Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:01:48.622Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 8 - Opera in nineteenth-century Italy

from Part II - The nineteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Get access

Summary

The challenge of integrated operatic form

As in Germany, Italian composers were faced with the problem of how to create a coherent musico-dramatic whole from disparate elements. While the Italians did not have the problem of the Singspiel's alternating song and speech, it had always alternated between recitative and aria. This became exacerbated with the emphasis on virtuosic and melodic writing, which risked overwhelming the needs of the drama. It was against this background that opera of the primo ottocento (early nineteenth century) developed.

At the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the arch-reactionary Metternich had been told that Italy was Austria's affair (see Duggan, 2008: 74). The consequent repression meant that public political life and debate were virtually impossible. Where they did exist, in the movement towards the Risorgimento, they were radical and outside mainstream circles, secretive and often conducted in exile. This was reflected in the public arts, so that intellectual life had no public arena where the pressing issues of freedom and national unity could be addressed. In addition, Italy's lack of raw materials meant that industrialisation occurred late in the century, so that the independent bourgeoisie, who were so active in France, England and Germany, remained part of the Austrian-dominated world, reinforcing the role of the arts as entertainment and escape rather than becoming a force for change.

Type
Chapter
Information
Opera , pp. 127 - 168
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×