Baroque opera featured lavish staging, spectacle and excitement. Stages were given added depth to allow for greater perspective and more vivid scenic effects. Steps were built leading from the stage into the auditorium, bringing the audience closer to the action. The ‘chariot and pole’ device enabled scene changes to be made in seconds. 15 or 20 scene changes could be involved. Candles, torches and smoke depicted blazing hellfire or provided effects for the ‘magical’ descent of golden chariots from heaven that brought the gods to Earth. Flashes of lightning were produced by the covering and uncovering of flaming torches. ‘Thunder’ sounded as cannon balls were rolled down a stepped incline. Careful siting of the lights in the wings and the practice of dropping or raising cylinders or boxes of tin or black metal over the lamps made it possible to dim the stage for some scenes yet switch quickly to scenes requiring more illumination. To avoid the greatest danger of the candlelit era – setting fire to the theatre – lights were placed where they could not be dislodged, however vigorous the action on stage and however much the scenery might shake.

Stage & Scene | Words for the Music – the Libretto | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera