THE OPERA[1] owes its rise to the attempt which was made in Florence at the beginning of the sixteenth century to discover the musical method of ancient tragedy and to reproduce it in conformity to the spirit of the Renaissance.[2] GRADUAL RISE OF OPERA. In opposition to the predominant madrigal style of part-singing, worked out in counterpoint, there arose strivings after a method which should give freedom and independence to the solo singer, and which should render the poet's words comprehensible and sympathetic to the hearer. The conviction that this was accomplished to perfection in ancient tragedy led to a search after lost musical traditions, traces of which are observable in the opera seria, even in its latest development. First, recitative was introduced as a middle course between song and ordinary speech, distinguished by accent and rhythm, and sustained by a simple harmony, which emphasised the dialogue. Time and effort were needed to establish this compromise between song and speech, and to convert recitative into the pliable, expressive instrument of musical dialogue.
The first attempt to place an opera in this stilo rappresentativo on the stage was made by Jac. Peri with Ottavio Rinuccini's "Dafne," performed in 1594 at the Palazzo Corsi;[3] the same poet's "Euridice" followed in 1600, publicly performed on the occasion of the marriage of Henry IV. with Marie de Medicis. The whole dialogue is rendered in a simply accompanied recitative, without the introduction of anything resembling an air; to this are added choruses, after the example of the old tragedies, not worked out in contrapuntal form like madrigals, as was already the custom with the intermedii of spoken tragedies, but in simple harmonies, and in a key corresponding to the recitatives.
A similar experiment was made in Rome in 1600 by Emilio de' Cavalieri with his oratorio "Dell' Anima e del Corpo," and in Florence the same year by Giulio Caccini with another, "Euridice," which displayed the art of the singers by its numerous embellishments and passages.
Musical language, however, could only attain its full effect when the more elevated sentiments received their due expression in an air, independent in character and OPERA SERIA. perfect in form. The development of solo singing released from its contrapuntal bondage, and made expressive by melody, was largely due to Caccini. The merit of connecting the air with the recitative in opera—for which a precedent was found in the monody of ancient tragedy—belongs to Claudio Monteverde, who also made use of the whole available instrumental wealth of the time. His operas of "Orfeo," composed in Mantua (1607), and "Arianna" (1608) were followed in Venice, where he was appointed kapellmeister (1613), by "Proserpina rapita" (1630), "Adone" (1639), &c. Here, then, were the elements of the opera seria. To follow its continuous development step by step would require such a searching study of details as has not yet been undertaken. The majority of existing accounts are made apparently at random, and without any idea of connection or dependence. A sketch of the leading points in the progress of this development will suffice for our purpose.[4]
Ancient tragedy being taken as a model, it followed that the stories of ancient mythology or history (they were always considered on the same level) were almost exclusively chosen, although treated for the most part in a widely different spirit.
Opera soon formed an important feature in court festivals, and it became customary to give the text a reference to the festival or person honoured by turning it into an allegory, in which poetical fancy vied with personal flattery.[5] In imitation of ancient tragedy mimic dances were connected with the singing, but the union of the arts tended more to sensual enjoyment than to poetical effect. The naïve freedom with which the ancient myths were handled gave ample license for gaudy costumes, scenery, and decorations, and the same taste was carried into the fantastic outcome of these festival representations known as the German magic opera.
The courts of Italy and France vied with each other in DEVELOPMENT OF OPERA—SCARLATTI. the costly splendour lavished on the opera by scene-painters, decorators, and costumiers; and Vienna, Munich, Dresden, and Stuttgart were not slow to follow their example. The elegantly printed books of the words, adorned with careful copper-plate engravings, which were distributed for these performances, give some idea of the style in which they were put on the stage, and of the dazzle and glitter in the midst of which the music became a very secondary consideration.
Such operas as we have described could, on account of the expense, only be given at royal courts on special occasions; but the general public soon began to demand a share in the entertainment and a regular repetition of it. It became the established custom to make the opera the main festivity of the Carnival, and although generous patrons were not wanting, prepared to support the managers (impresarii), yet the latter, who naturally wished to make a profit by the opera, generally found it necessary to reduce the cost of the representations. The libretti, which sought to excite interest by showy scenery, and a mixture of pathetic and burlesque situations, without the least regard to consistency or psychological accuracy, were far from satisfactory to any cultivated taste. But the cultivation of the art of song exercised the highest of all influences on operatic music. It had reached a height from which it was able to govern the musical public, and to render the pleasure of the eye subservient to that of the ear. In proportion as the vocal art asserted its superiority, it exacted a simplification of all other means of attraction, and the universal striving after regularity was materially assisted by the necessity for clear and decided forms in vocal music.
This transformation of the opera, which took its final form from poet and composer under the quickening influence of great singers, is commonly ascribed to Alessandro Scarlatti (1659-1725). He was the disciple, although perhaps not the pupil, of the Roman kapellmeister, Giacomo Carissimi (who was nearly ninety in 1672), who did such good service to the development of recitative and dramatic solo singing, that he may be considered the founder of modern song.