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Explore the concept of the "meraviglioso" in Baroque opera and its retention in modern stagings. Discuss historic reconstruction, modern audience perception, and the challenge of creating a modern equivalent.
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The “meraviglioso” was a central concept in Baroque poetry and theatre
«opere musicali con meravigliose mutationi di scena, comparse maestose e ricchissime, machine e voli mirabilis; vedendosi per ordinario risplendenti cieli, citadi, mari, reggie, palazzi, boscaglie, foreste ed altre vaghe e dilettevoli apparenze»¹ • (“Musical works with marvellous changes of scene, majestic and sumptuous vehicles, wonderful machines and flights; splendid skies, towns, seas, kingdoms, palaces, woods, forests and various other delightful apparitions presented as everyday sights”).[1] • [1]Francesco Sansovino, Venetia Città Nobilissima et Singolare, Venice 1663, p. 397.
do modern stagings of Seicento operas and of baroque operas in general still retain that dimension of the “meraviglioso”?
Example 1 • Busenello-Cavalli’s Didone • Venice, La Fenice theatre • September 2006 • The production was conducted by Fabio Biondi and staged by the Design Department of Venice University [IUAV].
Design for Juno in Didone Venice, La Fenice Theatre, 13 September 2005
Sketches for the character of Dido in Didone Venice, La Fenice Theatre, 13 September 2005
Didone, Act 1, scene 3 Venice, La Fenice Theatre, 13 September 2005
Didone, Act 2, scene 9 Didone, Act 3, scene 7 The gods have informed Enea that he must leave Dido
static images vs. images in motion • painting vs. cinema • Slow vs. fast
Example 2 • Gli amori di Apollo e Dafne • Fano, Teatro della Fortuna • Festival barocco 1998 • Director: Pier Luigi Pizzi • Conductor: Alessandro de Marchi
The transformation of Daphne into a bay tree Fano, La Fortuna Theatre, 1998
Gianlorenzo Bernini • Apollo e Dafne Fano, La Fortuna Theatre, 1998
Example 3 • Calisto by Giovanni Faustini and Francesco Cavalli • Brussels, Theatre La Monnaie • 1996 • Director: Herbert Wernicke • Conductor: René Jacobs
Example 4 • La favola d’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi • Kent Opera • 1976 • Director: Jonathan Miller
Example 4 • Giulio Cesare by Handel • Bologna, Comunale Theatre • 2003 • Director: Luca Ronconi • Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini
«.... cette action dramatique doit cependant pouvoir être comprise par les yeux comme l’action d’un ballet» • (»...the dramatic action of a grand opera should be understood through vision, as is that of a ballet»).[1] • [1] Véron, Mémoires, III, 352 (1853).
Do modern stagings of Baroque operas still retain the dimension of Meraviglioso? • How is possible to put together historically oriented performances and size of modern theaters? • How can we put together historic reconstruction and modern audience different perception ? • Listening habits • Centrality of the words vs. pantomime acting • Visual habits • Static images vs. images in motion • New Value system • Absence of the gods • Happy ending vs. Fidelity to literary sources • How can we create a modern equivalent?
