Royal opera house university project karine hall may 2017

Welcome to TEATRO R O YA L O P E R A H O U S E

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ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN LONDON WC2E 9DD

Mr P Slazenger Esq., The Towers, Carnegie Hill, Kensington, SW7 1RG London

TEL: +44 (0)20 7304 4000 www.roh.org.uk

Dear Mr Slazenger, It is with the greatest of pleasure that we present you with this Special Edition VIP Theatre Pack, as a prequel to this year’s season of events.

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Yours sincerely

Hon. Vice-President Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover KG R O YA L O P E R A H O U S E

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THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

Illustration: The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House aims to enrich people’s lives through opera, theatre and ballet. Home to two of the world’s great artistic companies – The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, performing with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House – we seek to be always accessible and engaging, to develop audiences across the UK and to break new ground in the presentation of lyric theatre.

The Royal Opera, under the direction of Antonio Pappano, is one of the world’s leading opera and theatre companies.

Based in the iconic Covent Garden theatre, it is renowned both for its outstanding performances of traditional opera and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers, such as

Harrison Birtwistle, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Thomas Adès.

Some of the world’s most famous singers have performed with the Company, including Joyce DiDonato, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Angela Gheorghiu, Anna Netrebko and Bryn Terfel, as well as the late Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland.

The Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, founded in 2001, offers exceptionally talented musicians at the start of their careers a tailored programme of coaching and performance opportunities.

Many of its graduates are now seen regularly on the international stage.

The Board of Trustees of Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation is responsible for the governance of the Royal Opera House and is our ultimate decisionmaking body. Supported by the Executive Team, it responsible for overseeing the delivery of the Royal Opera House’s mission and aims.

Renowned both for its outstanding performances of traditional opera and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers.

Our main corporate entity is Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a registered charitable company limited by guarantee (registered in England no.480523, registered Charity no.211775).

Royal Opera House Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary (registered in England no.4112266), which carries on trading activities that fall outside the primary charitable purpose of the Royal Opera House.

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HISTORY OF TEATRO

First of all, there is not one Italian Theatre, but several theatrical movements of which the most famous are the: Comedia Dell’Arte and the Italian Opera. Comedia Dell’Arte, which began in Titay in the 16th Century, is a form of semi-improvised theatre characterized by masked stock characters, often stereotyped.

At the Royal Opera House, we have decided to focus on the wonderful world Italian Opera. Italian opera was extremely fashionable in 18th and early 19th century in London and the audiences would congregate to see exotic, foreign star singers. The plots of Italian operas were often taken from famous Roman and Greek Antiquity but also from novels, like Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor which was based on the fashionable best seller The Bride of Lammermoor

by Sir Walter Scott.

Italian Opera was born in Italy in the late 16th Century, beginning of the 17th Century.

Italian Opera was born in Italy in the late 16th Century, beginning of the 17th Century. In the spirit of the Renaissance, Roman plays were performed on festive occasions at the

courts of Italian princes. However as Roman plays were demanding on their audience, it became the custom to have rather more lavish musical entertainments (intermezzi, or intermediate pieces) between the acts, with spectacular stage effects, beautiful costumes and much singing and dancing.

These intermezzi were to be the birth of a genre that would lead to what we call today “Opera”.

Chronology 1597 Dafne is performed in Florence, becoming the first example of a new art form: the opera 1607 Claudio Monteverdi presents Orfeo, the first opera to win a lasting place in the international repertory 1637 The first public opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice 1697 In his opera La Caduta de’ Decemviri, Alessandro Scarlatti

introduces a new form of prelude, later known as the Italian overture 1730 The Italian poet Metastasio produces in Vienna opera libretti which are used by every composer 1816 Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville has its premiere in Rome 1824 Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini moves to Paris where he becomes director of the Theatre Italien 1829 Gioacchino Rossini’s opera William Tell has its premiere in Paris 1832 Gaetano Donizetti’s opera L’Elisir D’Amore premieres in Milan 1835 Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor has its premiere in Naples 1842 The success of the opera Nabucco, premiered in Milan, makes Giuseppe Verdi famous 1851 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto, based on a play by Victor Hugo, is a huge success at its premiere in Venice 1853 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore is a success at its premiere in Rome 1853 Six weeks after Il Trovatore’s success, Verdi’s opera La Traviata is a disaster at its premiere in Venice 1887 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Otello

has its premiere at La Scala in Milan 1893 Giacomo Puccini has his first success when his opera Manon Lescaut opens in Turin 1893 In Falstaff Giuseppe Verdi writes his last opera, and his only comedy 1896 Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème has an unsuccessful premiere in Turin 1900 Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca brings in the new century with a January premiere in Rome 1901 Vast crowds line the streets for the Milan funeral of a national hero, Giuseppe Verdi 1904 Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly falls victim at La Scala to claques paid for by rivals 1924 Giacomo Puccini dies without finishing his opera Turandot, which is subsequently completed by Franco Alfani 1984 Luciano Berio’s opera Un Re In Ascolto has its premiere in Salzburg

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EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURE

Just before 1500, Italian amateur actors were performing classical comedies on stages with no decoration except for a row of curtained booths. By 1589, complex painted scenery and scene changes were being featured in production in Florence. And by 1650, Italy had developed staging practices that would dominate European theatre for the next 150 years.

