Semi-opera
As a semi-opera (Engl. Semi-opera , from lat. Semi - half and opera . See opus called - work, work) is linked to the special shape of the English baroque opera in the spoken drama sung, danced and instrumental musical scenes becomes. There are parallels to French vaudeville .
The semi-opera emerged from incidental music and the masque . It experienced its heyday after the Stuart Restoration in England (1660). Her first major sponsor was Thomas Betterton , the longtime director of London's theater industry. Among other things, he wrote the libretto for Henry Purcell's first semi-opera Dioclesian , which was originally a pure play. A first example of semi-opera is the first version of The Enchanted Island based on Shakespeare's The Tempest , the libretto of which is by Thomas Shadwell. The music for this work is by several composers: Matthew Locke wrote the instrumental music that preceded each act; Giovanni Baptista Draghi wrote the dances; Pelham Humfrey , Pietro Reggio and James Hart wrote the vocal music. Many semi-operas were set to music several times, such as B. The Enchanted Island and The Indian Queen . Henry Purcell wrote the music for five semi-operas:
- The Prophetess , or The History of Dioclesian
- King Arthur
- The Fairy Queen
- Timon of Athens
- The Indian Queen
Purcell has long been credited with a version of The Enchanted Island , but it has now been shown that he only contributed one sentence ("Dear pretty Youth"). It is believed that a student of Purcell wrote the rest of the music.
With Purcell's early death, the glamorous era of English music theater came to an end, and although many well-known English composers such as B. Purcell's brother Daniel and Jeremiah Clarke tried to stop the doom with works like The Island Princess , they did not succeed. The overwhelming Italian opera and its patron in England, Georg Friedrich Handel , supplanted the once glorious English music theater for a long time.
literature
- Dennis Arundell: The Critic at the Opera . Benn, London 1957.
- Edward J. Dent: Foundations of English Opera. A study of musical drama in England during the 17th century . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1928 (Reprint: 3. Da Capo printing. Da Capo Press, New York NY 1968).
- Richard Luckett: Exotic but Rational Entertainments. The English Dramatick Operas . In: Marie Axton, Raymond Williams (Eds.): English Drama. Forms and Development . Essays in Honor of Muriel Clara Bradbrook. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1977, ISBN 0-521-21588-9 , pp. 123-141.
- Curtis Alexander Price: Henry Purcell and the London Stage . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1984, ISBN 0-521-23831-5 .
- Eric Walter White: A History of English Opera . Faber & Faber, London 1983, ISBN 0-571-10788-5 .
