Italian Drama. Modern Greek Drama. (Part 10) Italian Drama The priority in this as in most of the other aspects of the Renaissance belongs to ITALY. In ultimate achievement, the Italian fell short of the fullness of the results obtained elsewherea surprising fact when it is considered, not only that the Italian language had the vantage-ground of closest relationship to the Latin, but that the genius of the Italian people has at all times inspired it with a predilection for the drama. The cause is doubtless to be sought in the absence from Italian national life during a long period, and more especially during the contemporary with the rise earlier most of Italian dramatic literature, of those loftiest and most potent impulses of popular feeling to which a national drama owes so much of its strength. This absence was due partly to the peculiarities of the Italian character, partly to the political and ecclesiastical experience Italy was fated to undergo. The Italians were strangers to the enthusiasm of patriotism, which was as the breath in the nostrils of our Elizabethan age, as well as to the single minded religiosity which identified Spain with the spirit of the Catholic Revival.

The clear-sightedness of the Italians had something to do with thisfor they were too free from illusions to deliver up their minds to their priests. The chilling and enervating effects of a pressure of foreign domination, such as no Western people with a history and a civilization like those of Italy has ever experienced, did the rest, and for many generations rendered impotent the higher efforts of the dramatic art. No basis was permanently found for a really national tragedy ; while literary comedy, after turning from the direct imitation of Latin models to a more popular form, lost itself in an abandoned immorality of tone and in reckless insolence of invective against particular classes of society. Though its productivity long continued, the poetic drama more and more concentrated its efforts upon subordinate or subsidiary species, artificial in origin and decorative in purpose, and surrendered its substance to the overpowering aids of music, dancing, and spectacles. Only a single form of the Italian drama, the improvised comedy, remained truly national ; and this was of its nature dissociated from higher literary effort. The revival of Italian tragedy in later times is due partly to the imitation of French models, partly to the endeavour of a brilliant genius to infuse into his art the historical and political spirit.

Comedy likewise attained to new growths of considerable significance, when it was sought to accommodate its popular forms to the representation of real life in a wider range, and again to render it more poetical in accordance with the tendencies of modern romanticism. The regular Italian drama n both its tragic its comic branches, began with a reproduction, in the Latin language, of classical models ; but tragedy in its beginnings showed a tendency which it was before long to treat themes of national historical interest. Two earliest tragedies of which we hear, written by the Paduan historian Mussato about 1300, were both copies of Seneca ; but while one (Achilleis) treated a classical theme, the other dealt with the history of a famous tyrant of the authors native city (Eccerinis). In the next century events of recent or contemporary history were similarly dealt with ;1 but the majority of its Latin dramas were doubtless written to suit the tastes of the friends and patrons of the Italian Renaissance, who, like Lorenzo the Magnificent, wished to domesticate the heathen gods and goddesses on a stage hitherto occupied by the sacred figures of Christian belief.

Such were the Latin imitations and translations of Greek and Latin tragedies and comedies by Bishop Martirano, the friend of Lorenzos son Pope Leo X., on the adventure of Danaë2 and other subjects ; the famous Progne of G. Corraro (d. 1464), the nephew of an earlier Pope ; and the efforts of Pomponius Laetus, who, with the aid of Cardinal Riaro, sought to revive the ancient theatre, especially that of Plautus and Terence, at Rome. Many Latin comedies are mentioned from the 15th century, during which, as during its predecessor, Latin continued the dominant language of the stage in Italy. Nor was the representation even of Greek plays altogether unknown ; it was by her performance of the Electra of Sophocles that Alexandra Scala caused Politian to envy Orestes. Early in the 16th century, tragedy began to be written in the native tongue ; but it retained from the first and never wholly lost, the impress of its origin.

Whatever the source of its subjectswhich, though mostly of classical origin, were occasionally derived from native romance, or even due to intentionthey were all treated with a predilection for the horrible, inspired by the example of Seneca, though no doubt encouraged by a perennial taste. The chorus, stationary on the stage as in old Roman tragedy, was not reduced to a merely occasional appearance between the acts till the beginning of the 17th century, or ousted altogether from the tragic drama till the earlier half of the 18th. Thus the changes undergone by Italian tragedy were for a long series of generation chiefly confined to the form of versification and the choice of themes; nor was it, at all events till the last century of the course it has hitherto run, more than the after-growth of an after-growth. The honour pf having been the earliest tragedy in Italian seems to belong to Galeottos Sofonisba (1502), a piece in 15 to 20 acts, regardless of unity of scene. A.

da Pistoias Pamfila (1508) followed, of which the subject was taken from Boccaccio, though the names of the characters were Greek. The play usually associated with the beginning of Italian tragedythat with which "th Italian scene first learned to grow"was another Sofonisba, acted before Leo X.

in 1515, and written in black verse (verso sciolto) instead of the ottava and terza rima of the earlier tragedians (retaining, however, the lyric measures of the chorus), by Trissino, who was employed as nuncio by that Pope, Other tragedies of the former half of the 16th century were the Rosmunda of Rucellai, a nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1516); Alamannis Antigone (1532); the Canace of Sperone Speroni, the envious Mopsus of Tasso, who, like Guarini, took Sperones elaborate style for his model; the Orazia, the earliest dramatic treatment of this famous subject, of the Notoprious Aretino (1549); and the nine tragedies of G. Cinthio, among which LOrbecche (1541) is accounted the best and the bloodiest.

Cinthio, the author of those Hecatommithi to which Shakespeare was indebted for so many of his subjects, was (supposing him to have invented these) the first Italian who was the author of the fables of his own dramas; he introduced some novelties into dramatic construction, separating the prologue and probably also the epilogue from the action, and has by some been regarded as the inventor of the pastoral drama. In the latter half of the 16th century may be mentioned the Didone and the Marianna of L. Dolce, the translator of Seneca (1565); the Hadriana (acted before 1561 or 1586) or L. Groto, which treats the story of Romero and Juliet; Tassos Torrismondo (1587); the Tancredi of Asinari (1588); and the Merope of Torelli (1593), the last who employed the stationary chorus (coro fisso) on the Italian stage.

Leonicos Soldato (1550) is noticeable as supposed to have given rise to the tragedia cittadina, or domestic tragedy, of which there are few examples in the Italian drama, and De Velos Tamar (1586), as written in prose. Subjects of modern historical interest were in this period treated only i8n isolated instances. 1 The tragedians of the 17th century continued to pursue the beaten track, at times in vain, seeking by the introduction of musical airs to compromise with the danger with which their art was threatened of being (in Voltaires phrase) extinguished by the beautiful monster, the opera, now rapidly gaining grouped in the country of its origin. (See OPERA). To Count P. Bonarelli (1589-1659), the author of Solimano, is on the other hand ascribed the first disuse of the chorus in Italian tragedy.

