Report on Opera
Report on OperaOpera is a glorious spectacle, a splendid but uneven fabric of music, drama, dance, poetry, and stage architecture, imperfect by nature yet endowed with magic.
-Mary Jane Matz, Opera: Grand and Not So Grand
Opera was originally a pure art, surviving on subsidies from royalty, nobility, and aristocracy. But with the opening of the first public opera house in Venice in 1637, opera has gradually become a marketable commodity, competing with popular entertainments. Today, this art form carries numerous stereotypes that mildly retard the spreading of its popularity. Younger generations often perceive opera as an activity appreciated by the wealthier and older population. Classical music in general, has somewhat lost its foothold on younger kids, who no longer hold much of an appreciation for the art.
Opera today is facing the problem of continuous change. Historically, opera was physically distinguished as a landmark. Yet today, many of these houses no longer exist. Many have been demolished, while others have been renovated into houses, supermarkets, garages, or office buildings. Another aspect of change involves the content of the opera itself. Originally, opera was serious and grand. It has since evolved, adding new and different elements, to the point that opera now comes in all shapes, sizes, and degrees: seria, semiseria, buffa, grand, comique, Kammer, Singspiel, lyrique, light and intermezzo. Opera is today the generic term used for a variety of different pieces, ranging from: Aida, La Perichole, Night Flight, and West Side Story. With its new face and great variety, opera now has a lot more to offer to a younger, changing audience. Two such pieces are Rappresentatione Di Anima et di Corpo by Cavalieri, and Romeo et Juliette by Gounod.
This first piece, Rappresentatione, is a more contemporary piece, which takes on a philosophical, if not theological theme. In contrast to the traditional opera, where the scene is set at a general time and a geographical location, an Italian village, or perhaps the Spanish court, Rappresentatione takes place anywhere, at any time. Although this may seem ambiguous, the fact is that this drama of the human Body and Soul takes place every day, and inevitably, to everyone. The characters consist of personifications of the intangible elements and ideas that are the basis for human existence: Time, Intellect, Soul, Pleasure. The theme music to each character is carefully devised to enhance the tangible existence of the elements. Time is continuous, flowing and has a constant and repetitive pattern. It is the one absolute, independent and waiting for no one. Pleasure, on the other hand, is unpredictable; explosive and full of grandeur in places, yet capable of mystery and manipulative temptation. The orchestrations are excellent in portraying this with a range of tempos and pitches of voice. The plot involves a series of conflicts between contrasting players. Body and Soul: one cannot exist...
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