1. The Height of Italian Dominance
Opera Seria and the Italian Concerto Style

2. Opera Seria and Its Makers
Neapolitan Opera
Teatro di San Bartolomeo, opened in 1654
Opera seria (serious opera)

3. Opera Seria and Its Makers
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725)
serenatas (miniature operas)

4. Opera Seria and Its Makers
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725)
cantatas
Andate, o miei sospiri (1712) [Anthology 1-79]
siciliana
da capo aria
tonic, dominant
sinfonia, episode
binary form

5. Opera and Its Many Reforms: Neoclassicism
Arcadian Academy (Arcadians)
wanted to restore opera to its original purity
Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750)
scholar and librettist

6. Metastasio Pietro Antonio Trapassi (1698–1782) 60 librettos
set to music more than 800 times by more than 300 composers

7. Metastasio Metastasian libretto Artaserse 6 main roles
primo uomo (castrato role) and prima donna
sang half the arias
second couple
3–4 arias each
“remainders”
Artaserse
90 known settings

8. Metastasio’s Musicians
Carlo Broschi (Farinelli) (1705–1782)
castrato
cadenza, passaggi

9. Corelli and New Tonal Practices
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Virtuoso violinist
The birth of harmonically controlled and elaborated form

10. Corelli and New Tonal Practices
Worked almost exclusively in Rome
Sonata da camera (Chamber Sonata)
dance suite
Sonata da chiesa (Church Sonata)
sacred venues
solo violin and continuo
“trio sonata”
concerto grosso

11. Corelli and New Tonal Practices
Corelli, Op. 3 (1689)
12 Church Trio Sonatas
No. 11 [Anthology 1-80]
“circle of fifths”
harmonic rhythm

12. Vivaldi’s Five Hundred
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Pio Ospedale della Pietà
Approximately 500 surviving Concertos

13. The Vivaldi Concerto Ritornellos Solos, episodes
Ripieno, full ensemble

14. Music Imitating Nature: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Il cimento dell’ armonia e dell’ inventione, Op. 8 (1725)
set of 12 concertos
first four, Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons)
La primavera (Spring) [Anthology 1-81]