Talk:L'Orfeo

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I took out a rather critical word --"mistaken" in this context: "This idea of theatrical works set to music was taken from the mistaken notion that the Ancient Greeks had sung their plays." There is conflicting evidence on this matter, but it is quite clear that at least some of the action in Ancient Greek plays was sung. A tantalizing scrap of manuscript of Euripides from Alexandria, I think 200s BCE, has music notation for every word. It is true that the Florentine Camerata thought that the plays were sung, and opera was an attempt to recreate that. Antandrus 02:41, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Orchestration

There's a lot of misinformation here regarding orchestration. Viole da braccio are not members of the old viol family, they're the original members of the violin family that includes violas (the original alto violins), tenor violins (pitched an octave below the violin), and bass violins (the direct precursor to the cello). The use of these instruments corresponds to the clefs noted in the score. I don't know where you got 15 violins and two violas--the score calls for two violins, alto, tenor, and bass violin, and the indication "dieci viole da brazzo" tells us that each of these parts was doubled in the original production. The violini piccioli alla francese were just that--piccolo violins, also known as kits, commonly used in dance bands from the sixteenth century onwards--you can still find them in parts of England and rural France. It's tuned a minor third higher than an ordinary violin and was most famously used in Bach's first Brandenburg Concerto. Since they're only called for in one place in the second act divorced from the other strings, they were presumably played as doubling instruments by two of the viole de brazzo players, which is probably also the case with the "tre bassi da gamba", which are called for specifically only in the choruses that end the third and fourth acts in which none of the other viole de brazzi are played. Together with the two contrabassi, then, that would make for a total of twelve string players playing 17 instruments. The regal is a reed organ with a snarling sound that's like a cross between a Laotion mouth organ and an accordion, frequently associated with images of the underworld in early Baroque music. The flutes you refer to are recorders; two soprano (descant) recorders are required in the second act, and one sopranino (flautino) is required in the first act. They may well have been played by the same musicians who played the cornetti, which are wooden instruments fingered like a recorder but with a tiny mouthpiece to be buzzed into like a brass instrument. Since the five trumpeters needed for the toccata could presumably also play sackbut (trombone), that means we have an orchestra of 25 players: 12 strings, two cornetti/recorders, five trumpets/trombones, two keyboard players playing harpsichord, organ and regal, three lutenists, and harp. Of course, this is somewhat speculative, but the point being is that the daunting number of instruments listed in the score does not reflect the number of players, who were as versatile then as Broadway musicians are today.````

You sound like a knowledgeable person - why don't you edit the article to correct the information there, citing your source(s) for the above in the References section. And, BTW, the way to sign your post on Talk pages is with four tildes (this symbol: ~), not four "open single quotes" (this symbol: `) as above. Better still, get a username and join the Opera Project or the Classical Music Project. Leave a message on my Talk Page if you want more info. --GuillaumeTell 17:05, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Arpa doppia

The article describes the specified arpa doppia as "a [diatonic?] harp with two sets of strings.", which agrees with the description in the Harp article. However, I've always assumed that a chromatic harp of some sort was desired, and if I recall correctly the written harp part (in "Possente spirto") requires it. I'm not aware of a single recording that uses a diatonic harp. Anyone able to clarify? EldKatt (Talk) 11:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merging "Tu se' morta" into this article

Someone tagged the article for merging, and since I created the article in the first place and agree with the merge, I'll just do so now. -- Cielomobile ^{talk / contribs} 03:20, 23 March 2007 (UTC)