Comparing Opera and Ballet from Beginning to Present Time During the 17th Century Opera and Ballets were combined and performed in the same productions (Smith 23). French Opera began to form in “1669 and after many issues came throughout the creation, they finalized French Opera in 1673” (Mongredien 120). It is noted that the roots of Opera “were influenced from Greek and Roman tragedy, Ancient Rhetoric and work of Plato and Aristotle” (Giroud).
The first impact of French Opera “was made by Luigi Rossi’s Ofreo, it was written especially for Paris, glorying Louis XIV in manner of ballet de cour” (Giroud 7). Other sources provides information that “the poet Philippe Quinault and Jean- Baptiste Lully created the French five-act tragedie lyrique, itself indebted both to earlier French forms of Ballet and Drama” (Naxos). “The tragedie lyrique created by Jean- Baptiste Lully and the poet Quinault was not necessarily tragic but it was, at least, serious in its treatment of subjects usually drawn from mythology” (Naxos).
Lully set a standard in Opera and Ballet and it caught the audience’s interest as it brought dance and music together. As mentioned above tragedie lyrique “invariably used five acts and is like a detective story: a leads to b, b leads to c” (Naxos). Opera and Ballet is a complex art form in the way that “It brought all art together; painting (sets and costumes), poetry, drama, dance and music” (Giroud). The goal of Opera and Ballet was to have a “plot composed primarily of familiar situations requiring little explanation” (Powell 293).
There are two basic plot ingredients of Opera and Ballets and those comprised of “ a) political or social contrasts b) affairs of the heart, as well both ideas could also be combined together but this would lead to a longer more complex performance” (Smith 22). The characters of these performances “were based from ordinary life and reflected the French culture” (Powell 77-78). By having ordinary characters of the time period, the audience would be able to relate to the performers and the situations being performed on stage.
Before French Opera came about, Ballets were a dominate performance in which members of the French community would go watch and enjoy. At this time King Louis XVI was “an eager dancer and granted ‘the finest legs in his Kingdom’” (Giroud 8). His first performance “was designed by playwright Isaac de Benserade who wrote most texts of the Court de Ballets of the decade” (Giroud 8). The participation “of the King and other aristocracy gave new prestige to the genre” (Giroud 8), this was a stepping stone to blending Ballet and Opera together.
Once French Opera became known in the French community more artists became to develop their own take on this extravagant art form. An example of this is Benserade’s Ballets transformed into Pastorale d’Issy, this art form “known only to us from its libretto since no music survives” (Giroud 10). These Opera and Ballets took place in a “residence of a royal jeweler at Issy as well as a village southeast of Paris. If these performances were successful they would be recommended to the “Mazarin who commissioned a court performance in Vincennes” (Giroud 11).
After this mini trial was over and Perrin was released from prison he “announced another genre of Opera and was in the ‘comic’ vein, meaning serious content with a happy ending” (Giroud 11). One new idea always inspires another artist to top the other and become more established in the art but maintaining the roots of the original Opera and Ballet. Visual components such as costumes were added to the Opera and Ballets and were designed in a way that costumes were created with “realistic detail for the eye” (Smith 36).
Male performers would wear tights to show off their legs as Louis XVI would be performing in some performances and influenced the French culture. Along with the tights they would tend to have a jacket that would define who they were as a character. If the fabric of the jacket was vibrant (royal colours) and embellished then the higher class the character was. Footwear for male characters would be a choice of boot, moccasin or bare footed during the show. For women characters they would wear a long belle shaped skirt going down to ankles with tight a corset on top.
Usually these dresses had long sleeves and had lots of detail. Similar to male characters, the more detail on the dress, the higher class that character would be. Costumes could have been embellished with lace, bows, flowers and even paintings. Women would wear shoes that covered the foot and sometimes had a little heel. (All information gathered from pictures in Smith 38-44 Figure 1-16). Based on the 17th Century research Opera Atelier’s production of Armide possessed elements in which made the performance a classical French Opera and Ballet.
On the other hand, it had its own twists to make it more enjoyable for the audience members of the 21st Century. Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski told us they “took rhetorical gestures from the original Opera and they told their performers to use their bodies and express the text” (Pynkoski 10/29 THF 101). They took the aesthetics of the classical version and “tried to find a new way to challenge performers and the audience artistically” (Pynkoski 10/29 THF 101). One similarity they possess is their music and the instruments played.
Marshall Pynkoski explained “the orchestra hired by Opera Atelier is a Period Orchestra meaning they play on instruments or replica instruments that age about 300 years old. This orchestra consists of professionals who are talented artists with and specialize in 17th and 18th century music” (Pynkoski 10/29 THF 101). Much like in the performances in the 17th century you had creators that would create and perform their work. An example of this is the Choreographer, Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg created the dancing sequences of the Opera and performed herself in the Ballet de Cour.
The dancing style that the women performed on stage would have been similar to what occurred in the 17th Century as the women were graceful and elegant and the male dancers were more physical with their movement and were on stage showing their dominance. Set Designer Gerard Gauci explained that “the staging of the Opera would have been similar to the 17th Century original version. He told us the art for the set was Eurocentric in Paris, meaning the set would be painted so the French culture of the time would relate back to it” (Gauci 10/29 THF 101).
Both Opera Atelier’s rendition and the 17th Century versions of the Opera and Ballet had sets that were all pained by hand. The sets were painted to look like 3D but the paint was actually flat and two-dimensional. An aspect that has been added to Opera and Ballet is the use of technology. “Opera Atelier has surtitles with translations of the vocals from French to English so that you knew what was happening on stage. This technology has made Opera worldwide and more accessible” (Gauci 10/29 THF 101).
These technologies were not existent in the 17th Century. The largest similarity between the performances next to music is costumes and their designs. Costumes from both time periods were large, elaborate and pieces of art themselves. Like mentioned before, men wore tights and a jacket which tended to be greatly detailed giving the audience a sense of who the character was. If they were innocent like Renaud the costume would be simple and light in colour. If they were evil, they would wear black or red to symbolize the darkness.
All men in Opera Atelier’s version wore boots and women wore little white heels. The women wore gowns all vibrant in colour and greatly embellished. The gown would be a belle shaped skirt and a corset top tied tightly. The dancers had sleeves like in the 17th Century but were removable. In one dance sequence the women danced without the sleeves and exposed more skin then what would have appropriate in the 17th Century. Overall the 21st Century version of J. B Lully’s Armide was fairly historically accurate.
They both comprise of similar music, dance, costume, and set design the 21st Century version has done updates therefore the audience can enjoy the performance much like the French it the 17th Century. Viewing and researching this performance genre has enriched my understanding of theatrical art in a few ways. First it has let me understand the roots of Ballet and Opera. It allowed me to realize how much work it takes to make an art something your own and unique to your culture. The French tried for many years to get Opera and Ballet to be their own and use it in a way to bring people together and see all art forms under one roof.
I have also gained respect for those who work behind the scenes to make the show happen the Artistic Director the Coaches, Set Designer and Costume Designer and many more. If they were not present and incredibly talented this show would have not been successful or enjoyable. The people behind the scenes impact the show overall in many ways. Just because you do not see them does not mean they are not important. I think that the way Opera and Ballet was blended together was a beautiful combination and I am very glad I had the privilege to watch such and elegant and dramatic Opera and Ballet on stage.
