Baroque theater

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Baroque theater in Český Krumlov Castle

In the baroque theater the prototypical structure of the stage and theater building emerged. It is closely linked to the European court's need for representation , is characterized by a sharp distinction between tragedy and comedy , and prefers mythological or historical material from antiquity .

Starting in Italy and supported by the increasing popularity of opera , the baroque theater spread throughout Europe from the 17th century. The French classical music enriched it with plays and ballets . The court theater had political and social significance: the appearances of the actors on the stage corresponded to the public appearances of the nobles.

Theater construction

In the late Middle Ages , the simultaneous stage, often in the open air, with side by side backdrops, dominated, from which the Terenz or angular frame stage of the 16th century was still characterized. In the renaissance , the theater building drew on ancient models with proscenium (facade-like stage front), scenae frons (facade- like front on the rear of the stage) and rising, semicircular auditorium.

In the Baroque era , the " peep-box stage " was created with a fore stage, a proscenium that can be closed by the stage curtain and a deep main stage, the backdrops that can be pushed in, staggered in depth and perspective painted scenes and the likewise painted prospectus (stage background) alternating scenes with (intensified by painting) illusionistic scenes , made possible a strong spatial effect. In addition, there was the development of elaborate stage machinery to quickly change the scenery ("open transformation ") and to achieve dramatic effects.

The auditorium of the baroque theater also gained depth. The semicircular room of antiquity and the renaissance theater was stretched to the shape of a horseshoe, the rising seats were replaced by the level parquet - initially only with standing room - the delimitation of which was formed by the box house with tiers located one above the other for high society visitors.

Theaters from this era

There are still some historical theaters or opera houses from the 18th century that adorn themselves with the title "Baroque theater" or are generally known as such. Strictly speaking, most of them were either redesigned or overhauled later (sometimes several times), or were created from the outset in one of the subsequent stylistic epochs, i.e. Rococo or Classicism . Most of them are stylistically assigned to classicism in their current form. Nevertheless, here is a selection of important historical theaters, which in their basic form and furnishings still belong to the baroque tradition.

(Selection, alphabetically by location)