Arkansas Baptist College Baroque Opera & Monteverdi Video Analysis PART I: Consider the following selections to be a program of Baroque music which you hav

Arkansas Baptist College Baroque Opera & Monteverdi Video Analysis PART I: Consider the following selections to be a program of Baroque music which you have attended. Like any good audience member, you have completed some preliminary research before attending the concert. You know that Monteverdi is an important composer of early Baroque opera and that he wrote his Orfeo for the Gonzaga family, his patron in Mantua. The work was presented in a private performance for his patron and other members of the Accademie degli Invaghiti and took place in a long narrow room of the Gonzaga palace, a venue much different than where we find opera performed today (i.e., in a theatre). The opening toccata was a means to allow the illustrious audience members to quiet down and prepare for the performance to follow. The subsequent recitative provides the audience a synopsis of the action. You have researched the Greek myth on which the opera was based and have located the English translations for the libretto on the program, so that you can refer to the story and the performers’ realization of it in your review (See the Opera Guide (Links to an external site.) website for a translation of the complete libretto (The page may come up in German. At the top of the page, you will see three letters (D E I). In order to view the English translation, simply click on the “E”. If you want German, click the “D”. If you want Italian, click the “I”.). The performers have decided to present the scenes complete with sets and costumes but in two quite different interpretations, the first in which Orfeo’s aria “Vi ricorda ò boschi ombrosi” is featured is more straightforward and realistic than the second, where Orfeo sings his famous “Possente spirto” to try to convince Charon to allow him to cross the river Styx and enter the Elysian Fields to retrieve his beloved Euridice.

As you write your review, include background information on the opera, its composer, and the story (the Greek myth) that is being conveyed. Include your interpretation of the opening toccata (which acts as an overture) and how you believe it prepares the audience for the opera to follow. Include a brief discussion of the music itself (what instruments are used, why do you think the composer selected these instruments, the use of repetition, etc.). Finally, report on the two arias and how successful you believe the performers are in delivering the message of the text. Compare the two stagings by describing their differences and then provide your opinion regarding which one you find most successful and why.

Here are the links for Part I:

Monteverdi: Toccata, Ritornello, and Dal mio permesso amato from L’Orfeo, Prologue to Act I

Monteverdi: Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi from L’Orfeo, Act II

Monteverdi: Possente spirito from L’Orfeo, Act III

PART II: The portion of the program after intermission consists of works by Handel (selections from his Messiah) and Vivaldi. The overture (or sinfonia as many overtures were called in the Baroque era) is based on the form of the French overture, popularized in the court of Louis XIV by the court composer, Jean-Baptiste Lully. Subsequently, this form became very popular in various regions of Europe.

The French overture is in two main sections. The first is rather slow and grandiose with dotted rhythms (long-short, long-short, etc.) to allow the king and his closest guests to enter and be seated. The second section is faster with imitation and fewer dotted rhythms. More often than not, the second section ends with a return to the first section or at least a portion of it. Both sections are repeated ( ||:A:||:BA1:|| ) resulting in what is referred to as rounded binary form. In the tradition of the period, the orchestra is conducted by the harpsichordist.

The second selection from Messiah is the well-known soprano aria “Rejoice greatly.” This is a good example of the high Baroque (or late Baroque). The vocal line resembles an instrumental line more than the melodies of early Baroque opera, and features motoric rhythm and endless melody. The execution of the aria requires good breath control as well as great flexibility. These are also the requirements of the next selection from one of Antonio Vivaldi’s cantatas. Here the aria is sung not by a mezzo-soprano or soprano but by a countertenor, the closest equivalent in terms of vocal quality to the castrato, who would have sung these types of arias in the Baroque era. As distasteful as the practice of the castrato may seem today, it was the only way many poor Italian families had to insure a livelihood, even though there were many more who failed in their attempts to launch a singing career than there were those who were successful.

For your review of the second half of the concert, include background information on Handel’s oratorio, why he essentially created the English oratorio, and on Vivaldi’s career as both a performer and composer for the Ospedale della Pieta. Then provide a review of the performances. Include biographical information about Renee Fleming and Philippe Jaroussky as well as your reaction to their singing and how well they conveyed the meaning of the text. Keep in mind that the difficulty level of both arias is quite high.

Here are the links for Part II:

Handel: Sinfonia from Messiah (Orquestra y Coro ad libitum Escola Coral de Quart de Poblet, Francesc Gamon, director)

Handel: “Rejoice Greatly” from Messiah (Renee Fleming, soprano)

Vivaldi: “Cor ingrato dispietato” from “Pianti, sospiri e dimandar mercede”, Cantata for voice and continuo, RV 676 (Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor)