Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Birth Of Opera: Why Venice? | 20100410 | In the first of two programmes exploring the origins of Opera, Catherine Bott examines the genre from its earliest days in the courts of Florence and Rome. Although it began life in these courts, it was in Venice that Opera was truly born, and Catherine explores the circumstances which surrounded its arrival there during the city's Carnival season of 1637 and the reasons for its immediate success. Bibliography Ellen Rosand - Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice: the Creation of a Genre Muir - The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance Glixon & Glixon - Inventing the Business of Opera. Catherine Bott on the origins of opera and how it came to Venice in the 17th century. Performance and news from the world of early music. |
| 02 | The Birth Of Opera: The Accademia Degli Incogniti | 20100411 | Opera arrived in Venice with the opera Andromeda, brought to the city in 1637 and that began a virtual avalanche of productions there, so that just three years later Venice's third Opera house had opened and showed a total of five different new works during the 1640 carnival season. But the story of Opera's explosion in Venice is an intriguing one, with a plot which reads like a deft political thriller. Catherine Bott explores Opera's success in the watery city and the powerful role of the mysterious Accademia degli Incogniti. Bibliography Ellen Rosand - Opera in Seventeenth-Century Venice: the Creation of a Genre Muir - The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance Glixon & Glixon - Inventing the Business of Opera. Catherine Bott explores the reasons for Opera's popularity in 17th-century Venice. Performance and news from the world of early music. |