The innovation of the use of rhyme attempted in the learned Pallavicinos Erminigildo (1655), and defended by him to a discourse prefixed to the play, was in Italy no more than in England able to achieve a permanent success; its chief representative was afterwards Martelli (d. 1727), whose rhymed Alexandrian verse (Martelliano), though on one occasion used in comedy by Goldini, failed to command itself to the popular taste. By the end of the 17th century, Italian tragedy seemed destined to expire, and the great tragic actor Cotta has withdrawn in disgust at the apathy of the public towards the higher forms of the drama. The 18th century was, however, to witness a change, the beginning, of which are attributed to the institution of the Academy of the Arcadians at Rome (1690). The principal efforts of the new school of writers and critics were directed to the abolition of the chorus, and to a general increase of freedom in treatment. Before long the Marquis S. Maffei with his Merope (first printed 1713) achieved one of the most brilliant successes recorded in the history of dramatic literature.

This play, which is devoid of any love-story, long continued to be considered the master-piece of Italian tragedy; Voltaire, who declared it "worthy of the most glorious days of Athens," adapted it for the French stage, and it inspired a celebrated production of the English drama. 2 It was followed by a tragedy full of horrors, 3 noticeable as having given rise to the first Italian dramatic parody; and by the highly esteemed productions of Granelli (d. 1769) and his contemporary Bettinelli. The influence of Voltaire had now come to predominate over the Italian drama; and, in accordance with the spirit of the times, greater freedom prevailed in the choice of tragic themes. Thus the greatest of Italian tragic poets, Count V. Alfieri (1749-1803), found his path prepared for him. Alfieris grand and impassioned treatment of his subjects caused his faultiness of form, which he never altogether overcame, to be forgotten. The spirit of a love of freedom which his creations 4 breathe was the herald of the national ideas of the future.

Spurning the usages of French tragedy, his plays, which abound in soliloquies, owe part of their effect to an impassioned force of declamation, part to those "points" by which Italian acting seems pre-eminently capable of thrilling an audience. He has muchbesides the subjects of two of his dramas 5in common with Schiller, but his amazon-muse (as Schlegel called her) was not schooled into serenity, like the muse of the German poet. Among his numerous plays (21). Merope and Saul, and perhaps Mirra, are accounted his master-pieces. The political colouring given by Alfieri to Italian tragedy reappears in the plays of U. Foscolo (c. 1760-1827) and A. Manzoni (1784-1873), both of whom are under the influence of the romantic school of modern literature; and to these names must be added those of S. Pellico (1789-1854) and G. B.

Niccolini (1785-1861), whose most celebrated dramas 6 treat national themes familiar to all students of modern history and literature. While Italian has upon the whose adhered to its love of strong situations and passionate declamation, its later growths have shown a capability of development precluding the supposition that its history is closed. The art of tragic acting at the present day probably stands higher in Italy than in any other European country; if the tragic muse were to be depicted with the features of a living artists, it is those of Adelaide Ristori which she would assume. In comedy, the efforts of the scholars of the Italian Renaissance for a time went side by side with the progress of the popular entertainments noticed above. While the constrasti of the close of the 15th and of the 16th century were disputations between pairs of the abstract or allegorical figures, in the frottola human types take the place of abstractions and more than two characters appear. To the farsa (a name used of a wide variety of entertainments) a new literary as well as social significance was given by the Neapolitan court-poet Sannazaro (c.

1492); about the same time a "capitano valoroso," Venturino of Pesara, first brought on the modern stage the capitano glorioso or spavente, the military braggart who owed his original both to Plautus 1 and to the Spanish officers who abounded in the Italy of those days. The popular character-comedy, a relic of the ancient Atellanes, likewise took a new lease of lifeand this in a double form. The improvised comedy (commedia a sogetto) was now a rule performed by professional actors, members of a craft, and was thence called the commedia dellarte, which is said to have been invented by Francesco (called Terenziano) Cherea, the favourite player of Leo X. Its scenes, still unwritten except in skeleton (scenario), were connected together by the ligatures or links (lazzi) of the arlecchino, the descendant of the ancient Roman sannio (whence our zany).

Harlequins summit of glory was probably reached early in the 17th century, when he was ennobled in the person of Cecchino by the Emperor Matthias; of Cecchinos successors Zaccagnino and Truffaldino, we read that "they shut the door in Italy to good harlequinas." Distinct from this growth is that of the masked comedy, the action of which was chiefly carried on by certain typical figures in masks, speaking in local dialects, 2 but was not improvised, and indeed from the nature of the case hardly could have been. Its inventor was A. Bealco of Padua, who called himself Ruzzante (joker), and who published six comedies in various dialects, including the Greek of the day (1530). This was the masked comedy to which the Italian so tenaciously clung, and in which, as all their own and imitable by no other nation, they tool so great a pride that even Goldini was unable to overthrow it.

Meanwhile the Latin imitations of Roman, varied by occasional translations of Greek, comedies early led to the production of Italian translations, several of which were performed at Ferrara in the 15th century, and before its close to the composition of what is regarded as the first original Italian comedyin other words, as the first of the modern drama. But the claim to his honour of Boiardos Timone (before 1494) is doubtfulnot in time, 3 but because this play is only in part original, being founded upon, and in a great measure taken from, a dialogue of Lucians since moreover its personages are abstractions, it represents at most the transition from the moralities. The "first Italian comedy in verse," Ricchis I Tre Tiranni (before 1530), is likewise a morality, and Trissinos comedy, which followed, a mere adaptation of the Menaechmi of Plautus.

About this time, however, the commedia erudite, or scholarly comedy, began to be cultivated by a succession of eminent writers, among whom the title of the father of modern comedy, if it belongs to any man, belongs to Ariosto (1474-1533). His comedies (though the first two were originally written in prose) are in black verse, to which he gave a singular mobility by the dactylic ending of the line (sdruccilo). Ariostos models were the master-pieces of the palliate, and his morals those of his age, which equaled those of the worst days of ancient Rome or Byzantium in looseness, and surpassed them in effrontery. He chose his subjects accordingly; but his dramatic genius displayed itself in the effective drawing of character, 4 and more especially in the skillful management of complicated intrigues. 5 Such, with an additional brilliancy of wit and lasciviousness of tone, are likewise the characteristics of Macdrogola (the Magic Draught); 6 and, in their climacteric, of the plays of P.

Aretino (1492-1557), especially the prose Marescalco, whose name, it has been said, ought to be written in asterisks. Other comedians of the 16th century were B. Accolti, whose Virginia (prob. Before 1513) treats the story from Boccaccio which reappears in Alls Well that Ends Well; G. B. Araldo and J. Nardi, noteworthy as decent and moral in tone and tendendy; G. Cecchi, F. AAmbra, A.F. Grazzini, N. Secco or Secchi, and L. Dolceall writers of romantic comedy of intrigue in verse or prose. During the same century the pastoral drama flourished in Italy. The origin of this peculiar specieswhich was the bucolic idyll in a dramatic form, and which freely lent itself to the introduction of both mythological and allegorical elementswas purely literary, and arose directly out of the classical studies and tastes of the Renaissance. Its first example was the renowned scholar A.

