favorite composers, and I’m not alone.
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