Continuing the Media Arts: History and Theory journey to the Baroque era in the 1600's. This style of architecture was the Catholic Church's response to the Protestants gaining popularity and how they were simple and austere in design. It was designed by Bernini and was used to welcome people to Basilica and was requested by the Pope. This Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 by Martin Luther. He wrote and shared 95 Theses that exposed the Catholic Church of their problems and contradicted the church's teachings. In response, the Catholics had a Counter-Reformation as a way to work against the Protestant Reformation and correct the problems they have. This internal change also came with a new form of architecture, Baroque. Baroque architecture is highly ornate, curvaceous and elaborate with explorations of form, light and shadow, and dramatic intensity. It was made as a way to celebrate the wealth of the Catholic Church.
This led to the Cesky Krumlov Castle Theatre in 1682. This theatre was done in the Baroque architecture style and used contrast, movement, luxurious detail, deep color, grandeur and a sense of awe. Some of the specific characteristics the theatre consisted of a proscenium stage, horseshoe-shaped auditorium and seating layout. Vertically placed in the auditorium were five shallow balconies stacked on top of each other. In front of the stage, was a orchestra pit which was below the ground level and was the first time it appeared. As for the stage floor, it was deepened to make room for scenery, equipment, and dancing. The type of entertainment at the theatre were intermezzi (a type of halftime show in between an opera that was a short orchestral piece), ballet, masques, and opera.
For these productions, there was a want for extravagant visual effects which called for the installation of more and more elaborate machinery in the building. Their advanced special effects would create different times of day, weather changes, and places. The use of new props and special efforts help separate the audience from the imaginary world happening on stage, especially with revolving scenery. This caused the creation of the 4th wall, where the performers could live in the stories world, completely ignoring the existence of the audience until they speak to the audience directly. Some of the elaborate machinery included, elevators, hydraulic mechanisms, and hegmata which was mechanical devices used to hoist large animals. The Cesky Krumlov Castle Theatre used the same technology style as the Roman Colosseum, where it was underneath the theatre hidden. It was during this time period that women were allowed to perform on stage, although no respectable woman would consider this a wise career.
During this time Baroque Opera were created in the 1600's. This was the first time operas were created and were written by Baroque composers. The genre became popular rather quickly. The early Operas involved characters from Greek and Roman mythology and shared the same plots as Ancient Greek Tragedies. The reason behind creating Operas was to recreate and re-invent Greek Drama in a sense of Humanism. Humanism is how the Greeks put the human experience at the center of events in their art and literature. The main characteristics of Opera are singing, dancing, instrumentals, and some spoken text. Operas were much more of a spectacle of their stories.
The Operas introduced Castrati, which were castrated males that were sopranos in church choirs. This was to keep women out of the church choirs. This practice would castrate young boy singers to keep their high pitch voices. This didn't always work, very few castrated boys ever became opera stars. During the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, about 4,000 boys were castrated. These castrations were done by barbers, and caused a lot of stress which led to many young boys dying of stress of infections. In 1878 Pope Leo XIII banned the church from doing castrati. Alessandro Moreschi was the last man of castrato to make solo recordings. In the 17th and 18th centuries castrati were very popular in the operas. Farinelli, was the most famous castrato. His parents had caused him to be operated on as a result of his father's death. This was to bring money into the family.
It was this Baroque era that inspired Music Activist/Performance Artists. After WWII, a whole generation of young avant-garde composers viewed opera with suspicion and felt that it was an outmoded art. John Cage and Cathy Barberian were two avant-garde artists. They stepped out of their comfort zones to take music to another level. John Cage believed any and every sound was music, and there was no such thing as silence. Some composers did not accept these new ideals but eventually the avant-garde artists caused change to operas. The changes consisted of a collapsed tonality, music lost its narrative power and opera no longer needed storytelling as a prerequisite, scenes were no longer linear, and stories were now based on current situations and personalities. This modernized the music and the opera.
In the 1960s and 1970s, opera was very expensive to see and to express oneself with. Composers weren't given many opportunities to create full-length operas, so they looked for cheaper alternatives creating Musicals. Musicals usually only had one protagonist and used an ensemble versus a full orchestra.
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