Camera means fellowship or society in Italian. – The men met regularly at the house of Giovanni De’ Bard to discuss rends in the arts, music and drama. -Their goal was to create a new vocal style on the music of the ancient Greek tragedy. -They bases their ideas on literary accounts that were still existent. The Camera experiments led to the development of stile recitative. This put together the existence of dramatic music and opera. -The first Opera house opened up in Venice, Italy.
It was called Theatre San Casino -The fastest growing opera houses were located in Italy -Opera was mainly formed in Italy, but is now preformed in mostly every language. Back in this time, Opera was written for ceremonies and special events. The audience was mostly aristocracy, second social class usually did not attend. -This is the reason people have the impression that opera is for the wealthy. -Nowadays opera is Just as casual as going to the movies.
Types of Opera Opera formed many new musical styles such as recitative speech and virtuoso singers began to arise. Opera Semiarid: Contains a serious story, with a happy ending. Opera Critique: A French opera where the lines are spoken rather than sung. Comic Opera: A light opera containing a happy ending. Serious Opera: The story usually revolves around heroes and myths. Grand Opera: Everything was on a larger scale, for example: flamboyant costumes. Grand Opera included ballet. Opera Version: Based on everyday people, hence version meaning realism in Italian.
Different Singing Styles Recitative: Imitating the pattern and thyme of speech Aria: A solo voice, expressing feelings through a flowing melody Bell-Canto: A lyric style of opera singing using a rich broad tone and smooth phrasing. Also meaning beautiful singing. Casts: Male singers were castrated at puberty to inhibit the deepening of their voice. Castro combines the power of a man’s voice with the vocal range of a women. Cosec recitatives: Recitative was only accompanied by a basso continuo De capo: To start from the beginning or repeat the opening of a section.
