In opera singers express their emotions directly to each other and indirectly to the audience—the fusing of drama between singer and audience is what powers opera to this day. And this is where it began, in earnest, with Monteverdi’s late opera Poppea, which was premiered to a paying audience in a public theatre. No more … Continue reading Late Monteverdi
Category: Monteverdi
More Monteverdi: A Prayer on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, without end. It is a wonderfully cool morning in NYC. Perhaps that’s what triggered it in my mind -- it was that nearly imperceptible hint of fall that did the trick. 9/11. It had been the same 20 years ago: 9/11/01 was just … Continue reading More Monteverdi: A Prayer on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11
Baroque Music I: Claudio Monteverdi, Part II, The Birth of Opera
The genius who birthed the Baroque was, as previewed last time, the great Renaissance composer Claudio Monteverdi. Its birthplace was Florence, and the medium was opera. Opera was midwifed in the Florentine Camerata, that group artists, philosophers, musicians, poets, and intellectuals at the end of the Renaissance who debated and studied the arts. I previously … Continue reading Baroque Music I: Claudio Monteverdi, Part II, The Birth of Opera
Renaissance Music IX: The End of an Era, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Part I
We now arrive at the singular musical genius of Claudio Monteverdi. In any list of the most important composers in history, he’s Top 10, easily. As much as I love Tallis and Allegri, neither is on Monteverdi’s level artistically. Unlike Bach, who fully embodied his age with such mastery that (at least for me) his … Continue reading Renaissance Music IX: The End of an Era, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), Part I
A Gertus History of Music 