Leading the way in the 17th century: La finta pazza

Leonardo García Alarcón returns to the Matinee with a once trend-setting opera: La finta pazzaby Francesco Sacrati.

Most popular opera of the 17th century
In 1637, public opera performances were held in Venice for the first time - no longer restricted to nobility and patricians, but open to anyone who could buy a ticket. After the first productions, the genre practically exploded and more and more opera theatres appeared. The Teatro Novissimo (literally: the newest theatre) was the first to be built especially for opera. It was closed five years later, but not after it had hosted the most popular opera of the 17th century: La finta pazza by composer Francesco Sacrati and librettist Giulio Strozzi.

Wonderful stylistic innovations after Monteverdi
In the story, Achilles is sent to the island of Skyros to avoid fighting in the Trojan War. He lives there disguised as a princess. But Odysseus and Diomedes find him, and when Achilles then decides to join the war, his lover Deidamia feigns madness to keep him on the island. That is the 'finta pazza', the feigned madness, in the title. The opera had an enormous influence on the development of the genre and is written in a beautiful arioso style, with many innovative aria-like passages.