The Birth and Life of Opera

I have to admit, this was a pretty difficult video to watch. I wouldn't say that I like opera, nor that I hate it. Rather, I would say I have an appreciation for it. Opera has lead to the creation of so many fantastic things that it would be unfair to dismiss it as anything but a form of high art. Unfortunately, I found it really difficult to stay engaged at a few of the musical numbers presented in this video. Perhaps I'm not well enough acquainted with it. Perhaps its simply because I can't understand it due to the language barrier or a different background in music and theater. That being said, I powered through it and fortunately got some information about opera that intrigued and amazed me.

First of all, I loved hearing about the Camerata. As a person who can identify (to varying degrees) with quite a few of the individuals listed in the group (musician, writer, scientist, philosopher), the Camerata sounds like the kind of thing I'd be interested in being involved with today. To me, this seems like the kind of "think tank" that can lead to some pretty incredible discoveries, as it did with opera. It's the interaction of differing studies that leads to groundbreaking revelations. It's the kind of interaction that fascinates me and keeps me thirsty for knowledge.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the various reincarnations of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Since the first time I performed this myth in Ovid's Metamorphoses, I've been in love with the story and have since explored the various adaptations across pop culture. Though I knew of Offenbach's opera, I'm now recharged with a need to explore these other versions. It also brings to light that this is an incredibly universal story, so it's not surprising that I identified so heavily with it. The narrator puts it perfectly "the humanist manifesto... by creating beauty, mankind could potentially catch a glimpse of divine perfection." I highly agree with this statement and hope to see this tale stay alive for generations to come.

This film takes a lot of time emphasizing that opera is, as John Adams (American Composer) it, the "ideal form for dealing with the issues." As we saw with the french revolution, just a couple of hours in the opera house can rally people in a common cause. In a way, opera was an early form of political theatre. As we saw in Amadeus, opera could be something very much like "Saturday Night Live" in which theatre and music are used to criticize or expose certain truths. Because of its power, opera could very well be considered "high art" which, to me, means an art form with the power to inflict social, political, or even economical change. " La Muette de Portici" almost directly caused the Belgian revolution, making Daniel Auber a kind of revolutionary. Richard Wagner restored the dignity of the German people, making him a Nationalist hero. Opera had an immense amount of power in the height of existence and even today influences the world to some degree. Because of this video and how it reveals opera as a transformative force in society, I have realized the true importance of this fading art form.