Polizianos Orfeo (1472), which begins like an idyll and ends like a tragedy. Intended to be performed with musicfor the pastoral drama is the parent of the operathis beautiful work tells its story simply. N. da Correggios (1450-1508) Cefalo, or Aurora, and others followed, before in 1554 A. Beccari produced, as totally new of its kinds, his Arcadian pastoral drama Il Sagrifizio, in which the comic element predominates. But an epoch in the history of the species is marked by the Aminta of Tasso (1573), in whose Arcadia is allegorically mirrored the Ferrara court. Adorned by choral lyrics of great beauty, it presents an allegorical treatment of a social and moral problem; and since the conception of the characters, all of whom think and speak of nothing, but love, is artificial, the charm of the poem lies not in the interest of its action, but in the passion and sweetness of its sentiment.

This work was the model of many others, and the pastoral drama reached its height of popularity in the famous Pastor Fido (written before 1590) of B. Guarini, which, while founded on a tragic love-story, introduces into its complicated plot a comic element, partly with a satirical intention. Thus, both in Italian and in other literatures, the pastoral drama became a distinct species, characterized like the great body of modern pastoral poetry in general by a tendency either towards the artificial or towards the burlesque. Its artificiality affected the entire growth of Italian comedy, including the commedia dellarte, and impressed itself in an intensified form upon the opera. (See OPERA). The foremost Italian masters of the last-named species, so far as it can claim to be included in the poetic drama, were A. Zeno (1668-1750) and P. Metastasio (1698-1782). The comic dramatists of the 17th century are grouped as followers of the classical and of the romantic school, G. B. Porta and G.A.

Cicognini (whom Goldoni describes as full of whining pathos and common-place drollery, but as still possessing a great power to interest) being regarded as the leading representatives of the former. But neither of these largely intermixed grouped of writers could, with all its fertility, prevail against the competition on the one hand of the musical drama, and on the other of the popular farcical entertainments and of those introduced in imitation of Spanish examples. Italian comedy had fallen into decay, when its reform was undertaken by the wonderful theatrical genius of C. Goldoni (1707-1793). One of the most fertile and rapid of playwrights (of his 150 comedies 16 were written and acted in a single year), he at the same time pursued definite aims as a dramatist. Disgusted with the conventional buffoonery, and ashamed of the rampant immorality, of the Italian comic stage, he drew his characters from real life, whether of his native city (Venice)1 or of society at large, and sought to enforce virtuous and pathetic sentiments without neglecting the essential objects of his art.

Happy and various in his choice of themes, he produced, besides comedies of general human character,2 plays on subjects drawn from literary biography 3 or from fiction.4 Goldoni, whose style was considered defective by the purists whom Italy has at no time lacked, met with a severe critic and a temporarily successful rival in Count C. Gozzi (1722-1806), who sought to rescue the comic drama from its association with the real life of the middle classes, and to infuse a new spirit into the figures of the old masked comedy by the invention of a new species. His themes were taken from Neapolitan 5 and Oriental 6 fairy tales, to which he accommodated some of the standing figures upon which Goldoni had made war. This attempt at mingling fancy and humouroccasionally of a directly satirical turn 7was in harmony with the tendencies of the modern romantic school, and Gozzis efforts, which though successful found hardly any imitators in Italy, have a family resemblance to those of Tieck.

During the latter part of the 18th and the early years of the present century comedy continued to follow the course marked out by its acknowledged master Goldoni, under the influence of the sentimental drama of France and other countries. Villi, Nelli, the Marquis Albergati Capacelli, Sografi, Federici, and Signorelli (the historian of the drama) are mentioned among the writers of this school; to the present century belong Count Giraud, Marchisio (who took his subjects especially from commercial life), and Nota, a fertile writer, among whose plays are three treating the lives of poets. Of still more recent date are Bon and Brofferio. Though no recent Italian comedies have acquired so wide a celebrity as that which has been obtained by the successful productions of the recent French stage, there seems no reason to predict a barren future for Italian comedy any more than for Italian tragedy.

Both the one and the other have survived periods of a seemingly hopeless decline; tragedy has been rescued from the pedantry of a timid classicism, and comedy from the conventionalism of its most popular but least progressive form ; and neither the opera nor the ballet has succeeded in ousting from the national stage the legitimate forms of the national drama. To the above summary of the history of the modern Italian drama it would not have been inappropriate to append a brief account of that of the MODERN GREEK. The dramatic literature of the later Hellenes is a creation of the literary movement which preceded their glorious struggle for independence, or which may be said to form part of that struggle. After beginning with dramatic dialogues of a patriotic tendency, it took a step in advance with the tragedies of J. R. Nerulos 8 (1778-1850), whose name belongs to the political as well as to the literary history of his country. His comediesespecially one directed against the excesses of journalism 9largely contributed to open a literary life for the modern Greek tongue. Among the earlier patriotic Greek dramatists of the present century are T. Alkaeos, J.

Zampelios (whose tragic style was influenced by that of Alfieri),10 S. K. Karydis, and A. Valaontis. A. Zoiros 11 is noteworthy as having introduced the use of prose into Greek tragedy, while preserving to it that association with sentiments and aspirations which will probably long continue to pervade the chief productions of modern Greek literature. The love of the theatre is ineradicable from Attic as it is from Italian soil; and the tendencies of the young dramatic literature of Hellas seem to justify the hope that a worthy future awaits it. Footnotes FOOTNOTE (p. 416) (1) Landivio, De Captivitate Ducis Jacobi (Jacopo Piccinino, d. 1464) Tragaedia; Verardo, Ferdinandus (of Aragon) Servatus ; Histora Baetica (expulsion of the Moors from Granada). (2) Imber Aureus.

Commedia dell'arte - Credo Reference Topic Page: Commedia dell'arte Definition: Commedia dell&#39;arte (Italian, ‘comedy of art’) from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable A type of popular theatre that originated in Italy and flourished throughout Europe in the 16th-18th centuries. It featured a number of stock characters, e.g. HARLEQUIN, Pantaloon (see PANTALOONS) and SCARAMOUCH, who improvised around any of a set of stock situations, usually involving a complicated romantic liaison. The character of Punch (see PUNCH AND JUDY) derives from commedia dell'arte. Summary Article: commedia dell&#39;arte from The Columbia Encyclopedia Image from: Harlequin on Horseback in The Bridgeman Art Library Archive (kōm-mā'dēä dĕl-lär'tā), popular form of comedy employing improvised dialogue and masked characters that flourished in Italy from the 16th to the 18th cent. Characters of the Commedia Dell'Arte The characters or "masks," in spite of changes over the years, retained much of their original flavor.

Most important were the zanni, or servant types; Arlecchino, or Harlequin, was the most famous. He was an acrobat and a wit, childlike and amorous. He wore a catlike mask and motley colored clothes and carried a bat or wooden sword, the ancestor of the slapstick. His crony, Brighella, was more roguish and sophisticated, a cowardly villain who would do anything for money. Figaro and Molière's Scapin are descendants of this type. Pedrolino was a white-faced, moon-struck dreamer; the French Pierrot is his descendant. Pagliaccio, the forerunner of today's clown, was closely akin to Pedrolino. Pulcinella, as seen in the English Punch and Judy shows, was a dwarfish humpback with a crooked nose, the cruel bachelor who chased pretty girls. Pantalone or Pantaloon was a caricature of the Venetian merchant, rich and retired, mean and miserly, with a young wife or an adventurous daughter.