In the beginning of the Renaissance, there were two distinct kinds of theatrical productions. The first was of the type presented by the humanist Julius Laetus at the Accademia Romana, a semisecret society he founded in the mid-15th century for the purpose of reviving classical ideals. In terms of staging, several medieval-type mansions were clustered to form a single large unit. There were, however, two elements not found previously. One was that the mansions were probably framed by decorative columns. This was the first movement toward the framework that would develop into the proscenium arch—the arch that encloses the curtain and frames the stage from the viewpoint of the audience. The first permanent proscenium was built in the Teatro Farnese at Parma, Italy, in 1618–19, a temporary one having been constructed by Francesco Salviati 50

years earlier. The second innovation was that the mansions, by being linked, were treated as components of a general city street. In 1508 at Ferrara a background painted according to the rules of perspective was substituted for the mansions; the scene included houses, churches, towers, and gardens.

Background painted according to the rules of perspective was the innovation that would transform theatrical decors.

The revival of theatre building, first sponsored by 16th-century ducal courts and academies in northern Italy, was part of the general renewal of interest in the classical heritage of Greece and Rome. The ruins of classical theatres were studied as models, along with Vitruvius’ treatise

Illustration: La Scala Theatre, Milan, Italy

on classical architecture. There were, however, new conditions that fundamentally affected design. First of all, the theatre’s move indoors gave rise to problems of lighting and acoustics. Second, the newly formulated laws of perspective in painting, when applied to stage and scenic design, brought about a profound change in the effect of a stage on an audience. The first Renaissance theatres, like those of early antiquity, were temporary wooden constructions in gardens, ballrooms, and assembly halls.

Sometimes they were hastily erected affairs, put up to celebrate the births and weddings of ducal offspring

or to commemorate victories in war. The theatrical performances given were mostly of allegorical pageantry, but the scenic spectacle was calculated to dazzle the eye and often succeeded. One court vied with another for the services of painters, sculptors, architects, and innovators in stagecraft. Such artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vasari, Bramante, Raphael, and a host of other Italian painters, sculptors, and architects, as well as poets, such as Tasso, and musicians, such as Monteverdi, strove to please and exalt the reputations, real or imaginary, of their princely patrons.

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INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE

Beginning in Italy in the late 14th century the Renaissance spread across Europe lasting until the 16th century. The success of theatre during the Renaissance led to more theatrical innovations and more creative design elements. Scenery and theatrical effects saw the largest amount of change from new technology and schools of thought.

Major changes and innovations in art concerning the arrangement of space and imagery influenced theatre as well. The illusion of depth and creation of perspective imagery through vanishing lines and scaling of objects revolutionized the way scenery was created. Architects created proscenium arches, which act as a frame for the picture of the stage.

Illusion of Flying One of the more popular stage effects was the illusion of flying. Because most early theatre structures were temporary, the overhead structure was often not strong enough to support the complicated and sophisticated flying machines, which created the flying effect.

The oldest is the Teatro Olympico in Italy in 1585. On the stage a series of doorways were built into a massive ornate wall facade, which was used to represent different homes or store fronts.

This differed from the Roman era because Renaissance designers had crafted hallways that ran back from these doorways and turned, giving the illusion of depth. The faรงade then gave way to use of painted scenery and flats, which replaced walls in scenery, allowing the shifting of scenes.

Illustration: Flying machine

Sabbatini described several different flying effects in his drawings. Most of them utilized a cloud to mask the mechanism.

Illustration: Vitrivius’s periaktoi system

One more popular method described a vertical track to be mounted on the rear panel and horizontal beam.

This track would lift a container, platform, or basket, which the actor would stand in or on. This lifted component would be covered with a cloud. When pulled up and down in the track by a winch the actor would appear to be flying as if they wee ascending on the cloud. Sabbatini’s design also worked in the reverse, allowing a pre-set actor to be raised up and later lowered, appearing to descend from heaven.

Changing Decor Swiftly The use of the periaktoi was popular during the Renaissance because of its link with the Neoclassical ideals of the Greek and Roman theatre. Roman architect, Vitruvius,

described the three-sided scenic unit that could be revolved to reveal three different flats, each painted to portray a different scenic location, allowing quick and easy scene shifts. Nicola Sabbatini, theatre architect, explored a large variety of methods for changing the setting in theatrical performances during his life. He decided the best method of scene changes was Vitruvius’s periaktoi. Sabbatini’s plan was for the side wings to consist of a series of periaktoi on each side of the stage.

