# Fabulous baroque operas



## Guest (Feb 11, 2013)

Here's the introduction to one of my favourite works, Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo". Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XX1 are performing it.






This is a wonderful work and the arioso "Possente Spirito" is moving and glorious. Here's Anthony Rolfe-Johnson singing it from the John Eliot Gardiner version, which is the one I have. The plaintive quality, the beautiful instruments (musicologists have had to arrange these for the work because only M's vocal scores remain extant) and the fabulous ornamentation (direct from the Caccini treatise of the period) make this unique. And, of course, modality is the musical system and how achingly beautiful it is:


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

you're really set the bar high there. I'm actually going to buy the version with ARJ as Orfeo, based on your post.


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## Guest (Feb 11, 2013)

How about this from a student of Monteverdi - Cavalli






Then, when you've finished with that, there's Monteverdi's masterwork of the form, "The Coronation of Poppea". Here it is in a not-particularly-flash version from Paris (I've seen this orchestra in Vienna playing Handel):


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Any opera by Rameau, especially Hippolyte et Aricie and Castor et Pollux.

Monteverdi, of course, I join you all by casting my vote also in favor.

Pergolesi, Handel, Campra, Vivaldi, Lully, Purcell, Destouches, Porpora. You can't go wrong with Baroque Opera.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2013)

Novelette said:


> Any opera by Rameau, especially Hippolyte et Aricie and Castor et Pollux.
> 
> Monteverdi, of course, I join you all by casting my vote also in favor.
> 
> Pergolesi, Handel, Campra, Vivaldi, Lully, Purcell, Destouches, Porpora. You can't go wrong with Baroque Opera.


I adore Purcell, Handel, Rameau and Lully in that order *ALONGSIDE* Monteverdi!! I don't know any by Campra, Porpora (only his chamber or keyboard music) or any opera by Pergolesi. I love the French style with its elegance and the high tessitura of Rameau and Lully.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I love Vivaldi - Ercole sul Termodonte, Orlando Furioso, Il Farnace and Motezuma are some of my favourites.

A couple of wonderful taster albums:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> Then, when you've finished with that, there's Monteverdi's masterwork of the form, "The Coronation of Poppea". Here it is in a not-particularly-flash version from Paris (I've seen this orchestra in Vienna playing Handel):


I really enjoyed this production. There is also this uneasy and edgy version:





G]


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

^Thems be some fabulous shoes.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2013)

The main issue I have with the Baroque operas is the men singing in the high falsetto - it sounds creepy to me. I really don't think I would have enjoyed seeing a performance back in the day with a castrato in the performance. It just creeps me out seeing a man sing that high. If I want a high voice, I would much rather it be from a woman. I rented a DVD performance of a Baroque opera - it may have even been the Jacobs performance of the Monteverdi opera mentioned in the first post. The second a male came in singing ridiculously high, I started to cringe and my wife started to laugh. For those of you with kids, it reminded me of the scene in Shrek 3, where Prince Charming is singing in a ridiculous falsetto for his small play/opera.


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2013)

Well, Dr. Mike, there are lots of women who take the male roles - and that's another reason to make people uneasy too. I saw "Castor and Pollux" last year at Theater an der Wien and there were women in male roles, similarly the lead 'male' at Wiener Staatsoper "Alcina" by Handel - a female. The orchestra was Musiciens de Louvre, Grenoble, Marc Minkowsi and it was a FABULOUS production. Nobody cared about ANYTHING but the music. What else would one expect from the terribly sophisticated Viennese?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> Well, Dr. Mike, there are lots of women who take the male roles - and that's another reason to make people uneasy too. I saw "Castor and Pollux" last year at Theater an der Wien and there were women in male roles, similarly the lead 'male' at Wiener Staatsoper "Alcina" by Handel - a female. The orchestra was Musiciens de Louvre, Grenoble, Marc Minkowsi and it was a FABULOUS production. Nobody cared about ANYTHING but the music. *What else would one expect from the terribly sophisticated Viennese?*


I think it has more to do with how you feel about countertenors.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> it was a FABULOUS production.


indeed it was! I think we're lucky that that both mezzos and countertenors sing these roles; this way everybody wins, and people who like both win twice 

btw, who doesn't like Poppea? wonderful, tongue-in-cheek, uninhibited opera. For those who don't like countertenors there are versions where Nerone is sung by ladies.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

Here's a tiny sample from the Wiener Staatsoper/Musiciens de Louvre/Minkowsi production of "Alcina". Joy x 1000!!






I'm full of admiration for singers who can negotiate the absolutely treacherous territory of extended melismas and decorative embellishments in Handelian opera - the orchestra is usually there playing the same melody and there's nowhere for the singer/s to run or hide!! Wunderbah.:tiphat:


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

This opera blew my sox off in Vienna (and I wasn't wearing any!) in a 'concert performance', Handel's 'Giulio Cesare'. This aria is an example of the sublime art of Handel and the singer in question, Ms. Abrahamyan, is also a fabulous actress. I believed!!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Alcina is one of my favourite operas from any era. The music is gorgeous and catchy all around but I also find the story really touching (I liked it so much, I went ahead and read Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and I'm not exactly a poetry fan). I even have a whole theory about Alcina and Der Rosenkavalier.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> This aria is an example of the sublime art of Handel and the singer in question, Ms. Abrahamyan, is also a fabulous actress. I believed!!


did you like her as Polinesso as well? methinks we like the same singers


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## Barocked (Feb 12, 2013)

Novelette said:


> Any opera by Rameau, especially *Hippolyte et Aricie* and Castor et Pollux.
> 
> Monteverdi, of course, I join you all by casting my vote also in favor.
> 
> Pergolesi, Handel, Campra, Vivaldi, Lully, Purcell, Destouches, Porpora. You can't go wrong with Baroque Opera.


The second act of Hippolyte et Aricie is mindblowing from start to finish! Features some of the most daring music of the Baroque era, particularly the trio des parques (trio of the fates).

Check out this performance.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas". 

Interesting how a lot of Baroque operas were based on Greek & Roman classics.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

deggial said:


> Alcina is one of my favourite operas from any era. The music is gorgeous and catchy all around but I also find the story really touching (I liked it so much, I went ahead and read Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and I'm not exactly a poetry fan). I even have a whole theory about Alcina and Der Rosenkavalier.


Tell about the theory, bitte!! And I haven't seen Ms. Abrahamyan in the role you mention in your other comments. Another fave singer is Anne-Sofie von Otter, but she's in her late 40's these days and I saw her in Vienna in a smaller role.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

Barocked said:


> The second act of Hippolyte et Aricie is mindblowing from start to finish! Features some of the most daring music of the Baroque era, particularly the trio des parques (trio of the fates).
> 
> Check out this performance.


Wunderbah!! I adore the ravishing music of Rameau; adore, I say. And that stunning sound on A415 pitch!! Emmanuelle Haim directed Les Talens Lyriques in Vienna for Rameau's "Castor und Pollux" when I saw it in 2011. Can't wait to get back there for more. I believe it's terribly difficult getting tickets in Paris at Opera Garnier. Tears.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

Tristan said:


> Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas".
> 
> Interesting how a lot of Baroque operas were based on Greek & Roman classics.


Well, of course, EVERYTHING Purcell wrote was stunning (except, perhaps, some of those bawdy songs for the alehouse)!! And "Dido" is one of the great musical works of all time. I once wrote a thesis on the connection between Purcell and Dryden and music for the theatre!! A long time ago!!

Purcell's music was often joyful, rhythmically invigorating, sometimes plaintive and always, always very wonderful. Even his Funeral Music for Queen Mary - tragically used for his own funeral barely one year later - is an entirely original work and the product of a man only in his mid-30's. And people talk about Mozart...!!!!! And Purcell has the, dare I say it, "countenance Anglaise" (English face).


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

Aksel said:


> I think it has more to do with how you feel about countertenors.


Yes - the countertenor is not something I care to hear. Especially in what is supposed to be a male role. I just don't understand it. And if it is supposed to be a female role, why not just have a female play it? It would sound more natural.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

^ I guess you need to put it in its context. Back in those days, possibly influenced by the initial prevalence of church music with all its youth choirs, the taste of day veered towards high pitched voices in both male and female singers. They likely thought them more angelic or something along those lines - all the good guys/heroes were written high pitched even in France where they didn't like castrati. The rise of the countertenors in opera came about the same time as the obsession with HIP, since they're the closest approximation of castrati. That's my understanding of it, at least. Ultimately, if you just don't like listening to a high pitched male voice there's no point forcing it, but it does make a difference if you think about the reasons behind it all.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

deggial said:


> ^ I guess you need to put it in its context. Back in those days, possibly influenced by the initial prevalence of church music with all its youth choirs, the taste of day veered towards high pitched voices in both male and female singers. They likely thought them more angelic or something along those lines - all the good guys/heroes were written high pitched even in France where they didn't like castrati. The rise of the countertenors in opera came about the same time as the obsession with HIP, since they're the closest approximation of castrati. That's my understanding of it, at least. Ultimately, if you just don't like listening to a high pitched male voice there's no point forcing it, but it does make a difference if you think about the reasons behind it all.


You are right. The castrato phenomenon started with the church and servitude. Women were meant to keep silent!! Same thing on the English stage - only later in the Restoration did women have the right to appear on stage in the theatre and some (like Aphra Benn) actually wrote plays. And, of course, in Shakespeare's day the men took all the parts!!

Avert your ears and eyes, Dr. Mike.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> Tell about the theory, bitte!!


all right, Alcina and Der Rosenkavalier. It first occurred to me while I was watching Capriccio, during the bit of dialog where they go on about Baroque composers. It brought to mind how DRK is supposedly set in the 1740s (and Alcina premiered in 1735) and I thought "hey, Strauss sure likes his Baroque". Then later on I was musing over Alcina's plot and I immediately thought Alcina = die Marschallin, Ruggiero = Octavian. It's more obvious in Orlando furioso how the bit of the plot which has been used as basis for Alcina is basically Ruggiero's sentimental education (Ruggiero being the main character, weirdly, not Orlando, because he is (supposedly) the ancestor of the d'Este family, who commissioned the book and whom Ariosto brownnoses to a ridiculous extent throughout the poem). I know die Marschallin wasn't in the plot initially (weird, right?), but it just seems there are such uncanny similarities between the two characters for somebody with an interest in the music of the time. Why set it around the same period, as well?

I also felt like Handel and his librettist were unusually kind to Alcina and did a great job to humanize her in spite of keeping her magic powers (but allegories were typical back then; magic = sex appeal). She is basically a woman dealing with the inevitability of aging, exactly like the Marschallin. Having a younger lover resonates with that bit inside each of us that never ages.

Then there's the way both Alcina and die Marschallin treat Ruggiero and Octavian. The Marschallin briefly implies there are some things that Octavian doesn't need to know (and we might imagine what they are, especially considering _when_ she says it, just after remembering one time when the Feldmarschall came home early which is kind of pun in opera, isn't it?) while Alcina obviously keeps her ex-lovers a secret from Ruggiero = both of them somewhat patronize their lovers (maybe unconsciously, maybe out of a mothering instinct) and use their youthful enthusiasm to keep them locked in co-dependent relationships (although Bradamante is Ruggiero's sweetheart, in the book it's made clear that this is one of those medieval knightly affairs and they had not consummated their love prior to Ruggiero's being ensnared by Alcina). Both these young men behave like puppies around their ladies (Ruggiero turns out to be a very brave knight, but you wouldn't know from the plot of Alcina where he mostly sits around and looks pretty  whereas Octavian is quite a bit of a goof, what with the silly Mariandel business in which he seems to take great delight, that manly lad! haha) - reminds me there's some emasculation business in which both ladies indulge and I think this does go on hand in hand with their patronizing attitude towards their lovers. The Marschallin does not seem to keep men in hight regard (she says to Octavian words to the effect of "don't be like the other men") and Alcina, well, she discards them after use! although her method is both creative _and_ practical, heh. It's also interesting how neither Ruggiero nor Octavian realize what will happen until it actually happens but then there's no going back. Just as how this is story about aging for the ladies it is a story of growing up for them. I think there's some more subtle stuff there to analyze but this is how far I've got


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

My latest--albeit belated--discovery are the pre-reform operas of Gluck. The Ezio recording by Curtis is really enjoyable.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

Rangstrom said:


> My latest--albeit belated--discovery are the pre-reform operas of Gluck. The Ezio recording by Curtis is really enjoyable.


Gluck: superb!! But I wouldn't call him 'baroque' as he stradled the period between baroque and classicism. ("If it ain't bar..ock......!":lol:

Gluck was "style galante".


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2013)

deggial said:


> all right, Alcina and Der Rosenkavalier. It first occurred to me while I was watching Capriccio, during the bit of dialog where they go on about Baroque composers. It brought to mind how DRK is supposedly set in the 1740s (and Alcina premiered in 1735) and I thought "hey, Strauss sure likes his Baroque". Then later on I was musing over Alcina's plot and I immediately thought Alcina = die Marschallin, Ruggiero = Octavian. It's more obvious in Orlando furioso how the bit of the plot which has been used as basis for Alcina is basically Ruggiero's sentimental education (Ruggiero being the main character, weirdly, not Orlando, because he is (supposedly) the ancestor of the d'Este family, who commissioned the book and whom Ariosto brownnoses to a ridiculous extent throughout the poem). I know die Marschallin wasn't in the plot initially (weird, right?), but it just seems there are such uncanny similarities between the two characters for somebody with an interest in the music of the time. Why set it around the same period, as well?
> 
> I also felt like Handel and his librettist were unusually kind to Alcina and did a great job to humanize her in spite of keeping her magic powers (but allegories were typical back then; magic = sex appeal). She is basically a woman dealing with the inevitability of aging, exactly like the Marschallin. Having a younger lover resonates with that bit inside each of us that never ages.
> 
> Then there's the way both Alcina and die Marschallin treat Ruggiero and Octavian. The Marschallin briefly implies there are some things that Octavian doesn't need to know (and we might imagine what they are, especially considering _when_ she says it, just after remembering one time when the Feldmarschall came home early which is kind of pun in opera, isn't it?) while Alcina obviously keeps her ex-lovers a secret from Ruggiero = both of them somewhat patronize their lovers (maybe unconsciously, maybe out of a mothering instinct) and use their youthful enthusiasm to keep them locked in co-dependent relationships (although Bradamante is Ruggiero's sweetheart, in the book it's made clear that this is one of those medieval knightly affairs and they had not consummated their love prior to Ruggiero's being ensnared by Alcina). Both these young men behave like puppies around their ladies (Ruggiero turns out to be a very brave knight, but you wouldn't know from the plot of Alcina where he mostly sits around and looks pretty  whereas Octavian is quite a bit of a goof, what with the silly Mariandel business in which he seems to take great delight, that manly lad! haha) - reminds me there's some emasculation business in which both ladies indulge and I think this does go on hand in hand with their patronizing attitude towards their lovers. The Marschallin does not seem to keep men in hight regard (she says to Octavian words to the effect of "don't be like the other men") and Alcina, well, she discards them after use! although her method is both creative _and_ practical, heh. It's also interesting how neither Ruggiero nor Octavian realize what will happen until it actually happens but then there's no going back. Just as how this is story about aging for the ladies it is a story of growing up for them. I think there's some more subtle stuff there to analyze but this is how far I've got


Congratulations; this is a superb understanding of the inter-connectedness of music and it's self referential tendencies!! I do not know the plots of either operas anywhere near as well as you do, to be honest. But, yes, Strauss would have known and very well understood theatrical (well, all) music of the past. And your comments about emasculation: perceptive, but don't forget it's one of the very few examples which reverses the trend of men using females and then discarding them. Some composers also liked to 'joke' about women 'being like that'!!! And then there are operas with uxorious men, like "Dido and Aeneas". Operas come in all shapes and sizes. But you have excellent skills of perception.

What I liked most was your lightly veiled jeremiad - that we all have within us the eternal hope of love, just as we did in our youth. Apposite.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

cheers, that was nice of you to say 

back to V. Abrahamyan - Ariodante with A. Hallenberg (love her as well) in the title role and V. Abrahamyan as the villain Polinesso travelled a bit a few years ago.

here's V. Abrahamyam - "Se l'inganno" (the villain's true colours): 




and "Dover, giustizia, amor", Polinesso's great show of hypocrisy: 




A. Hallenberg - "Dopo notte" (you can see the cast in the marquee): 




imo, Hallenberg is the best Ariodante (Ariodante is a big wuss so, for me, her very relaxed approach works much better than the more heroic takes on him).


