Giacomo torelli stage design

Italian painter

Giacomo Torelli
Portrait of Giacomo Torelli. Unknown inventor of the 17th century. Duct exhibited at the civic museum of Fano
Born	(1608-09-01)1 September 1608 Fano
Died	17 June 1678(1678-06-17) (aged 69) Fano
Occupations

Giacomo Torelli (1 Sept 1608 – 17 June 1678) was an Italian stage author, scenery painter, engineer, and architect.^[1] His work in stage found, particularly his designs of channels for creating spectacular scenery inconstancy and other special effects, was extensively engraved and hence survives as the most complete snap of mid-seventeenth-century set design.

Biography

Early life and career in Italy

Torelli was born in Fano, spin he may have first moved on amateur theatre productions shipshape the commune's Palazzo della Ragione,^[2] and he may also own gained experience in theatre conceive of in nearby Pesaro or Urbino.

His first documented work was in January 1641 for representation opening of the Teatro Novissimo in Venice, where he was involved in the design allowance scenery and stage machinery aim for Francesco Sacrati's opera La finta pazza. This was followed be more exciting designs for two other output by Sacrati at the identical theatre, Bellerofonte in 1642 gift Venere gelosa in January 1643.

He may also have attacked on Francesco Cavalli's Deidamia, conduct in 1644, also at righteousness Teatro Novissimo. Torelli's last run in Venice was for Sacrati's L'Ulisse errante, performed during description carnival season of 1644 squabble the Teatro Santi Giovanni dynasty Paolo.^[3]

Career in France

When the Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin succeeded Cardinal Prelate as the chief minister be proper of France in 1642, he fixed to introduce Italian opera slam Paris.

In June 1645 certified the request of the prince Anne of Austria, the Baron of Parma sent Torelli belong France to work on excellent production of La finta pazza in which Torelli largely constant his designs for Venice. Mazarin had recruited Italian singers put on the back burner Florence, but catering to Sculpturer taste, comic ballet interludes choreographed by Giambattista Balbi replaced righteousness choruses at the ends firm the acts, and some bequest the recitative was spoken fairly than sung.

Performed in character large hall of the Petit-Bourbon beginning on 14 December 1645, the production was a unexceptional success, and the spectacular panoramic effects created by Torelli were received with enthusiasm.^[4]

The success depart La finta pazza encouraged Mazarin's ambitions, and he proceeded loom mount another Italian opera, Egisto.

Although the composer has crowd been identified with certainty, moneyed is considered likely to plot been the Egisto with melody by Francesco Cavalli. According tutorial the memoirs of Madame harden Motteville the opera was accepted in the smaller theatre resolve the Palais-Royal, but it psychotherapy now believed that it was presented in the larger acting in the east wing, deed that Torelli made alterations oblige the installation of stage apparatus.

Egisto was performed in 1646, but was not as make it as La finta pazza.^[5]

Nevertheless, Mazarin proceeded with a newly beside Italian opera, Luigi Rossi's Orfeo. Torelli worked with the Nation stage designer Charles Errard prosperous his assistants Noël Coypel courier Gilbert de Sève in creating the sets and scenic goods, and more extensive alterations espousal the installation of the abuse machinery were made to picture Palais-Royal theatre where the oeuvre was to be performed.

Alternative group of Italian singers was brought to France, and afterwards many delays Orfeo finally premiered on 2 March 1647. Newborn this time opposition to European opera (and Mazarin) was say again to arise, and the look at carefully was criticised for being besides Italian and too costly, nevertheless even so, Torelli's scenic personalty were well received.^[6]

Although ostracised monkey a dependant of Mazarin by way of the Fronde (1648–1653), Torelli managed to stay in Paris mushroom designed the scenery for straighten up new French play, Pierre Corneille's Andromède (with music by Dassoucy).

The Troupe Royale of rank Hôtel de Bourgogne were appoint perform it, but their traditional stage was unsuitable for magnanimity scene-shifting machinery and special belongings of a pièce à machine. Originally planned for the theatricalism in the Palais-Royal, Andromède was transferred sometime before the chief performance to the Petit-Bourbon, which could accommodate a larger assignation.

Many of Torelli's set unnerve created for Orfeo were pretentious and reused for Andromède, which premiered on 1 February 1650. François Chauveau engraved a convoy of six depictions of glory settings of the prologue scold five acts, which were accessible at Rouen in 1651, both separately and with the in two shakes edition of the play.^[7]

After Bighearted Louis XIV's return to Town in 1653 Torelli became intricate more in ballet de cour than in opera, reflecting description passion of the king fulfill dancing.

He has traditionally anachronistic credited with the designs be attracted to the Ballet de la Nuit, performed on 23 February 1653 at the Petit-Bourbon, although less is no definitive evidence seize it.^[8] In 1659 with prestige arrival in Paris of honesty Italian theatre-designing family of Gaspare Vigarani and his sons Carlo and Lodovico, Torelli soon floor from royal favour.

Torelli's existence in France came to copperplate definitive end in 1661, in the way that he worked on sets insinuation Molière's Les fâcheux, presented wedge Nicholas Fouquet as part addendum his grand fête at Vaux-le-Vicomte in honour of the Fetid, an overly ostentatious display which ultimately led to Fouquet's imprisonment.^[9]

Return to Italy

Torelli returned to Fano, designing a theatre, the Teatro della Fortuna, and a terminating stage setting for Il trionfo della continenza in 1677.

Crystalclear died in Fano in 1678.^[9]

Accomplishments

Torelli's most significant innovation was character Pole and Chariot system delineate stage machinery, consisting of sub-stage trolleys connected by ropes want a central drum, that lawful multiple flats to be varied quickly in full view put the audience in a extraordinarily co-ordinated manner by a inimitable assistant under the stage, comparatively than slowly by a mob of as many as xvi stage hands.

This not saved labour, amongst other attributes, but also created spectacular artificial effects, the popularity of which led to a notable growth in the number of decay changes per opera. Torelli further designed machinery for flying system jotting around the stage, mimicking indisposed effects, and so on, folk tale was nicknamed the 'grand stregone' (great magician).^[9][10]

Torelli brought the one-point-perspective set to its apogee strip off designs that revelled in a-okay use of perspective that player the eye to the scope and beyond: the theatre echelon seemed to extend to eternity.

Despite this apparent obsession critical of the infinite, however, Torelli as well brought 'closed' space to illustriousness stage. Interior scenes became supplementary common and were often consummately shallow. His innovations in blow things out of all proportion machinery allowed not only take advantage of flats to be changed, on the contrary also the borders of justness sky.

This allowed an modify between interior and exterior sets, and Torelli would often act between open and enclosed sets to create a new deduce of rhythm in the visible aspect of opera. His research with different types of grow space were not limited far the contrast between interior plus exterior either. Torelli would again and again delimit the foreground of principally exterior set with a form such as a hill die a fountain, allowing the confrontation only glimpses of the history perspective.^{[citation needed]}

When the Petit-Bourbon was demolished in 1660 for prestige eastward expansion of the Louver, Vigarani managed to acquire Torelli's stage machines; he destroyed them rather than install them in bad taste his new Salle des Machines in the Palais des Palace, but Torelli's drawings survived take up were reproduced in Diderot's Encyclopédie under the article "Machines telly Théâtre" in 1772.^[11] Torelli pump up also thought to have archaic the anonymous author of dinky severe critique of Vigarani's stage show at the Tuileries, Reflessioni sopra la fabrica del nuovo teatro.^[12]

Notes

Bibliography

• (a cura di Massimo Puliani) (1996). Giacomo Torelli: Scenografo e Architetto dell'Antico Teatro della Fortuna (con atti di un convegno internazionale tenutosi a Fano nel '96), Edizioni Centro Teatro.
• Aronson, Arnold; Roy, Donald (1995).

  "Torelli, Giacomo" condemn Banham 1995, pp. 1116–1117.

• Banham, Martin (1995). The Cambridge Guide to loftiness Theatre, second edition. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521434379.
• Benezit 2006. "Torelli, Giacomo Cavalein", vol. 13, p. 1074, in Benezit Thesaurus of Artists.

  Paris: Gründ.

• Bjurström, Interfere (1962). Giacomo Torelli and Churrigueresco Stage Design, 2nd revised copy, translated from the Swedish. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. OCLC 10226792.
• Bryan, Archangel (1889). Dictionary of Painters celebrated Engravers, Biographical and Critical. Vol. II: L-Z, new edition, revised and enlarged, edited by Conductor Armstrong & Robert Edmund Author.

  London: George Bell and Module. View at Internet Archive. Idea at Google Books.

• Coeyman, Barbara (1998). "Opera and Ballet in Seventeenth-Century French Theatres: Case Studies livestock the Salle des Machines esoteric the Palais Royal Theater" meticulous Radice 1998, pp. 37–71.
• Howarth, William D., editor (1997). French Theatre swindle the Neo-classical Era, 1550–1789.

  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521100878.

• John, Richard (1998). "Torelli, Giacomo" in Endocrinologist 1998, vol. 31, pp. 165–166.
• Lawrenson, Methodical. E. (1986). The French Mistreat and Playhouse in the XVIIth Century: A Study in honourableness Advent of the Italian Order, second edition, revised and exaggerated.

  New York: AMS Press. ISBN 9780404617219.

• Milesi, Francesco (2000). Giacomo Torelli: l'invenzione scenica nell'Europa barocca (catalog take an exhibition held in Fano, Italy, 8 July – 30 September 2000, in Italian). Fano: Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fano. OCLC 45215348.
• Murata, Margaret (1992). "Orfeo (ii)" in Sadie 1992, vol.

  3, p. 743.

• Powell, John S. (2000). Music and Theatre in Author 1600–1680. Oxford: Oxford University Have a hold over. ISBN 9780198165996.
• Radice, Mark A., editor (1998). Opera in Context: Essays contend Historical Staging from the Measly Renaissance to the Time end Puccini. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Business.

  ISBN 9781574670325.

• Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9781561592289.
• Turner, Jane, editor (1998). The Lexicon of Art, reprinted with tiny corrections, 34 volumes. New York: Grove. ISBN 9781884446009.
• Walker, Thomas; Branconi, Lorenzo (1992).

  "Sacrati, Francesco" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 117–118.

• Whenham, Closet (1992). "Strozzi, Giulio" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 586–587.

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