Each periaktoi would be painted with three separate scenes, one on each facing. Cranking winches located underneath the stage floor would operate the periaktoi. The winches would turn, rotating the periaktoi.

When rotated, the periaktoi reveal each scene.

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COSTUMES OF TEATRO

Early Italian opera and theatre had no particular sense of unity in performance but often functioned on set characters conveyed by their costumes.

The lover, the troubadour, the faithful servant, the beautiful maid would be codified through their costumes.

types, stock characters, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado.

The better off performers were patronized by nobility but their budget would be very limited and it would be not be unusual for the actors to perform in their own clothes. The characters of the Comedia Dell’ Arte in particular, would usually represent fixed social

Later on, circa the 18th century in Italy, the previously amateur theatre became more professional and funded by nobility and ticket sales, the better off troupes were able to invest more in their props and costumes.

Illustration: 19th century Italian theatre and opera

The costumes were hand sewn, made for the stage using fine and often shiny elements.

The lover, the troubadour, the faithful servant, the beautiful maid would be codified through their costumes.

with coarse linen thread. Covering the linen would often be a layer of crimson velvet with raised silver embroidery in a stylized design of flowers and scrolls on the body, in silver purl and thread, individual motifs on the peplum and scrolls on the body.

The basic structure was coarse Hessian sewn together roughly R O YA L O P E R A H O U S E

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FAMOUS PERFORMANCES

Illustration: Orpheus

Dafne Dafne is considered the world’s first opera. At the palace of Jacopo Corsi in Florence in 1597, a new way to do theatre is displayed. The singers enact an entire drama with music throughout telling the story of Daphne, hanged into a laurel to escape Apollo’s lust. The select audience is delighted. The author of the words,

Rinuccini, says that this first opera ‘gave pleasure beyond belief to the few who heard it’. Most of the music of Dafne is lost but its composer, Jacopo Peri, describes eloquently the style of musical speech he created - ‘a harmony surpassing that of ordinary speech, but falling so far below the melody of song as to take an intermediate form’.

L’Orfeo L’Orfeo is a late Renaissance/early Baroque favola in musica, or opera,

by Claudio Monteverdi. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and tells the story of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. Written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua. While Jacopo Peri’s Dafne is generally recognised as the first work in the opera genre, and the earliest surviving opera is Peri’s Euridice, Aida Verdi’s Aïda is one of the most loved of all Italian lyric dramas. The gorgeousness of the colouring in its oriental pictures, the kaleidoscopic succession of brilliant scenes, the ballets, processions, the glitter of court life unite with its music to make it an opera for the people as well as for the more conservative connoisseur. The fluent melody of its score appeals to popular taste, while the technical skill shown in the arrangement of its general plan and the harmonious disposition of all its

details arouse the admiration of the most critical observer.

The Barber of Seville The world’s most popular comic opera premiered in 1816 at Teatro Argentina, Rome. Several of its most recognizable melodies have entered the general musical unconscious, most notably the introductory patter song of the swaggering Figaro, the barber of the title. The opera offers superb opportunities for all the vocalists, exciting ensemble composition, and a natural flair for breezy comedy that has scarcely been equalled since.

William Tell Guillaume Tell had its premiere in 1829, when Gioachino Rossini was 37. He wouldn’t write another opera in the remaining 39 years of his life.

Rossini’s letters suggest he knew this would be his farewell to opera – an idea that seems to be confirmed by the magnificent music he was inspired to produce. The score has an opulent architectural grandeur.

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TEATRO TREASURE HUNT

We invite you to join us in an exciting interactive augmented reality Teatro Treasure Hunt. You will discover hidden Teatro gems within the Royal Opera House, access additional resources that could not be contained in a single leaflet, and win best seats and access to the Royal Retiring Room for a season.

Aurasma is an image recognition technology that uses your smartphone’s or tablet’s built-in camera to recognize real world images. The application then overlays relevant media on top: animations, videos, 3D models and web pages. These are called “Auras”.

At the Royal Opera House, we have created a series of auras for you to discover the beauty of Italian Theatre through a series of fact sheets, videos and 3D reconstructions of prop and stage systems used in Italian Theatre.

There is much more to Italian Theatre than can be told in this humble brochure and we hope that augmented reality will take you on an exciting and instructive learning journey with the Royal Opera House.

We hope you will enjoy your augmented reality Teatro Treasure Hunt.

TEATRO Treasure Hunt Step 1: Scan this QR code to download the augmented reality app Aurasma.

Step 2: Open our Aurasma Teatro Treasure Hunt app.

Step 3: Scan internal decorations and architectural features in the Royal Opera House. Should the item be part of our Teatro Treasure Hunt, its image will trigger the Aurasma app. Collect your point and learn more about Teatro.

Step 4: Redeem your points.

5 points = 2 x best seats to your selected first night performance (1 per season) 10 points = use of Royal Retiring Room (1 per season) R O YA L O P E R A H O U S E

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