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2013)

I have Ann-Sofie von Otter as Ariodante. What an opera!! I bought the CD set in Vienna at Gramola, Graben, and was served by an intelligent young man who was studying Theatrical Design at the University of Vienna. He wanted to get into opera productions!!


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2013)

deggial said:


> cheers, that was nice of you to say
> 
> back to V. Abrahamyan - Ariodante with A. Hallenberg (love her as well) in the title role and V. Abrahamyan as the villain Polinesso travelled a bit a few years ago.
> 
> ...


I love that aria, Dopo notte, and Ann-Sofie sings it brilliantly. Abrahamyan has a more 'golden', mellifluous tone than the powerful von Otter, IMO. I take your point about the 'big wuss' element, though. Another perceptive observation from you!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

We haven't talked about Monteverdi's "IL Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria". I've loved this opera ever since I saw this magnificently staged and beautifully sung version on DVD:


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> We haven't talked about Monteverdi's "IL Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria". I've loved this opera ever since I saw this magnificently staged and beautifully sung version on DVD:


It's a glorious work and one which sees Monteverdi make the full transition from arioso to operatic aria.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> I love that aria, Dopo notte, and Ann-Sofie sings it brilliantly. Abrahamyan has a more 'golden', mellifluous tone than the powerful von Otter, IMO. I take your point about the 'big wuss' element, though. Another perceptive observation from you!


somehow von Otter hasn't wowed me yet. Might be I tend to go for the golden thing rather than sheer power. On the other hand, I'm full of opinions about operatic characters  but I am truly ignorant of _Il ritorno d'Ulisse_ so I'll leave you ladies to discuss this one while I go rectify that


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2013)

Perhaps this link can help, deggial. It explores the different approaches to a single aria. This is glorious music and I love Janet Baker, though the orchestral arrangement seems a bit 'archaic' now - quite paradoxically - with jangly harpsichord! This aria is full of despair and Monteverdi was a the top of his game, having already perfect the art of the madrigal - which was an excellent 'preparation' for opera. His operatic characters 'live', despite being trapped in myth or ancient antiquity, through voice-leading and melody. These melodic lines are often very dissonant indeed.






Wow - the internet!! But the link is inaccurately describing the piece as "recitative". It was more akin to 'arioso', but we can think of it as an aria today.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

I actually prefer _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_ to _Poppea_, but I'll admit I also know it better..

I think Melanto's little 'aria' _Ama dunque_ is one of the most heart melting little things he ever wrote, and mostly because of this version:


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2013)

Norse said:


> I actually prefer _Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria_ to _Poppea_, but I'll admit I also know it better..
> 
> I think Melanto's little 'aria' _Ama dunque_ is one of the most heart melting little things he ever wrote, and mostly because of this version:


Absolutely tender and wonderful; thank you for that link!! These young singers today, aren't they just superb - negotiating all that decoration, making it all seem so easy. "Rittorno" is certainly more conventionally 'melodic' than the later "Poppea", yes. But this link from Wiki provides some insights into the problematic nature of performing Monteverdi because of confusion over score authenticity, just as one conundrum for musicians and musicologists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_ritorno_d'Ulisse_in_patria


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

CountenanceAnglaise said:


> His operatic characters 'live', despite being trapped in myth or ancient antiquity, through voice-leading and melody. These melodic lines are often very dissonant indeed.


