The Doctrine of Affections

The Florentine Camerata productions, although reserved for the enjoyment of wealthy and aristocratic patrons, are generally considered to be the beginnings of opera. The Florentine court, however, proved to be more interested in a combination of ballet (dances) and musical scenes based on Greek mythology; In the 1620s, opera productions moved to Rome and, from there, to Venice, where the first true popular opera was staged in the San Cassiano theater in 1637. These opera productions were significant because, among other things, this was the first time that the paying public had access to the type of extravagant stage productions with which aristocrats in Rome and Florence were already familiar. Opera was big business in Venice. From 1637 to 1678, more than 150 operas were produced in nine different theaters. The Baroque public clearly loved opera.

Opera

In most transitional periods in music history, it is difficult to pinpoint when an old style ends and a new one begins. In the Baroque, however, since it may be argued that the Baroque period began precisely in 1607, the year that the first work that we consider an opera, Monteverdi's Orfeo, premiered in Mantua, we can definitively state a beginning.

We have already read about Monteverdi in relation to the madrigal. In 1607 he was, therefore, an established composer with several published major works. While members of the Florentine Camerata had already tried to write opera-like works, Orfeo contains more variety and a much greater emotional range than any previous attempts.

Monteverdi’s Orfeo used a libretto (the play of the opera) as text. The libretto contained several musical elements that reappeared through the course of the opera’s several acts.

• Aria: This solo song is the most ornate form of monody found in Baroque Italian opera. It is often highly ornamental, allowing the singer room to improvise and showoff a bit. Perhaps the most famous aria from Orfeo is Possente spirto.
• Recitative: This was an entirely new creation, featuring a lot of text, presented quickly and without repeats, to move the action along. In recitative, such as Dafne's speech from Orfeo, the vocal line is free and sparsely accompanied. There are few true resting spots; the harmony changes frequently.
• Ensemble pieces: Monteverdi introduced instrumental dances, duets and madrigal-like ensembles to the opera, giving it even more variety and entertainment value.

These features of opera (with a few revisions and modifications) remained intact in Italian opera for almost 300 years. After Orfeo, opera houses were established in all of the major cities in Italy, and the genre quickly spread throughout Europe. Opera was not just a musical form, but a spectacular type of entertainment that required lavish costumes, sets, and staging. The plots of Baroque opera were usually tragedies modeled after Greek mythology, thereby keeping with the Baroque ideal of using the best of Ancient Greek and Roman culture.

One fascinating aspect of Baroque opera culture was the training and popularity of the castrato, a male performer who sang in the high soprano range. Castrati were extremely popular and, by all accounts, possessed extremely agile and beautiful voices. Castratos were castrated before puberty specifically so they could develop extraordinarily powerful and flexible voices. The practice was dropped in the late 18th century. Because of the popularity of Italian opera throughout 18th-century Europe—except France—singers such as Ferri, Farinelli (generally regarded as the greatest castrato), Senesino, and Pacchierotti became the first operatic superstars, earning enormous fees and widespread adulation.

Secular Cantata

One of the most popular pieces is Le tre Grazie ad Venere(The Three Graces to Venus). The texts of many of her cantatas center on love, or unrequited love, favorite themes among 17th century composers. In all probability, Strozzi performed these pieces for a Venetian fellowship of poets, philosophers, and historians who met in her father's home.