• The “meraviglioso” was a central concept
in Baroque poetry and theatre
• «opere musicali con meravigliose mutationi di scena,
comparse maestose e ricchissime, machine e voli
mirabilis; vedendosi per ordinario risplendenti cieli, citadi,
mari, reggie, palazzi, boscaglie, foreste ed altre vaghe e
dilettevoli apparenze»¹
•
(“Musical works with marvellous changes of scene,
majestic and sumptuous vehicles, wonderful machines
and flights; splendid skies, towns, seas, kingdoms,
palaces, woods, forests and various other delightful
apparitions presented as everyday sights”).[1]
•
[1] Francesco Sansovino, Venetia Città Nobilissima et
Singolare, Venice 1663, p. 397.
• do modern stagings of Seicento operas
and of baroque operas in general still
retain that dimension of the
“meraviglioso”?
Example 1
•
•
•
•
Busenello-Cavalli’s Didone
Venice, La Fenice theatre
September 2006
The production was conducted by Fabio
Biondi and staged by the Design
Department of Venice University [IUAV].
• Design for
Juno in
Didone
Venice, La Fenice Theatre, 13 September 2005
• Sketches for the character of Dido in Didone
Venice, La Fenice Theatre, 13 September 2005
Didone,
Act 1,
scene 3
Venice, La
Fenice Theatre,
13 September
2005
Didone,
Act 2,
scene 9
Didone, Act 2, scene 9
Didone,
Act 3,
scene 7
The gods
have
informed
Enea that
he must
leave
Dido
• static images vs. images in motion
• painting vs. cinema
• Slow vs. fast
Example 2
•
•
•
•
•
Gli amori di Apollo e Dafne
Fano, Teatro della Fortuna
Festival barocco 1998
Director: Pier Luigi Pizzi
Conductor: Alessandro de Marchi
• Gli amori di Apollo e
Dafne
• The
transformation of
Daphne into a
bay tree
Fano, La Fortuna Theatre, 1998
• Gianlorenzo
Bernini
• Apollo e
Dafne
Fano, La Fortuna Theatre, 1998
Example 3
• Calisto by Giovanni Faustini and
Francesco Cavalli
• Brussels, Theatre La Monnaie
• 1996
• Director: Herbert Wernicke
• Conductor: René Jacobs
Example 4
•
•
•
•
La favola d’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi
Kent Opera
1976
Director: Jonathan Miller
From Jonathan Miller, Subsequent performances. 1986
From Jonathan Miller, Subsequent performances. 1986
From Jonathan Miller, Subsequent performances. 1986
From Jonathan Miller, Subsequent performances. 1986
Barcelona, Liceu, Deflo/Savall
Example 4
•
•
•
•
•
Giulio Cesare by Handel
Bologna, Comunale Theatre
2003
Director: Luca Ronconi
Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini
Elizabeth Taylor at the opera
• Centrality of the words versus pantomime
acting
• «.... cette action dramatique doit
cependant pouvoir être comprise par les
yeux comme l’action d’un ballet»
• (»...the dramatic action of a grand opera
should be understood through vision, as is
that of a ballet»).[1]
•
[1] Véron, Mémoires, III, 352 (1853).
• Do modern stagings of Baroque operas still retain
the dimension of Meraviglioso?
• How is possible to put together historically
oriented performances and size of modern
theaters?
• How can we put together historic reconstruction
and modern audience different perception ?
– Listening habits
• Centrality of the words vs. pantomime acting
– Visual habits
• Static images vs. images in motion
– New Value system
• Absence of the gods
• Happy ending vs. Fidelity to literary sources
• How can we create a modern equivalent?
Un modellino di scena di Carlo Centolavigna per
Mefistofele