Post #6 - Lecture Baroque Theatre through Modern Opera

Following the rise of baroque architecture, baroque theater started becoming popular. Out of baroque theater came opera. Opera was a highly popular form of entertainment. It was sophisticated and was a new way of conveying stories. Fashioned with elaborate costumes and sets, opera singers would sing and project their voices without the use of microphones. Young choir boys were best at hitting and holding the high notes. Poorer families would offer up their young sons to become choir singers. If they were good enough the choir boys could become celebrities. Many who chased this fame would get castrated so that they could continue to hit the high notes as they got older. It may seem bizarre, this idea of people damaging and altering their bodies for the sake of fame and fortune, but it actually has not gone away even nowadays. Even now, in the 21st century, we see people all over social media and in the news using plastic surgery and steroids to “enhance” themselves and make themselves better. Trends on social media also enforce this idea. It is a terrible situation, and unfortunately it does not seem to be going away. 

After opera was popular, people started taking it and experimenting with it. The mixing of different genres from different cultures by the risk takers gave way for the development of multiple music types. Opera hasn’t disappeared though. Modern opera is all around us. Musicians have taken older operas and twisted them into something new and enticing. Even though theater has changed a lot over the centuries, it is still a powerful and influential way to tell stories. 

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