!!! you have a knack for selecting really convincing pieces. I'm starting to think Monteverdi is going to end up among my very favourites... and great singers in that selection; out of them all I'm least fond of Prina and even she did well. I actually love it when people upload 2-3-5 etc. singers doing the same aria. I'm going to upload it to my phone and mull over it on the way to work  I'm already going to buy L'Orfeo next week, might as well look into a Ulisse as well


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## Guest (Feb 15, 2013)

deggial said:


> !!! you have a knack for selecting really convincing pieces. I'm starting to think Monteverdi is going to end up among my very favourites... and great singers in that selection; out of them all I'm least fond of Prina and even she did well. I actually love it when people upload 2-3-5 etc. singers doing the same aria. I'm going to upload it to my phone and mull over it on the way to work  I'm already going to buy L'Orfeo next week, might as well look into a Ulisse as well


You are obviously a person who is always willing to know more, and one of taste - of course!! What I love most about Monteverdi is those plangent lines which fall and rise unexpectedly and the touching melodies overall. The 'orchestrations' which have been developed in more recent years - thanks to HIP - are like spun gold, with the Chitaronne, Lutes, Viols and other early baroque instruments. Delicate beyond words.

The development of "opera" came from the Florentine Intermedii - musical tableaux which were performed between the acts of plays in Italy. There's a magnificent recording of the 1589 "La Pellegrina" for the marriage of Christine of Lorraine to a Medici. I've tried to upload the image but I cannot. It was also one of the earliest examples of "orchestral" music as we know it today. Shortly thereafter, in the 'fin de siecle' period, Jacobo Peri's "Dafne" appeared and some regard it as, in fact, the first opera.


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm not generally a big fan of opera, but Baroque opera totally captivates me! Monteverdi and Handel are my two favorites, I like just about everything by the two of them. I would love to get the chance to see one live someday, complete with period outfits and staging...the only operas they ever put on in my area are Madame Butterfly and Pagliacci. Pity I didn't see this thread sooner .


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2013)

I'm signing out of this messageboard. Thanks to the people who've made interesting discussions with me!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

and thank you as well  hope you'll find good conversations wherever else you're going.

edit: ...although it's not worth letting internet disagreements get to you


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

DrMike said:


> The main issue I have with the Baroque operas is the men singing in the high falsetto - it sounds creepy to me. I really don't think I would have enjoyed seeing a performance back in the day with a castrato in the performance. It just creeps me out seeing a man sing that high. If I want a high voice, I would much rather it be from a woman. I rented a DVD performance of a Baroque opera - it may have even been the Jacobs performance of the Monteverdi opera mentioned in the first post. The second a male came in singing ridiculously high, I started to cringe and my wife started to laugh. For those of you with kids, it reminded me of the scene in Shrek 3, where Prince Charming is singing in a ridiculous falsetto for his small play/opera.


Yeah, I can't deal with counter-tenors. Don't even tell me about male sopranos. 

No problem with women playing male roles though. Well I might if a woman sang bass!


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Aksel said:


> I think it has more to do with how you feel about countertenors.


In the case of the _L'incoronazione di Poppea_ Liceu production above, it also has to do with how you feel about bald conehead countertenors dressed in drag and singing coloratura poorly to a(n apparent real) woman wearing high heels and walking with crutches. It seems the production cared about everything _but_ the music. (But then again, I made it through a minute and a half of the wretchedness.)

Kind regards,

George
George


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

Fine thread - 

It's opened a wonderful new world to me and I look forward to many Baroque operas in my -limited- future...


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

huntsman said:


> Fine thread -
> 
> It's opened a wonderful new world to me and I look forward to many Baroque operas in my -limited- future...


Your not ill I hope?


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## huntsman (Jan 28, 2013)

Heheh!

Thank you for asking, but no...no immediate signs of departure.:lol:

It's just that I am quite old now, and getting into opera at this late stage means I have an impossible task of catching up to do!

(Not the least in convincing the wife that opera is a worthy pastime.)


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## Vietnamese Opera (Jul 11, 2017)

Thank you posting these beautiful links. Monteverdi's l'Orfeo was my first introduction to opera, and I have never stopped loving it, but I have never had the opportunity to attend a live performance.


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## Bertali (Jul 14, 2017)

I have a soft spot for John Blow's only opera "Venus and Adonis", a little masterpiece of early baroque opera from ca. 1680-1687.
My prefered version is Philip Pickett's version on Decca (L'Oiseau-Lyre), now OOP but worth to lookout for in the used section.








For those with spotify you can find it here https://play.spotify.com/album/5FY8LFUq2c3BIyVZV8WSfP?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

It is said that this opera had a big influence on Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas".

Here is a version that I found on Youtube.


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