Il Dottore (the doctor), his only friend, was a caricature of learning—pompous and fraudulent; he survives in the works of Molière. Il Capitano (the captain) was a caricature of the professional soldier—bold, swaggering, and cowardly. He was replaced by the more agile Scarramuccia or Scaramouche, who, dressed in black and carrying a pointed sword, was the Robin Hood of his day. The handsome Inamorato (the lover) went by many names. He wore no mask and had to be eloquent in order to speak the love declamations. The Inamorata was his female counterpart; Isabella Andreini was the most famous. Her servant, usually called Columbine, was the beloved of Harlequin. Witty, bright, and given to intrigue, she developed into such characters as Harlequine and Pierrette. La Ruffiana was an old woman, either the mother or a village gossip, who thwarted the lovers. Cantarina and Ballerina often took part in the comedy, but for the most part their job was to sing, dance, or play music. None of the women wore masks.

Influence The impact of commedia dell'arte on European drama can be seen in French pantomime and the English harlequinade. The ensemble companies generally performed in Italy, although a company called the comédie-italienne was established in Paris in 1661. The commedia dell'arte survived the early 18th cent. only by means of its vast influence on written dramatic forms. Bibliography HISTORY OF THEATRE Enjoy the Famous Daily Roman revivals and intermezzi: 16th century In the spirit of the Renaissance , Roman plays are performed on festive occasions at the courts of Italian princes. Perhaps they prove a little heavy going for some of the guests. It becomes 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. Isabella d'Este, in the audience for a performance of Plautus in Ferrara in 1502, much prefers the intermezzi in which satyrs chase wild beasts in time to a musical clock, Swiss soldiers engage in a dance of war, and a golden ball melts away to reveal four Virtues who sing a quartet.

The first intermezzi to be preserved in detail for posterity (because they are the first to be published as etchings) are performed to celebrate a wedding at the Medici court in Florence in 1589. The scenes are now close to those which will become familiar to opera audiences over the next two centuries - they include a heaven made up of clouds (in which the characters can sit and sing), a delightful garden, a rocky cave guarded by a dragon, and a sea scene with mermaids, dolphins and a ship. This combination of music and spectacle is now so popular with courtly audiences that it leads to a new development in Florence in 1597 . Commedia dell'arte: 16th - 18th century Italy in the 16th century, home to the first stirrings of opera , also launches Europe's most vigorous tradition of popular theatre. The phrase commedia dell'arte (comedy of the trade) merely implies professional actors. There is a record of such a company performing in Italy as early as 1545. Normally this is street theatre, though a company will use indoor premises if available.

The traditional commedia dell'arte troupe arrives in a town, sets up a temporary stage and begins performing to the passers-by. Since it is essential to attract attention, slapstick plays a large part in the routine. So does improvisation, adapting the comic sketch to suit the audience's responses. Though each company performs its own material, certain characters become widely established - and the use of masks makes them immediately recognizable. Pantalone is a pompous old man, good for playing tricks on. The tricks are liable to be perpetrated by comic servants, of whom Arlecchino (proud possessor of a costume of bright patches) and Pulcinella become the best known. A Spanish soldier, Il Capitano, provides plenty of comedy in bragging about his bravery and then proving an arrant coward at the first hint of danger. He is known as Scaramouche in France, where the commedia dell'arte becomes an almost permanent attraction in Paris as the Comédie Italienne. The Italian comedians are popular throughout Europe.

Frequently they feature in fairs as an attraction to entice the public, who are then coaxed into buying fake medical potions - a trade which gives the name ciarlatini (clowns) its other meaning as charlatans. Each country builds its own popular traditions on the Italian example. In England Pulcinella evolves into Punch, the beak-nosed wife-beater of the seaside puppet shows. And the young lovers of the Italian comedy have a longer life in Britain than anywhere else. They survive well into the 19th century as the Harlequin and Columbine of the traditional English pantomime. The original Italian form of the commedia dell'arte loses its vigour during the 18th century. There are attempts to revive it by replacing improvisation, now grown somewhat weary and hackneyed, with scripted texts using the spirit of the commedia dell'arte in more sophisticated comedies of character. Goldoni has a great success with plays of this kind in 18th-century Venice. But he is only giving artificial respiration to a popular comic tradition which has delighted Europe for more than two centuries and has now run its course.

London's theatres:1576-1599 The theatres built in London in the quarter century from 1576 are a notable example of a contribution made by architecture to literature. In previous decades there have been performances of primitive and rumbustious English plays in the courtyards of various London inns, with the audience standing in the yard itself or on the open galleries around the yard giving on to the upper rooms. These are ramshackle settings for what are no doubt fairly ramshackle performances. In 1576 an actor, James Burbage, builds a permanent playhouse in Shoreditch - just outside the city of London to the north, so as not to require the permission of the puritanical city magistrates. Burbage gives his building the obvious name, so long as it is the only one of its kind. He calls it the Theatre. It follows the architectural form of an inn yard, with galleries enclosing a yard open to the sky. At one end a stage projects beneath a pavilion-like roof. In such a setting, custom-built, writers, actors and audience can begin to concentrate on dramatic pleasures.

A second playhouse, the Curtain, rises close to the Theatre in 1577. A third, the Rose, opens in 1587 on the south bank of the Thames in the area known as Bankside. In that year one of these three theatres puts on a play which reveals how far English playwrights have progressed in a very short while - Tamburlaine, by Christopher Marlowe . In about 1594 a fourth theatre, the Swan, is built close to the Hope. There are now two theatres to the north of the city and two south of the river. But soon the balance shifts decisively to Bankside. James Burbage, builder of the original Theatre, dies in 1597. Two years later his two sons dismantle the building and carry the timber over the river to Bankside, where they use it as the basis for a theatre with a new name - the Globe. This name resounds in English theatrical history for two good reasons. It is where Richard, one of the Burbage brothers, develops into one of the first great actors of the English stage. And it is where many of Shakespeare 's plays are first presented.

The structure of the Globe and the other London theatres has a significant influence on English drama at its greatest period, because of the audiences which these buildings accomodate. Ordinary Londoners, the groundlings, stand in the open pit to watch plays for a penny. Others pay a second penny to climb to a hard seat in the upper gallery. A third penny gives access to the two lower galleries and a seat with a cushion. A few places in the first gallery, to left and right of the stage, are reserved for gentlemen who can afford a shilling, or twelve pennies. This is a cross-section of nearly all the people of London, and the audience is vast - with four theatres giving regular performances in a small city. It has been calculated that during Shakespeare's time one Londoner in eight goes to the theatre each week. A city of 160,000 people is providing a weekly audience of about 21,000. There is only one comparable example of such a high level of attendance at places of entertainment - in cinemas in the 1930s. The range of Shakespeare's audience is reflected in the plays, which can accomodate vulgar comedy and the heights of tragic poetry.

The occasional performances in the Athenian drama festivals must have had something of this efffect, involving much of the community in a shared artistic experience. In Elizabethan and Jacobean London it happens almost every night. Marlowe: 1587-1593 The year 1564 sees the birth of two poets, Marlowe and Shakespeare, who between them launch the English theatre into the three decades of its greatest glory. Marlowe makes his mark first, in a meteoric six years (from 1587) in which his life and his writings are equally dramatic. From his time as a student at Cambridge Marlowe seems to have been involved in the Elizabethan secret service. This dangerous work, combined with a fiery disposition, brings him into frequent clashes with the authorities. He is in prison in 1589 after a street fight. He is deported from the Netherlands in 1592 for the possession of forged gold coins. He is arrested for some unknown reason in London in 1593. And twelve days later he is murdered. Marlowe is killed in a Deptford tavern by one of a group of colleagues with whom he has spent the day.

The official explanation is a row over the tavern bill, but it is possible that the event relates to his secret service activities. What is certain is that when he dies, short of his thirtieth birthday, he is already an extremely popular playwright with the London audience. Marlowe's first play, acted with great success in 1587, is an event of profound significance in the story of English theatre. Tamburlaine the Great introduces the supple and swaggering strain of blank verse which becomes the medium for all the glories of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Marlowe's Tamburlaine is a character who revels in the power which his conquests bring him, and the verse conveys brilliantly his sense of excitement. Rich words trip off his tongue, relished for their own sakes, in a manner which becomes characteristic of much English poetry. When Tamburlaine defeats the emperor of Persia, and imagines his moment of triumph, even the strange names of his three colleagues are pressed into service to add to the rich brew: 'Is it not passing brave to be a king, Techelles?

Usumcasane and Theridamas, Renaissance drama Definition and Meaning - Dictionary Central Definition Theater European drama from about the 15th to the early 17th centuries.During this period the rediscovery and imitation of classical worksestablished the foundations of the modern theater. England's majorcontribution was the lively Elizabethan stage that produced Shakespeare. Renaissance drama began in Italy, with scholars initiallyattempting to recreate the original stagings of Greek and Roman plays,then adapting them to contemporary dress and speech. The new interestin classical drama was fired by the rediscovery of texts by Euripides ,Seneca, Plautus, and Terence . Aristotle's Poetics, which definedthe classical genres of tragedy and comedy , came to light in the 15thcentury. The disreputable profession of acting began to assume a newdignity and the first professional companies were formed. In the field of tragedy, the main influence on Renaissancewriters was the work of Seneca.

As early as 1315, AlbertinoMussato (1261 - 1329) wrote a Latin tragedy, Ecerinis.The first important Renaissance tragedy was Giangiorgio Trissino'sSophonisba, which was written in 1515. Other authors of tragedyincluded Italy's Pietro Aretino (1492 - 1556), Giovanni Giraldi(1504 - 73) (see Il Cinthio ), and Torquato Tasso(1544 - 95); France's étienne Jodelle (1532 - 73);Spain's Juan de la Cueva (c. 1543 - 1610), and Miguel deCervantes (1547 - 1616); as well as England's Shakespeare, Kyd,and Marlowe.

In the Renaissance theater the solemn scenes of tragedy wereoften interspersed with intermezzi (see intermezzo),song and dance interludes that borrowed from the Greco-Roman satyr-play.These interludes ultimately developed into the court masquein England, the opera in Italy, and ballet in France. The discovery of Roman comedy, with its stock characters andintricate plots, inspired Renaissance dramatists to write similarworks, such as Udall's Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1534).The first significant comedy written in Italian was Calandria(1506) by Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena (1470 - 1520). In 16th-centuryItaly authors of the commedia erudita began to combine aspectsof Roman comedy and tragedy with elements of the liturgical drama .A leading writer of the commedia erudita was Lodovico Ariosto(1474 - 1533).

This new genre, however, provoked an importantreaction in the form of the improvised commedia dell'arte.Major comic playwrights of the era included England's Shakespeareand Ben Jonson; France's Jacques Grévin (1538 - 70)and Pierre de Larivey (c. 1540 - 1619); and Spain's Bartoloméde Torres Naharro (c. 1485 - c. 1524). Renaissance stage design also harked back to classical models,especially to Vitruvius (1st century BC), whose ideas influencedthe construction of the first permanent playhouses in Italy and France(although theaters in Britain and Spain adapted features from theinn courtyards in which drama had previously been performed). Greco-Romanideas influenced such Italian theater architects as Sebastiano Serlio (1475 - 1554), Andrea Palladio (1508 - 80), Giovanni Aleotti(1546 - 1636), and Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552 - 1616).

Theirdesigns incorporated classical devices like the periaktoi ,although new features such as the proscenium arch were alsointroduced. Nearby Definitions of “Renaissance drama” commedia dell'arte | Italian theatre | Britannica.com Compagnia dei Gelosi Commedia dell’arte, ( Italian: “comedy of the profession”) Italian theatrical form that flourished throughout Europe from the 16th through the 18th century. Outside Italy, the form had its greatest success in France, where it became the Comédie-Italienne . In England, elements from it were naturalized in the harlequinade in pantomime and in the Punch-and-Judy show, a puppet play involving the commedia dell’arte character Punch . The comical Hanswurst, of German folklore, was also a commedia dell’arte character.

Commedia dell’arte troupe, probably depicting Isabella Andreini and the Compagnia dei Gelosi, oil … CFL—Giraudon/Art Resource, New York The commedia dell’arte was a form of popular theatre that emphasized ensemble acting; its improvisations were set in a firm framework of masks and stock situations, and its plots were frequently borrowed from the classical literary tradition of the commedia erudita , or literary drama. Professional players who specialized in one role developed an unmatched comic acting technique, which contributed to the popularity of the itinerant commedia troupes that traveled throughout Europe. Despite contemporary depictions of scenarios and masks and descriptions of particular presentations, impressions today of what the commedia dell’arte was like are secondhand. The art is a lost one, its mood and style irrecoverable. Origins and development Western theatre: Commedia dell’arte Many attempts have been made to find the form’s origins in preclassical and classical mime and farce and to trace a continuity from the classical Atellan play to the commedia dell’arte’s emergence in 16th-century Italy. Though merely speculative, these conjectures have revealed the existence of rustic regional dialect farces in Italy during the Middle Ages.

Professional companies then arose; these recruited unorganized strolling players, acrobats, street entertainers, and a few better-educated adventurers, and they experimented with forms suited to popular taste: vernacular dialects (the commedia erudita was in Latin, or in an Italian not easily comprehensible to the general public), plenty of comic action, and recognizable characters derived from the exaggeration or parody of regional or stock fictional types. It was the actors who gave the commedia dell’arte its impulse and character, relying on their wits and capacity to create atmosphere and convey character with little scenery or costume. Britannica Stories Scientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales The first date certainly associated with an Italian commedia dell’arte troupe is 1545. The most famous early company was the Gelosi , headed by Francesco Andreini and his wife, Isabella ; the Gelosi performed from 1568 to 1604. Of the same period were the Desiosi , formed in 1595, to which Tristano Martinelli (c.

