Opera
Overview
Opera is an art form
in which singer
s and musician
s perform a drama
tic work combining text (called a libretto
) and musical score
, usually in a theatrical setting
. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting
, scenery
, and costume
s and sometimes includes dance. The performance is typically given in an opera house
, accompanied by an orchestra
or smaller musical ensemble
.
Opera is part of the Western classical music
tradition and started in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri
's lost Dafne
, produced in Florence
around 1597) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Schütz
in Germany, Lully
in France, and Purcell
in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century.
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
in which singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
s and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s perform a drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
tic work combining text (called a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
) and musical score
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
, usually in a theatrical setting
Set construction
Set construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
, scenery
Theatrical scenery
Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated...
, and costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s and sometimes includes dance. The performance is typically given in an opera house
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
, accompanied by an orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
or smaller musical ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
.
Opera is part of the Western classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
tradition and started in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri
Jacopo Peri
Jacopo Peri was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera...
's lost Dafne
Dafne
Dafne is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. It was composed by Jacopo Peri in 1597, with a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini.-History:...
, produced in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
around 1597) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Schütz
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and often considered to be one of the most important composers of the 17th century along with Claudio Monteverdi...
in Germany, Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
in France, and Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century.
Unanswered Questions
Timeline
1600 Jacopo Peri's ''Euridice'', the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance in Florence, signifying the beginning of the Baroque Period
1607 ''L'Orfeo'' by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.
1711 The London première of ''Rinaldo'' by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
1786 Opening night of the opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria.
1787 Mozart's opera ''Don Giovanni'' receives its first performance in Prague.
1853 Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Il Trovatore'' receives its premiere performance in Rome.
1853 Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''La Traviata'' receives its premiere performance in Venice.
1869 Richard Wagner's opera ''Das Rheingold'' premieres in Munich.
1966 The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, ''Antony and Cleopatra''.