18c Opera quotes

Question 1

Opera seria = a reflection of various 18c Italian political structures, eg kingships and papal monarchies

Answer 1

Feldman 2007

Question 2

Opere serie = ‘limited [sets] of narrative archetypes’, eg love and heroes, classical references

Answer 2

Feldman 2007

Question 3

Farinelli’s famous performance of aria “Son qual nave che agitata”
- Score intact in Vienna
- Displays Farinelli’s own vocal extension, cadenzas, ornamentations in ink and underlining
- Burney- this “brilliancy” made it difficult for orchestra to follow vocal line, especially violins

Answer 3

Feldman 2007

Question 4

Farinelli’s production of “Catone in Utica”
- He substituted Leo’s original aria “Che legge spietata” for Broschi’s in I.3
- Leo’s aria had little ‘vocal challenge’, instrumental parts were independent from the vocal line, so the singer would have to observe metre, melody and harmony of the orchestra more

Answer 4

Over 2020

Question 5

General expectation that opere serve were meant firstly to ‘move the audience’ and inspire emotion
- Therefore, Farinelli postpones Leo’s more dramatic aria in I.3 and opens with a virtuosic showpiece, awareness of ‘more popular aria [types]’

Answer 5

Desler 2015

Question 6

1720s- Farinelli ‘strategically shaping his public image’
- By reconstructing pre-existing and new music by different composers in “impasticciata” eg “Catone in Utica”
- Identity as a curator/artistic director, ‘reputation of a gentleman’, strove to ‘continually [expand] his technical and stylistic expertise’

Answer 6

Desler 2015

Question 7

Farinelli seemingly predicted the mid-century crisis- ‘growing discontent…that opera seria was too rigid and too starstruck’, with a ‘flagrant appeal to showbiz’
- Stock pose whilst singing arias neglected action, captured audiences through musicality instead of drama

Answer 7

Desler 2015

Question 8

Farinelli’s reputation in social circles > elevated status, could serve as director of music at Spanish royal chapel > let him produce many ‘sumptuously staged Italian operas’ with music by Corselli, Hasse and Galuppi

Answer 8

Freeman 2002

Question 9

‘genre transcended tacit agreement between artist and audience’

Answer 9

Dill, “Monstrous Opera” 1998

Question 10

Genre- ‘a means of governing artistic behaviours and ensuring conformity to tradition’

Answer 10

Dill, “Monstrous Opera” 1998

Question 11

Performance is a ‘broad spectrum’/’continuum’ of human events, including ‘ritual’, ‘play’, ‘popular entertainments’

Answer 11

Schechner, performance scholar (2013) (Opera as process = performance)

Question 12

‘The enactment of social, professional, gender, race and class roles’ is also performance

Answer 12

Schechner (2013)

Question 13

Social capital- like ‘membership in a group’, ‘institutionalised relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition’
Cultural capital- eg opera fans, opera houses’ luxury and audience centricity (link to luxury goods and Adam Smith)

Answer 13

Pierre Bourdieu 1986

Question 14

‘Spatial turn’, politics of space and place
- Argue that considering geography is important, as this gives reason to why and how things happen in certain places

Answer 14

Warf, Arias 2009

Question 15

‘Principal’ (court, noble, serious) theatres vs ‘secondary’ (impresarial, comic) theatres

Answer 15

Butler 1988

Question 16

Link 18c mobility and internationalism to the rise of capitalism
-(ideas, genres, stories and works move within Europe in 18c)

Answer 16

Sheller, Urry 2009

Question 17

Sociology is needed to study opera, not just musicology and literary studies

Answer 17

Piperno 2007

Question 18

Zeno’s style- ‘masculine, robust’
Metastasio’s style- interpreted as more feminine, ‘pure and elegant’, ‘flowing and harmonious’

Answer 18

Goldoni

Question 19

Italian recitative was ‘too close and simple’, ‘without any inflection or modulation of the voice’, not considered real singing, compared to French tragedie

Answer 19

Raguenet 1709

Question 20

‘Ancients vs moderns’ debate, awareness of things speeding up in 18c, ‘concept of Neue Zeit’ more common

Answer 20

Koselleck, “Futures Past” 1979

Question 21

Italian comic opera steeped in the history of the ‘entirely Neapolitan tradition’ of the commeddja pe’mmuseca

Answer 21

Deldonna 2012

Question 22

Social and bureaucratic reform was relevant in 18c Italy- new monarchy and Concordat limiting the ‘immunity’ of the Church to legal and fiscal policies

Answer 22

Deldonna 2012

Question 23

Comic opera “Il convitato di Pietra” (1783)- how Enlightenment-era drama ‘portray[ed] all levels of local society’, embodying ‘associated cultural markers’
- Scenes set in “a countryside with rustic dwellings” eg I.5, where characters dance the tarantella accompanied by indigenous Neapolitan instruments

Answer 23

Deldonna 2012

Question 24

Seeks to define the concept of an “aria type”

Answer 24

Mary Hunter, chapter “Arias: Some Issues” 1999

Question 25

Aria- 'basis of the dramaturgy' in opera buffa, and is the most common closed musical act across the genre

Answer 25

Hunter 1999

Question 26

Aristocratic characters in opera buffa- 'seria speech'/'metaphorical and abstract' 'Those below the aristocracy'- 'characteristically more concrete'

Answer 26

Hunter 1999

Question 27

Opera seria was marketed to the upper class, which was its 'core audience' Opera buffa was intended to be received more broadly

Answer 27

Piperno 2009

Question 28

Governments in peripheral towns Livorno and Senegallia financed frequent opera sessions and construction of public theatres- ways to manage society especially around the revolutionary years at the end of the 18c

Answer 28

Piperno 2009

Question 29

Opera buffa- financially successful as it combined material which was publicly popular, whilst being 'relatively easy to produce and disseminate'

Answer 29

Piperno 2009

Question 30

Social and bureaucratic reform were relevant in 18c Italy; new monarchy in 1734, 1741 Concordat limiting Church's 'immunity' to legal and fiscal policies

Answer 30

Deldonna 2012

Question 31

Opera seria- prestigious because it was 'expensive and hence a luxury good for upper-class consumers'

Answer 31

Piperno 2009

Question 32

Governments in peripheral towns Livorno and Senegallia financed frequent opera sessions and construction of public theatres; ways to manage society especially around revolutionary years 1796-99

Answer 32

Piperno 2009

Question 33

Opera buffa was financially successful as it combined material that was publicly popular, but also 'relatively easy to produce and disseminate'

Answer 33

Piperno 2009

Question 34

18c opera should be studied in an increasingly sociological way, given its 'multimedia nature [requiring] an interdisciplinary approach'

Answer 34

Piperno 2009

Question 34

Italian economy remained stagnant throughout most 18c, except mid-century growth Overall government failure in using policy to control 1760s famines > incomes did not increase significantly (So opera seria as a luxury good was not affordable)

Answer 34

Wickham, Signoretta 2025

Question 34

'Ongoing relationships' between opera audiences AS performance- audiences would have libretti, talking to their neighbours and discussing the performance/story

Answer 34

Schechner 2002

Question 35

Draws attention to opera buffa aria types in particular- stock stories eg amorous sentiment, serva, aristocratic rage/pride

Answer 35

Mary Hunter 1999

Question 36

Mentions John Brown's discussion of aria types - cantabile, portamento, bravura > stability and repertory of character types This was more Italian than universal

Answer 36

Mary Hunter 1999