1557–1630), the famous Arlecchino, belonged; the Comici Confidènti , active from 1574 to 1621; and the Uniti , under Drusiano Martinelli and his wife, Angelica , a company first mentioned in 1574. Troupes of the 17th century included a second Confidènti troupe, directed by Flaminio Scala, and the Accesi and the Fedeli , to which Giovambattista Andreini , called Lelio, one of the great commedia dell’arte actors, belonged. The first mention of a company in France is in 1570–71. The Gelosi, summoned to Blois in 1577 by the king, later returned to Paris, and the Parisians embraced the Italian theatre, supporting resident Italian troupes who developed additional French characters. The Comédie-Italienne was formally established in France in 1653 and remained popular until Louis XIV expelled the Italian troupes in 1697. The Italian players were also popular in England, Spain, and Bavaria.

Each commedia dell’arte company had a stock of scenarios, commonplace books of soliloquies and witty exchanges, and about a dozen actors. Though there was some doubling of masks (roles), most players created their own masks or developed ones already established. This helped to keep a traditional continuity while allowing diversity . Thus, though many players are individually associated with parts—the elder Andreini is said to have created the Capitano , and Tiberio Fiorillo (1608–94) is said to have done the same for Scaramuccia (the French Scaramouche —for an understanding of the commedia dell’arte, the mask is more important than the player. The masks, or characters Arts Randomizer A typical scenario involved a young couple’s love being thwarted by their parents. The scenario used symmetrical pairs of characters: two elderly men, two lovers, two zanni , a maidservant, a soldier, and extras. The lovers, who played unmasked, were scarcely true commedia dell’arte characters—their popularity depending on looks, grace, and fluency in an eloquent Tuscan dialect. The parents were clearly differentiated .

Pantalone was a Venetian merchant: serious, rarely consciously comic, and prone to long tirades and good advice. Dottore Gratiano was, in origin, a Bolognese lawyer or doctor; gullible and lecherous, he spoke in a pedantic mixture of Italian and Latin. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Other characters began as stock masks and developed into well-known characters in the hands of the most talented players. The Capitano developed as a caricature of the Spanish braggart soldier, boasting of exploits abroad, running away from danger at home. He was turned into Scaramuccia by Tiberio Fiorillo, who, in Paris with his own troupe (1645–47), altered the captain’s character to suit French taste. As Scaramouche, Fiorillo was notable for the subtlety and finesse of his miming.

The zanni, who were often acrobats, or “tumblers,” had various names such as Panzanino, Buratino, Pedrolino (or Pierrot), Scapino , Fritellino, Trappolino, Brighella , and most notably, Arlecchino and Pulcinella (related to the English Punchinello , or Punch). Pulcinella, like Capitano , “outgrew” his mask and became a character in his own right, probably created by Silvio Fiorillo (died c. 1632), who had earlier created a famous Capitano, Mattamoros. Columbina , a maidservant, was often paired in love matches with Arlecchino, Pedrolino, or the Capitano. With Harlequin she became a primary character in the English pantomime’s harlequinade. The zanni had already been differentiated as comic rustic and witty fool . They were characterized by shrewdness and self-interest; much of their success depended on improvised action and topical jokes.

Arlecchino ( Harlequin ), one of the zanni, was created by Tristano Martinelli as the witty servant, nimble and gay; as a lover, he became capricious , often heartless. Pedrolino was his counterpart. Doltish yet honest, he was often the victim of his fellow comedians’ pranks. As Pierrot, his winsome character carried over into later French pantomimes. The zanni used certain tricks of their trade: practical jokes (burle)—often the fool, thinking he had tricked the clown , had the tables turned on him by a rustic wit as clever, if not so nimble, as his own—and comic business (lazzi). Decline Commedia dell’arte | Drama Resource Commedia dell’arte Acting , Directing and Devising , Drama Teaching , Features | Commedia character Pulcinella Marketplaces in sixteenth-century Europe thronged with barkers and costermongers calling their wares and travelling shows where mountebanks staged miraculous recoveries amidst masks and music. Within this carnival atmosphere, improvised theatre naturally thrived as a popular pastime.

Rude, funny and satirical, commedia dell’arte established itself across the piazzas of Italy from the 1530’s onwards. The term arte signified that the comedy was performed by professional actors – who could sing, dance, mime, clown, juggle and tumble their way through the improvised shows. The players lampooned social stereotypes according to their status or regional origin. These evolved into the larger than life stock characters easily recognisable by audiences across a crowded market place. An actor would often play the same character for the whole of his or her working life. Although the form began on the streets and was non-elitist, it was soon in high demand amongst the aristocracy in the court and theatres. Shakespeare and Moliere plundered the characters and plots for their own plays. Carlo Goldini’s A Servant of Two Masters, adapted from his own scenario, allegedly sounded the death knell for the improvised form. This has been adapted into the hugely successful play One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean.

The style has had a lasting effect on popular entertainment; from vaudeville to pantomime and silent movies, from the Marx Brothers to Monty Python, Mr Punch and Mr Bean, all must tip their hat to the commedia dell’arte players. Master and Servant One of the central relationships to explore is that of master and servant. Ask for two volunteers to play the roles. Give a situation, such as the servant bringing the master items of clothing to try on. Allow the players to explore this for a while. Ask the class if the roles are clear. Try two other students, asking them to make the status gap between the characters larger and two more to show a smaller gap. Finally, ask another pair to play the situation, but to give the servant the higher status. What is important is that the roles continue to be delineated, while the servant must find subtle ways to undermine the master. Lazzi Lazzi (singular ‘lazzo’) were the pre-rehearsed comic routines which could be an integral part of the plot or simply impromptu gags slipped into a performance to liven it up.

If the lazzi involved more than one character there might be a particular coded phrase which one of the actors would use to signal to the others. One of the most famous was the Lazzo of Nightfall where the actors used candles to indicate that it was night-time. This would give them the opportunity to bump into each other, climb ladders into the wrong house, mistake one another’s identities and so forth. For more information about Commedia dell’arte and how to teach it, please purchase the mini-download below. Teaching Commedia dell’arte (12 years to adult) Updated from an article originally written for Teaching Drama magazine, this PDF introduces the background to the Italian improvised theatre of the 16th to 17th centuries and shows how it still influences theatre and TV today. Activities suitable for Key Stages 3-5 and adults include: Status Gap, Master and Servant, Pantalone and Arlecchino, Character Body Parts, Throw Your Face, Grammelot and Canovaccio. A new page outlines examples of the lazzi (comic business) which Commedia dell’arte was famous for. Written by David Farmer.

Buy the full 5-page Commedia lesson plan for just £3.49 with PayPal. You will be sent a link to instantly download the PDF. Share this: Commedia - definition of Commedia by The Free Dictionary Commedia - definition of Commedia by The Free Dictionary com·me·dia dell'ar·te (kə-mā′dē-ə dĕl-är′tē, -tĕ, -mĕd′ē-ə) n. A type of comedy developed in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries and characterized by improvisation from a standard plot outline and the use of stock characters, often in traditional masks and costumes.

