Opera
Western theatre where music is fundamental and singers take dramatic roles.
Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a 'work' (the literal translation of the Italian word 'opera') is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Opera is a key part of Western classical music, and Italian tradition in particular.
- originated
- Italy, end of the 16th century
- earliest_composition
- Jacopo Peri's Dafne (1598, mostly lost)
- first_surviving_score
- Jacopo Peri's Euridice (1600)
- first_regularly_performed
- Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607)
- field
- Western classical music and theatre
- known_for
- Combining music, drama, acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance
Lore & Background
Opera originated in Italy at the end of the 16th century, with Jacopo Peri's mostly lost Dafne produced in Florence in 1598. It soon spread through the rest of Europe: Heinrich Schütz in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century. In the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe (except France), attracting foreign composers such as George Frideric Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Christoph Willibald Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his 'reform' operas in the 1760s. The most renowned figure of late 18th-century opera is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian comic operas, especially The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, as well as Die Entführung aus dem Serail and The Magic Flute, landmarks in the German tradition.
Reader's Guide
Opera's significance lies in its enduring role as a synthesis of the performing arts, evolving from court entertainment to a public art form supported by ticket sales in Venice from 1637. The 19th century saw the rise of the continuous music drama, with Giuseppe Verdi in Italy and Richard Wagner in Germany leading a golden age. The 20th century brought experiments with modern styles such as atonality, serialism, neoclassicism, and minimalism. With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso and Maria Callas became known to much wider audiences. Since 2006, major opera houses have presented live high-definition video transmissions in cinemas worldwide, and since 2009, complete performances can be downloaded and live streamed. Opera's legacy includes its influence on musical theatre, its preservation of classical traditions, and its adaptation to modern media.
Did You Know?
- The Italian word 'opera' means 'work', first used in the sense of a composition combining poetry, dance, and music in 1639.
- Traditional number opera employs two styles of singing: recitative (speech-inflected) and self-contained arias.
- Wagner revolutionized opera by abolishing almost all distinction between aria and recitative in his quest for 'endless melody'.
- Beginning in 2006, major opera houses began presenting live high-definition video transmissions of performances in cinemas worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Opera?
Opera is a theatrical tradition within Western classical music in which singers carry the dramatic roles while music forms the structural backbone of every scene. The term itself is simply the Italian word for a 'work' or 'deed.'
What are Opera's powers and role?
Opera fuses singing, acting, stage scenery, costume design, and occasionally ballet into one large-scale collaborative production. Performances are typically staged in a dedicated opera house, with an orchestra or smaller ensemble directed by a conductor—a practice that became standard from the early 1800s onward.
How does Opera's story end?
Opera has no single finale; it remains a living, evolving art form rather than a closed narrative. Its very first known composition, Jacopo Peri's Dafne (1598), is almost entirely lost, yet the tradition it sparked has continued to be performed and reimagined for over four centuries.
Why is Opera important?
Opera occupies a unique space where Western classical music and theatre merge, demanding a composer, a librettist, vocalists, an orchestra, and a full production team to realize a single work. That breadth of collaboration makes it one of the most ambitious art forms in the Western canon.
What is Opera's origin story?
Opera was born in Italy at the close of the 1500s, with Jacopo Peri's Euridice (1600) recognized as the earliest surviving complete score. Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) quickly followed as the first opera to be regularly staged and is widely regarded as the genre's foundational landmark.
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