Although the elements of opera can be traced back to ancient mystery theater, the first traces that will lead to the development of opera as a new musical-theatrical genre can be found in church performances and 14th century mysteries, where words and music were combined. These traces can also be followed in the so-called intermezzos, musical pieces with sung madrigals and motets, and especially in the theatrical form of pastorale, which developed in the 16th century and was attractive due to its mythological content.
Under the influence of the Renaissance spirit, opera was born at the end of the 16th century in Italian princely courts. A group of Florentine musicians and scholars, known as La camerata florentina, opposed the excesses of Renaissance polyphonic music and sought to revitalize ancient theater as an eternal, unattainable model. By studying Greek music, the Camerata discovered that its secret lay in the perfect combination of words and melody. This realization led to three principles: firstly, the words had to be understandable. performance is therefore left to a solo voice with simpler accompaniment. The second element speaks to singing the words with correct and natural pronunciation, as in speech. The third element concerns the relationship between music and words; the melody should not only describe the action but also convey all levels of emotion.
Thus, in 1597, composer Jacopo Peri and writer Ottavio Rinuccini created the first, now lost, musical-dramatic work, Dafne, and in 1600, the same authors created a new work based on Greek mythology – Euridice, the first surviving “operatic” work that the authors called tragedia per musica, tragedy with music.
In the early operas, composed of consecutive recitatives with small instrumental accompaniment alternating with musical interludes, the music was very subordinate to the text. However, the first opera in today’s sense is considered to be La favola d’Orfeo (The Legend of Orpheus), composed by Claudio Monteverdi in 1607, 400 years ago. His Orpheus is seen as the beginning of a new musical of the stage kind, as it significantly surpasses its predecessors in richness of expressive means.
Monteverdi himself is considered the first opera composer to develop the dramatic shaping of the plot, simplify and balance the orchestral composition, lay the foundations for various forms of arias, the relationship with recitatives, and distinguish melodic from harmonic elements more clearly. His works mark the beginning of opera with numbers. The dramatic plot is presented through a series of cohesive musical units, numbers – independent performances of characters (future arias), ensembles, choirs, and instrumental parts. In his hands, this new form surpasses the experimental phase, acquires richness of musical expression, strength, and depth of expression, which is why his musical dramas live on today after so many centuries.
With his first opera, Monteverdi creates a completely new style in music – favola in musica, or “musical drama”, which marks the beginning of a long period of operatic development.
Claudio Monteverdi
Monteverdi nifestacija renesansnog glazbenog izričaja i prvi veliki predstavnik barokne glazbe.
Monteverdi je bio poznat po svom inovativnom pristupu glazbi i njegovoj sposobnosti da stvori emocionalno duboka glazbena djela. Njegove opere su bile revolucionarne u smislu glazbene forme i izraza, kombinirajući elemente glazbe, plesa i drame na neviđen način. Njegova najpoznatija opera, Orfej, prikazuje mitološku priču o Orfeju koji putuje u podzemni svijet da bi povratio svoju voljenu Euridiku.
Monteverdijeva glazba je bila vrlo utjecajna i njegov rad je ostavio trajni pečat na razvoj operne glazbe kao umjetnosti. On je bio pravi pionir u ovom žanru i njegovo naslijeđe se osjeća i danas. Jstor of the Italian Renaissance madrigal and the first prominent operatic dramatist of the Baroque period.
The influences of Monteverdi’s style extend through the Venetian and early Neapolitan opera school all the way to Handel, and are also discernible in the works of Lully, Purcell, and many others.