[Italian : commedia, comedy + dell'arte, of the guild, professional (from arte, art, craft, guild).] commedia dell'arte (Italian kɔmˈmeːdia delˈlarte) n (Theatre) a form of popular comedy developed in Italy during the 16th to 18th centuries, with stock characters such as Punchinello, Harlequin, and Columbine, in situations improvised from a plot outline [Italian, literally: comedy of art] com•me•dia dell'ar•te (kəˈmeɪ di ə dɛlˈɑr ti, -ˈɑr teɪ) n. Italian popular comedy of the 16th through 18th centuries, in which masked actors improvised from plot outlines based on stock characters. [1875–80; < Italian: literally, comedy of art] commedia dell'arte Italian comedy characterized by the use of improvisation and masks.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Comedia del art - definition of Comedia del art by The Free Dictionary Comedia del art - definition of Comedia del art by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Related to Comedia del art: commedia dell'arte com·me·dia dell'ar·te (kə-mā′dē-ə dĕl-är′tē, -tĕ, -mĕd′ē-ə) n. A type of comedy developed in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries and characterized by improvisation from a standard plot outline and the use of stock characters, often in traditional masks and costumes.

[Italian : commedia, comedy + dell'arte, of the guild, professional (from arte, art, craft, guild).] commedia dell'arte (Italian kɔmˈmeːdia delˈlarte) n (Theatre) a form of popular comedy developed in Italy during the 16th to 18th centuries, with stock characters such as Punchinello, Harlequin, and Columbine, in situations improvised from a plot outline [Italian, literally: comedy of art] com•me•dia dell'ar•te (kəˈmeɪ di ə dɛlˈɑr ti, -ˈɑr teɪ) n. Italian popular comedy of the 16th through 18th centuries, in which masked actors improvised from plot outlines based on stock characters. [1875–80; < Italian: literally, comedy of art] commedia dell'arte Italian comedy characterized by the use of improvisation and masks. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Italian Opera - A Brief History Of Italian Opera Italian Opera Italian opera is a musical art form that had its beginnings in Florence in the late 1500s.

It was based on a number of performance genres that preceded it, including Greek Drama, monody (poems sung by a solo vocalist with single instrument backing) and madrigals (a capella singing by 3-6 harmonizing vocalists). Madrigals and their many variations were performed at court in between acts of a play – a custom known as intermezzi – and tended to be lavish spectacles featuring singing, dancing and elaborate sets. The 16th Century: The Seeds of Italian Opera Cristofano Malvezzi (1547–1599) was born in Lucca, Tuscany, but later lived in Florence. There he was maestro di cappella at the cathedral and wrote madrigals and numerous intermezzi for the Medici family's entertainments. It's speculated that he was a member of the Florentine Camerata, a group of progressive musicians and poets who, in attempting to recreate the music of ancient Greece, created the first monody, a forerunner of the aria and essentially the genesis of opera.

The 17th Century: Opera is Born The earliest known opera composition is Dafne, written by Jacopo Peri (1561–1633) in 1597. Peri was born in Rome but relocated to Florence to study music. In the 1590s, he met Jacopo Corsi, the leading patron of music in Florence, and they decided to recreate a form of Greek tragedy, following in the footsteps of the Florentine Camerata, which had produced the first experiments in monody. Peri and Corsi invited the poet Ottavio Rinuccini to write a text, andDafne was the result. Peri's later composition, Euridice, written in 1600 with Giulio Caccini, is the earliest surviving opera and was initially performed as part of the celebrations for a Medici wedding, thereby catapulting opera into the mainstream of court entertainment. Peri credited the madrigals of Emilio del Cavalieri as the forerunner of the operatic form.

Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Claudio Monteverdi was a native of Mantua, Lombardy, who wrote his first opera, La Favola d'Orfeo (The Fable of Orpheus), in 1607 for the court. Moving to Venice in 1613, Monteverdi subsequently enriched the performance of opera by adding an orchestra, more lavish costumes and sets, and a more dramatic vocal style. Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to the Baroque. The Roman Composers Several decades later, opera had spread throughout the Italian peninsular, the result of touring companies who performed in all the major cities. In Rome, the prelate Giulio Rospigliosi (later Pope Clement IX) was an accomplished writer of poetry, dramas and libretti, as well as what may be the first comic opera.

Other prominent Roman composers include Luigi Rossi, composer of two operas (Il Palazzo Incantato and Orfeo in 1647), Michelangelo Rossi (composer of Erminia sul Giordano in 1633 and Andromeda in 1638), Marco Marazzoli (composer of L'Amore Trionfante Dello Sdegno and various intermedi), and Virgilio Mazzocchi (composer of sacred vocal music for the papal chapels). The Roman composers increased the number of characters in their operas, which added to the drama and potential plot twists. Opera In Venice The first public opera house, the Teatro di San Cassiano, opened in Venice in 1637. Opera was no longer a court entertainment but a commercial enterprise open to the paying public. Additional opera houses soon opened throughout the city, performing a variety of works during Venice's Carnivale season.

Claudio Monteverdi wrote three works for Venice's theatres: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (1640), Le Nozze d'Enea con Lavinia (1641) and L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1642). Opera in Europe Italian touring companies brought opera to other European cities, including Warsaw and Vienna. Several Italian composers made their homes abroad. Poland's Prince Wladyslaw Vasa imported composers from Italy, while a former Italian monk, libretto composer Antonio Cesti, became a member of the court at Innsbruck in 1652. Cesti wrote an opera for the Habsburg court in 1668, which marked the beginning of Italian operatic dominance north of the Alps. Italian opera became the international style in the hands of composers such as Handel, Gluck and Mozart. Although local composers attempted to write operas in their own languages, this was not to be successful until centuries later. The 18th Century: Opera Seria vs Opera Buffa Towards the end of the 17th century a new genre, opera seria (serious opera), became dominant in Europe.

This was in response to the popularity of the Neapolitan invention, opera buffa (comic opera), that had spread throughout Italy during the mid 1700s. Opera Seria aimed for simplicity of style, classical themes, poetic ideals and life affirming values. Opera Buffa, on the other hand, owed much to farce and the Commedia dell'Arte, and featured simple plots, modest scenery, small casts and orchestras, colloquial language, plays on words, action and humor. But all this changed in the second half of the 18th century when playwright Carlo Goldoni and composer Baldassare Galuppi modified the comic opera form to include two to three acts, more complexity of plot and character, and social themes. Goldoni and Galuppi's most famous collaboration is Il Filosofo di Campagna (1754). Goldoni later collaborated with composer Niccolò Piccinni to create another new genre called opera semiseria, which typically featured two buffo characters, two serious characters and two in-between. Additionally, the one-act farsa (farce) was a condensed version of a comic opera that gradually evolved into a genre in its own right.

German composer Christoph Willibald Gluck later simplified opera seria in an attempt to avoid the traditional vocal embellishments and emphasis on spectacle. He advocated that the music must be subservient to the drama. Weber, Mozart and Wagner were all influenced by his approach. Mozart wrote a series of comedies, including Così Fan Tutte, The Marriage of Figaroand Don Giovanni (with Lorenzo Da Ponte) which remain among the popular operas today, but he was less successful when writing opera seria. The 19th Century: The Romantic Period In the early 19th century composer Gioacchino Rossini (1792–1868) modified the dramatic excesses which typified the theater of his era to initiate opera's Romantic period. His first success was an opera buffa, La Cambiale di Matrimonio (1810), followed by The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola. He also wrote serious opera, including Otello (1816) and Guilliame Tell (1829).

Other notable Romantic Opera composers include: Vincenzo Bellini (1801–35) was born in Catania, Sicily, and known for his long-flowing melodies. Bellini is considered the quintessential composer of bel canto opera. Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) was born in Bergamo, Lombardy, but wrote in Rome, Milan and Naples. Donizetti achieved some popular success in the 1820s but became famous throughout Europe when his Anna Bolena premiered in Milan. L'Elisir d'Amore, a comedy produced in 1832, is considered one of the masterpieces of 19th-centuryopera buffa, as is his Don Pasquale (1843). Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), is his most famous opera, and one of the high points of the bel canto tradition. Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. Verdi experimented with musical and dramatic forms, and transformed the whole nature of operatic writing during his career.

In 1877, he created Otello which is described by critics as the finest of Italian romantic operas. Verdi's last opera, Falstaff(1893), defied convention by using the patterns of ordinary speech. The 20th Century Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) wrote some of the greatest Italian operas of the 20th century, including Manon Lescaut, La Bohème, Tosca, and Madame Butterfly. Born in Lucca in Tuscany, he enrolled in the Milan Conservatory in 1880. Manon Lescaut (1893), his third opera, was his first great success. La Bohème (1896) is considered one of his best works as well as one of the most romantic operas ever composed. It is, together with Tosca, one of the world's most popular operas. Madame Butterfly (1904) was initially panned, but was reworked to become another of his most successful operas. Puccini also wrote orchestral pieces, sacred music, chamber music and compositions for piano and voice.

Italian opera remains a popular form of entertainment throughout the world, with works by its most eminent composers being performed every day on a stage somewhere. The Three Tenors brought opera to the attention of the general populace, and many of us changed our minds about what this music had to offer. Whether we understand the lyrics or not, pieces like Nessun Dorma can affect us in a way that other music can't. In that moment, a long dead composer reaches across time and touches our souls. Italian Renaissance Theatre - Home Italian Renaissance Theatre Resources Introduction The Italian Renaissance gave birth to many innovations in theater architecture and scene design, including the proscenium arch stage, painted-flat wings and shutters, and Torelli's mechanized pole-and-chariot system. In addition, the Italian Renaissance saw the development of the neoclassical rules of dramatic structure, and of opera and Commedia dell'arte. Around 1485, Italian rulers began to finance productions of Roman plays and imitations of them. This prompted interest in rewriting Roman plays into Italian as well as the writing of new plays. One of first important vernacular tragedy was Sofonisha by Giangiorgio Trissino.

A chorus of 15 was used, in keeping with the number in the Roman choruses. Between the 14th and 16th centuries Renaissance drama developed in Italy, marking an end to medieval practices and a release of traditional Roman ways of presenting drama. The neoclassical ideal was formed in Italy and spread throughout Europe. This ideal was characterized by an interest in literary theory and a desire to read and understand theoretical works such as Horace's Art of Poetry and Aristotle's Poetics. The neoclassical ideal demanded versimilitude which dealt with the strong appearance of truth. Because of versimilitude, fantasy and supernatural elements were avoided in neoclassical plays. The chorus and soliloquies were also discouraged. Reality was stressed in drama along with plays that teach moral lessons. In Italy staging was made popular by using perspective architecture and painting. These methods gave audience members the illusion of distance and depth. Scenery and stages were raked or angled to increase the illusion and create a perspective setting. Books such as The Two Rules of Perspective Practice by Barozzi da Vignola and Nicola Sabbattini's Manual for Constructing Theatrical Scenes and Machines were guides for staging in Italy and the rest of Europe.

Italians also came up with new methods of shifting scenery using wings and painted canvas coverings. The chariot and pole system of shifting scenery was created by Giacomo Torelli in 1641, and it was so popular it was used in other theatres throughout Europe. The Italians were also interested in the architecture of the theatres themselves. The teatro olympico was built between 1580 and 1584 and was used for many productions. The teatro farnese at Parma was considered the prototype of the modern stage, and it boasted a large proscenium arch. The Italians and dance in most of their ceremonies, festivals, and theatrical presentations. Festivals were important and revived much of the lost spectacle of Roman times. Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was comedy of professional players. This was separate from amateur drama because of the high level of performances. Every aspect of the drama was top of the line from the scripts to the costumes. Two aspects of Commedia dell'arte were improvisation and stock characters. Some of the reason improvisation was so well done was because actors would play the same characters their whole lives.

The strong reputations of the companies brought in huge audiences.This colorful and extremely theatrical art form is based on the interaction of traditional stock characters in improvised scenarios that facilitate a comic plot to arrive at a humorous climax. Commedia dell'arte (comedy of artists) originated in streets and market places of the early Italian Renaissance, although it's roots can be traced as far back as far as Ancient Greek and Roman Theatre. These Italian street performers, donning masks with exaggerated comic features to draw additional attention to themselves and complement their physical and acrobatic skills, eventually teamed up in troupes of actors often with a traveling stages to firmly establish commedia as a genre in it's own right by the mid-1500's. These "commedia troupes" performed for and were accessible to all. Language was no barrier, with their skillful mime, stereotyped stock characters, traditional lazzi's (signature stunts, gags and pranks), masks, broad physical gestures, improvised dialogue and clowning they became widely accepted wherever they traveled.In later years, the tradition spread all over Europe, eventually adopting a major French influence where many of the scenarios were scripted into commedia-style plays.

The style and formula of commedia is now surviving well into the late 20th century and beyond continuing the tradition as an artistic institution where gifted actors create some of the most memorable, historic physical characters the theatre has ever seen. It is from the Commedia world where such characters as Arlechinno (Harlequin), Columbina, Pulcinella (Punch), The Doctor, The Captain and Pantalone emerged to reign in theatre for centuries. Actors, writers, composers, The innovations of the Italian Renaissance in theatre architecture and scene design have been unmatched in theatre history. For the next 200 years, anyone attending a theatre anywhere in Europe would be in a proscenium-arch playhouse watching the stage action from either the pit, a box, or a gallery. The scenery would consist of painted-flat wings and shutters which could be shifted either by Torelli’s mechanized pole-and-chariots system or-like in England, the Netherlands and the United States-by stage hands who pulled them off in grooves. The Italian Renaissance also produced Opera, Commedia dell’arte, and the neoclassical rules of dramatic structure.

Although this period left theatre no significant plays the rigid neoclassical rules help shape much of the drama presented world wide through the 18th Century. Commedia dell’arte was highly popular until the 1700s and has influenced many playwrights, contemporary movements and theatrical experimentations.

Question: Which Italian form of improvised comic drama was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Answer: COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE