The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1778, La Scala is one of the world's most famous opera houses.

Opera is a form of musical and dramatic work in which singers convey the drama.^[1] Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition.^[2] An opera performance incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes incorporates dance. The performance is usually given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble. Opera may refer to: In music: Opera, performance art which combines music and drama Chinese opera, a popular form of music drama in China Beijing opera, kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court Opera, an opera by... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1000x742, 239 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: La Scala Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1000x742, 239 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: La Scala Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... La Scala The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala for short), in Milan, Italy, is one of the worlds most famous opera houses. ... Type Anti-tank Nationality Joint France/Germany Era Cold War, modern Launch platform Individual, Vehicle Target Vehicle, Fortification History Builder MBDA, Bharat Dynamics (under license) Date of design 70s Production period since 1972 Service duration since 1972 Operators 41 countries Variants MILAN 1, MILAN 2, MILAN 2T, MILAN 3, MILAN... New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Opera Bolshoi Theatre. ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... This article is about Western art music from 1000 AD to the 2000s . ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... 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. ... Theatrical scenery is things that are used as setting for a theatrical production. ... Yarkand ladies summer fashions. ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Opera Bolshoi Theatre. ... For the song titled Orchestra, see The Servant (band). ... A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. ...

Dafne (1597) by Jacopo Peri is commonly regarded as the first opera, but the first great composer of the new art form was Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), whose works are still performed today. Opera soon spread from Venice and Rome throughout Italy and 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. However, in the 18th century, Italian opera continued to dominate most of Europe, except France, attracting foreign composers such as Handel. Opera seria was the most prestigious form of Italian opera, until Gluck reacted against its artificiality with his "reform" operas in the 1760s. The most influential figure of late 18th century opera was Mozart, who began with opera seria but is most famous for his Italian comic operas, especially The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi Fan Tutte and The Magic Flute, a landmark in the German tradition. Dafne is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. ... Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (August 20, 1561 – August 12, 1633) was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Heinrich Schütz. ... Jean-Baptiste de Lully, originally Giovanni Battista di Lulli (November 28, 1632 – March 22, 1687), was an Italian-born French composer, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. ... Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (IPA: ;[1] September 10 (?),[2], 1659–November 21, 1695), was an English Baroque composer. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... A caricature of a performance of Handels Flavio, featuring three of the most well-known opera seria singers of their day: Senesino on the left, diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the centre, and art-loving castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right. ... Christoph Willibald Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending. ... Le nozze di Figaro ossia la folle giornata (Trans: ), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, Le mariage de Figaro (1784). ... Don Giovanni (K.527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punishd, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Così fan tutte is an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ...

The first third of the 19th century saw the highpoint of the bel canto style, with Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini all creating works that are still performed today. The mid to late 19th century is considered a golden age of opera, led by Wagner in Germany and Verdi in Italy. The golden age continued through the verismo era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Puccini and Strauss in the early 20th century. At the same time, new operatic traditions emerged in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Bohemia. The 20th century saw many experiments with modern styles, such as atonality and serialism (Schoenberg and Berg), Neo-Classicism (Stravinsky), and Minimalism (Philip Glass and John Adams). With the rise of recording technology, singers such as Enrico Caruso became known to audiences beyond the circle of opera fans. The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Gioachino Rossini. ... Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was a famous Italian opera composer. ... Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (November 3, 1801 – September 23, 1835) was an Italian opera composer. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as they were later called). ... VERDI is an acronym for the Italian unification movement, named after the composer Giuseppe Verdi (ardent supporter of the movement) VERDI stands for Vittorio Emmanuelle, Re D Italia (Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy) Categories: Historical stubs ... Verismo was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895. ... In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition, sung in the French, was founded by Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully. ... Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) is regarded as one of the great operatic composers of the late 19th and early 20th century. ... This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Atonality describes music not conforming to the system of tonal hierarchies, which characterizes the sound of classical European music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948 Arnold Schoenberg (the anglicized form of Schönberg — Schoenberg changed the spelling officially when he left Germany and re-converted to Judaism in 1933; September 13, 1874 – July 13, 1951) was an Austrian and later American composer. ... Gunnar Berg (1909–1989) was a Swiss-born Danish composer, and perhaps the leading exponent of serialism in Denmark. ... Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... Igor Fyodorovitch Stravinsky () (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a composer of modern classical music. ... For other uses, see Minimalism (disambiguation). ... Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is a three-times Academy Award-nominated American composer. ... For the Alaska-based postminimalist composer, see John Luther Adams. ... For the song Caruso by Lucio Dalla, see Caruso (song). ...

History

Origins

Main article: Origins of Opera

Claudio Monteverdi

The word opera means "work" in Italian (from Latin opus meaning "work" or "labour") suggesting that it combines the arts of solo and choral singing, declamation, acting and dancing in a staged spectacle. Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata dé Bardi". Significantly, Dafne was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider revival of antiquity characteristic of the Renaissance. The members of the Camerata considered that the "chorus" parts of Greek dramas were originally sung, and possibly even the entire text of all roles; opera was thus conceived as a way of "restoring" this situation. Dafne is unfortunately lost. A later work by Peri, Euridice, dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived to the present day. The honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed, however, goes to Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, composed for the court of Mantua in 1607.^[3] The word opera means works in Italian (from the plural of Latin opus meaning work or labour) suggesting that it combines the arts of solo and choral singing, declamation, acting and dancing in a staged spectacle. ... Download high resolution version (514x636, 89 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (514x636, 89 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Dafne is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. ... Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (August 20, 1561 – August 12, 1633) was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. ... This article is about the city in Italy. ... Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationality. ... Tragedy is one of the oldest forms of drama. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... Jacopo Peri, in costume for the performance of the first opera, Dafne. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... LOrfeo (LOrfeo, favola in musica, SV 318, or La Favola dOrfeo, or The Legend of Orpheus) is one of the earliest works recognised as an opera, composed by Claudio Monteverdi with text by Alessandro Striggio for the annual carnival of Mantua. ... For other uses, see Mantua (disambiguation). ...

Italian opera

Main article: Italian Opera

Italian opera can be divided into three periods, the Baroque, the Romantic and the modern. ...

The Baroque era

Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long; in 1637 the idea of a "season" (Carnival) of publicly-attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Monteverdi had moved to the city from Mantua and composed his last operas, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea, for the Venetian theatre in the 1640s. His most important follower Francesco Cavalli helped spread opera throughout Italy. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, sponsored by Venice's Arcadian Academy which came to be associated with the poet Metastasio, whose libretti helped crystallize the genre of opera seria, which became the leading form of Italian opera until the end of the 18th century. Once the Metastasian ideal had been firmly established, comedy in Baroque-era opera was reserved for what came to be called opera buffa.^[4] This article describes the festival season. ... Il ritorno dUlisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to His Country) is an opera (dramma per musica) in a prologue and three acts by Claudio Monteverdi to an Italian libretto by Giacomo Badoaro, based on the final portion of Homers Odyssey. ... Lincoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) is an opera seria in three acts by Claudio Monteverdi to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, based on historical incidents described in the Annals of Tacitus. ... Francesco Cavalli (February 14, 1602 – January 14, 1676), Italian composer, was born at Crema. ... Pietro Trapassi (January 13, 1698 - April 12, 1782), Italian poet, is better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio. ... A caricature of a performance of Handels Flavio, featuring three of the most well-known opera seria singers of their day: Senesino on the left, diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the centre, and art-loving castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right. ... Opera buffa (a form of comic opera), also known as Commedia in musica or Commedia per musica, is a genre of opera. ...

Opera seria was elevated in tone and highly stylised in form, usually consisting of secco recitative interspersed with long da capo arias. These afforded great opportunity for virtuosic singing and during the golden age of opera seria the singer really became the star. The role of the hero was usually written for the castrato voice; castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as female sopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe as opera seria ruled the stage in every country except France. Indeed, Farinelli was the most famous singer of the 18th century. Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian libretti were the norm, even when a German composer like Handel found himself writing for London audiences. Italian libretti remained dominant in the classical period as well, for example in the operas of Mozart, who wrote in Vienna near the century's close. Leading Italian-born composers of opera seria include Alessandro Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Porpora.^[5] A castrato is a male soprano, mezzo-soprano, or alto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. ... Farinelli, by Wagner after Amigoni 1735 Farinelli (January 24, 1705 – September 16, 1782), was the stage name of Carlo Broschi, one of the most famous Italian soprano castrato singers of the 18th century. ... Senesino (Francesco Bernardi) (1690?-1750?) was a celebrated Italian castrato who worked in London for some time. ... This article is about the voice-type. ... Faustina Bordoni (1693 in Venice, Italy-1783 in Venice) Italian mezzo-soprano opera singer, nicknamed the new siren and commonly known, simply, as Faustina. She was known for the great agility of her voice and sang for many years in Venice, Vienna and London. ... Libretto can also refer to a sub-notebook PC manufactured by Toshiba. ... “Handel” redirects here. ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1730 through 1820, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... A caricature of a performance of Handels Flavio, featuring three of the most well-known opera seria singers of their day: Senesino on the left, diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the centre, and art-loving castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right. ... Alessandro Scarlatti Alessandro Scarlatti (May 2, 1660 – October 24, 1725) was a Baroque composer especially famous for his operas and chamber cantatas. ... Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678, Venice – July 28, 1741, Vienna), nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, meaning The Red Priest, was an Italian priest and baroque music composer. ... Nicola (Antonio) Porpora (August 17, 1686 - March 3, 1768) was an Italian composer of Baroque operas (see opera seria) and teacher of singing, whose most famous pupil was the castrato Farinelli. ...

Reform: Gluck, the attack on the Metastasian ideal, and Mozart

Opera seria had its weaknesses and critics, and the taste for embellishment on behalf of the superbly trained singers, and the use of spectacle as a replacement for dramatic purity and unity drew attacks. Francesco Algarotti's Essay on the Opera (1755) proved to be an inspiration for Christoph Willibald Gluck's reforms. He advocated that opera seria had to return to basics and that all the various elements -- music (both instrumental and vocal), ballet, and staging -- must be subservient to the overriding drama. Several composers of the period, including Niccolò Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta, attempted to put these ideals into practice. The first to really succeed and to leave a permanent imprint upon the history of opera, however, was Gluck. Gluck tried to achieve a "beautiful simplicity". This is illustrated in the first of his "reform" operas, Orfeo ed Euridice, where vocal lines lacking in the virtuosity of (say) Handel's works are supported by simple harmonies and a notably richer-than-usual orchestral presence throughout. A caricature of a performance of Handels Flavio, featuring three of the most well-known opera seria singers of their day: Senesino on the left, diva Francesca Cuzzoni in the centre, and art-loving castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on the right. ... Count Francesco Algarotti (11 December 1712 – 3 May 1764) was an Italian philosopher and art critic. ... Gluck redirects here. ... Niccolò Jommelli Niccolò Jommelli (September 10, 1714 – August 25, 1774) was an Italian composer. ... Tommaso Traetta Tommaso Traetta (March 30, 1727–April 6, 1779) was an Italian composer. ... Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. ...

Gluck's reforms have had resonance throughout operatic history. Weber, Mozart and Wagner, in particular, were influenced by his ideals. Mozart, in many ways Gluck's successor, combined a superb sense of drama, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to write a series of comedies, notably Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni (in collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte) which remain among the most-loved, popular and well-known operas today. But Mozart's contribution to opera seria was more mixed; by his time it was dying away, and in spite of such fine works as Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito, he would not succeed in bringing the art form back to life again.^[6] Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Thus Do They [f. ... Le nozze di Figaro ossia la folle giornata (Trans: ), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, Le mariage de Figaro (1784). ... Don Giovanni (K.527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punishd, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Lorenzo da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (March 10, 1749–August 17, 1838) was an Italian librettist born in Ceneda (now Vittorio Veneto). ... Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante (Italian: Idomeneo, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante; usually referred to simply as Idomeneo, K. 366) is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), K. 621, was an opera seria written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ...

Image File history File links Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Don Giovanni - Overtüre. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Don Giovanni (K.527; complete title: Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punishd, or Don Giovanni) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... Image File history File links Der_Hoelle_Rache. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Die Zauberflöte (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ...

Bel canto, Verdi and verismo

Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome)

The bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplified by the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Pacini, Mercadante and many others. Literally "beautiful singing", bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control. Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini (1886) National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Portrait of Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini (1886) National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Giovanni Boldini (1910) Giovanni Boldini (December 31, 1842 – July 11, 1931) was an Italian genre and portrait painter, belonging to the Parisian school. ... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868)[1] was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (November 3, 1801 – September 23, 1835) was an Italian opera composer. ... Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was a famous Italian opera composer. ... Giovanni Pacini . ... Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante, Altamura (born near Bari, September 16, 1795 - died in Naples, December 17, 1870), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. ...

Following the bel canto era, a more direct, forceful style was rapidly popularized by Giuseppe Verdi, beginning with his biblical opera Nabucco. Verdi's operas resonated with the growing spirit of Italian nationalism in the post-Napoleonic era, and he quickly became an icon of the patriotic movement (although his own politics were perhaps not quite so radical). In the early 1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. But he continued to develop his style, composing perhaps the greatest French Grand opera, Don Carlos, and ending his career with two Shakespeare-inspired works, Otello and Falstaff, which reveal how far Italian opera had grown in sophistication since the early 19th century. “Verdi” redirects here. ... Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the biblical story and the play by Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome) Rigoletto is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. ... Il trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare and Salvatore Cammarano, based on the play El Trobador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. ... La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. ... Grand Opera is a style of opera mainly characterized by many features on a grandiose scale. ... This article refers to the opera Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi (and its revised Italian version, known as Don Carlo). ... Shakespeare redirects here. ... For the Rossini opera, see Otello (Rossini) or for the eurobeat artist see Gianni Coraini. ... For other uses, see Falstaff (disambiguation). ...

After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of verismo appeared in Italy. This was a style introduced by Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggiero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci that came virtually to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Later Italian composers, such as Berio and Nono, have experimented with modernism.^[7] Verismo is a style of Italian opera distinguished by often sordid or violent depictions of everyday life (especially life of the lower classes), as opposed to historical or mythological subjects. ... Pietro Mascagni (Livorno December 7, 1863 – Rome August 2, 1945) is one of the most important Italian opera composers of the turn of the 20th century. ... Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to a libretto by Targioni-Tozzetti and Menasci, adapted from a short story by Giovanni Verga. ... Ruggiero Leoncavallo (March 8, 1857 - August 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer. ... Cover of the first edition of Pagliacci published by E. Sonzogno, Milan, 1892 Pagliacci (Clowns) is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. ... Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. ... La Bohème, French for The Bohemian Life, is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on La Vie de Bohème by Henri Murger. ... For other uses, see Tosca (disambiguation). ... Madama Butterfly (Madame Butterfly) is an opera in three acts (originally two acts) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ... Grave of Nono in the San Michele Cemetery, Venice. ... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ...

La Donna E Mobile Rigoletto. ... For the song Caruso by Lucio Dalla, see Caruso (song). ... La donna è mobile (Woman is fickle) is the cynical Duke of Mantuas canzone from Giuseppe Verdis opera Rigoletto (1851). ... “Verdi” redirects here. ... Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome) Rigoletto is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. ... Image File history File links No_Pagliaccio_non_son. ... Ruggiero Leoncavallo (March 8, 1857 - August 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer. ... Cover of the first edition of Pagliacci published by E. Sonzogno, Milan, 1892 Pagliacci (Clowns) is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. ...

German-language opera

Main article: German opera

The first German opera was Dafne, composed by Heinrich Schütz in 1627 (the music has not survived). Italian opera held a great sway over German-speaking countries until the late 18th century. Nevertheless, native forms developed too. In 1644 Sigmund Staden produced the first Singspiel, a popular form of German-language opera in which singing alternates with spoken dialogue. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Theater am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg presented German operas by Keiser, Telemann and Handel. Yet many of the major German composers of the time, including Handel himself, as well as Graun, Hasse and later Gluck, chose to write most of their operas in foreign languages, especially Italian. Mozarts German singspiel The Magic Flute (1791) stands at the head of a German opera tradition that was developed in the 19th century by Beethoven, Weber, Heinrich Marschner and Wagner. ... Heinrich Schütz. ... Sigmund Theophil Staden (born Kulmbach, 6 November 1607 - died Nuremberg 30 July 1655) was an important early German composer. ... Singspiel (song-play) is a form of German-language music drama, similar to modern musical theater, though it is also referred to as a type of operetta or opera. ... This article is about the city in Germany. ... Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739) was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. ... Georg Philipp Telemann (March 14, 1681–June 25, 1767) was a German Baroque music composer, born in Magdeburg. ... HANDEL was the code-name for the UKs National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. ... Carl Heinrich Graun. ... Johann Adolph Hasse. ... Christoph Willibald Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ...

Mozart's Singspiele, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782) and Die Zauberflöte (1791) were an important breakthrough in achieving international recognition for German opera. The tradition was developed in the 19th century by Beethoven with his Fidelio, inspired by the climate of the French Revolution. Carl Maria von Weber established German Romantic opera in opposition to the dominance of Italian bel canto. His Der Freischütz (1821) shows his genius for creating a supernatural atmosphere. Other opera composers of the time include Marschner, Schubert, Schumann and Lortzing, but the most important figure was undoubtedly Richard Wagner. “Mozart” redirects here. ... Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; in English The Abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio) is a opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Die Zauberflöte (en: The Magic Flute) is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. ... “Beethoven” redirects here. ... Fidelio (Op. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber (November 18, 1786 in Eutin, Holstein – June 5, 1826 in London, England) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. ... For the general context, see Romanticism. ... The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Der Freischütz (English: The Freeshooter) is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber to a libretto by Friedrich Kind. ... Heinrich Marschner (Zittau, 16 August 1795–Hannover, 16 December 1861), was a German composer of 23 operas and singspiels who was a rival of Carl Maria von Weber and friend of Beethoven and Mendelssohn. ... For the crater on the moon, see Schubert (crater) Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828), was an Austrian composer. ... For other persons named Robert Schumann, see Robert Schumann (disambiguation). ... Gustav Albert Lortzing (October 23, 1801 - January 21, 1851) was a German composer. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as they were later called). ...

Illustration inspired by Wagner's music drama Das Rheingold

Wagner was one of the most revolutionary and controversial composers in musical history. Starting under the influence of Weber and Meyerbeer, he gradually evolved a new concept of opera as a Gesamtkunstwerk (a "complete work of art"), a fusion of music, poetry and painting. In his mature music dramas, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of a seamless flow of "endless melody". He greatly increased the role and power of the orchestra, creating scores with a complex web of leitmotivs, recurring themes often associated with the characters and concepts of the drama; and he was prepared to violate accepted musical conventions, such as tonality, in his quest for greater expressivity. Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from Germanic or Arthurian legend. Finally, Wagner built his own opera house at Bayreuth, exclusively dedicated to performing his own works in the style he wanted. Image File history File links Rheingold. ... Image File history File links Rheingold. ... Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber (November 18, 1786 in Eutin, Holstein – June 5, 1826 in London, England) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. ... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 - May 2, 1864) was a noted opera composer. ... Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. ... Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master Singers of Nuremberg) is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. ... Der Ring des Nibelungen, (The Ring of the Nibelung), is a cycle of four epic music dramas by the German composer Richard Wagner. ... Parsifal is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner. ... A leitmotif (also spelled leitmotiv) is a recurring musical theme, associated within a particular piece of music with a particular person, place or idea. ... Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a key center or tonic. ... King Arthur is an important figure in the mythology of Britain. ... Bayreuth [pronounced by-royt] is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. ...

Opera would never be the same after Wagner and for many composers his legacy proved a heavy burden. On the other hand, Richard Strauss accepted Wagnerian ideas but took them in wholly new directions. He first won fame with the scandalous Salome and the dark tragedy Elektra, in which tonality was pushed to the limits. Then Strauss changed tack in his greatest success, Der Rosenkavalier, where Mozart and Viennese waltzes became as important an influence as Wagner. Strauss continued to produce a highly varied body of operatic works, often with libretti by the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal, right up until Capriccio in 1942. Other composers who made individual contributions to German opera in the early 20th century include Zemlinsky, Hindemith, Kurt Weill and the Italian-born Ferruccio Busoni. The operatic innovations of Arnold Schoenberg and his successors are discussed in the section on modernism.^[8] This article is about the German composer of tone-poems and operas. ... This article is about the opera by Richard Strauss . ... Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal adapted from his drama of 1903—the first of many such collaborations between composer and librettist. ... Der Rosenkavalier (The Cavalier of the Rose) is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... The waltz is a dance in 3/4 time, done primarily in closed position, the commonest basic figure of which is a full turn in two measures using three steps per measure. ... Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo von Hofmannsthal (February 1, 1874 – July 15, 1929), was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. ... Capriccio is an opera by German composer Richard Strauss. ... Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky, (October 14, 1871 – March 15, 1942) was an Austrian composer of classical music, conductor, and teacher. ... Paul Hindemith (November 16, 1895 – December 28, 1963) was a German classical composer, violist, teacher, theorist and conductor. ... Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950), born in Dessau, Germany and died in New York City, was a German and in his later years, a German-American composer active from the 1920s until his death. ... Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (April 1, 1866 – July 27, 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, music teacher and conductor. ... Arnold Schoenberg, Los Angeles, 1948 Arnold Schoenberg (the anglicized form of Schönberg — Schoenberg changed the spelling officially when he left Germany and re-converted to Judaism in 1933; September 13, 1874 – July 13, 1951) was an Austrian and later American composer. ...

Tristan und Isolde: Prelude Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Vorspiel. ...

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French opera

Main article: French Opera

1875 poster for Bizet's Carmen

In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition was founded by the Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully at the court of King Louis XIV. Despite his foreign origin, Lully established an Academy of Music and monopolised French opera from 1672. Starting with Cadmus et Hermione, Lully and his librettist Quinault created tragédie en musique,a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's operas also show a concern for expressive recitative which matched the contours of the French language. In the 18th century, Lully's most important successor was Jean-Philippe Rameau, who composed five tragédies en musique as well as numerous works in other genres such as opera-ballet, all notable for their rich orchestration and harmonic daring. After Rameau's death, the German Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with greater focus on the drama. At the same time, by the middle of the 18th century another genre was gaining popularity in France: opéra comique. This was the equivalent of the German singspiel, where arias alternated with spoken dialogue. Notable examples in this style were produced by Monsigny, Philidor and, above all, Grétry. During the Revolutionary period, composers such as Méhul and Cherubini, who were followers of Gluck, brought a new seriousness to the genre, which had never been wholly "comic" in any case. In rivalry with imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition, sung in the French, was founded by Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully. ... Image File history File links 1875_Carmen_poster. ... Image File history File links 1875_Carmen_poster. ... Jean-Baptiste de Lully, originally Giovanni Battista di Lulli (November 28, 1632 – March 22, 1687), was an Italian-born French composer, who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Théâtre de lAcadémie Royale de Musique, Paris, circa 1865 Théâtre de lAcadémie Royale de Musique (was also known as the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra, Le Rue Peletier, or simply, Le Peletier, but more familiarly as the Paris Opéra) was... Cadmus et Hermione is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. ... Philippe Quinault (June 3, 1635 - November 26, 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris on the 3rd of June 1635. ... The French lyric tragedy (French : tragédie lyrique or tragédie en musique) is a specific French form of opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. ... Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas (and occasionally in operettas and even musicals), is melodic speech set to music, or a descriptive narrative song in which the music follows the words. ... Jean-Philippe Rameau, by Jacques André Joseph Aved, 1728 Jean-Philippe Rameau (French IPA: ) (September 25, 1683 - September 12, 1764) was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. ... The French lyric tragedy (French : tragédie lyrique or tragédie en musique) is a specific French form of opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. ... Opera Ballet (ballets de cour) is the name given to ballets performed in the 17th century that occurred within an Opera. ... Christoph Willibald Gluck (July 2, 1714 – November 15, 1787) was a German composer. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Opéra comique is a French style of opera that is a partial counterpart to the Italian opera buffa. ... Singspiel (song-play) is a form of German-language music drama, similar to modern musical theater, though it is also referred to as a type of operetta or opera. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... François-André Danican Philidor (September 1, 1726 - August 31, 1795) was a French chess player and composer. ... André Ernest Modeste Grétry (February 8, 1741 – September 24, 1813), a Belgian composer, who worked from 1767 onwards in France. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Etienne Henri (or Nicolas) Méhul (June 24, 1763 - October 18, 1817) was a French composer. ... Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini (September 14, 1760 – March 15, 1842) was an Italian composer. ...

By the 1820s, Gluckian influence in France had given way to a taste for Italian bel canto, especially after the arrival of Rossini in Paris. Rossini's Guillaume Tell helped found the new genre of Grand opera, a form whose most famous exponent was another foreigner, Giacomo Meyerbeer. Meyerbeer's works, such as Les Huguenots emphasised virtuoso singing and extraordinary stage effects. Lighter opéra comique also enjoyed tremendous success in the hands of Boïeldieu, Auber, Hérold and Adolphe Adam. In this climate, the operas of the French-born composer Hector Berlioz struggled to gain a hearing. Berlioz's epic masterpiece Les Troyens, the culmination of the Gluckian tradition, was not given a full performance for almost a hundred years. The term Bel Canto may refer to: Belcanto, a vocal technique; or Bel Canto, a novel by Ann Patchett. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... William Tell is an opera by Gioacchino Rossini. ... Grand Opera is a style of opera mainly characterized by many features on a grandiose scale. ... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. ... Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer. ... François-Adrien Boïeldieu (December 16, 1775 – October 8, 1834) was a French composer, mainly of operas. ... Daniel François Esprit Auber (January 29, 1782 - May 13, 1871), French composer, the son of a Paris print-seller, was born in Caen in Normandy. ... Lithograph of Ferdinand Herold by Louis Dupré, Paris, circa 1830 Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold[1] better known as Ferdidnand Herold (Paris, January 28, 1791–Thernes, January 19, 1833) was a French operatic composer of Alsatian descent who also wrote many pieces for the piano, orchestra, and the ballet. ... Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (July 24, 1803 – May 3, 1856) was a French composer and music critic. ... Painting of Berlioz by Gustave Courbet, 1850. ... Cover of the score of La prise de Troie, the first two acts of Les Troyens. ...

In the second half of the 19th century, Jacques Offenbach created operetta with witty and cynical works such as Orphée aux enfers; Charles Gounod scored a massive success with Faust; and Bizet composed Carmen, which, once audiences learned to accept its blend of Romanticism and realism, became the most popular of all opéra comiques. Massenet, Saint-Saëns and Delibes all composed works which are still part of the standard repertory. At the same time, the influence of Richard Wagner was felt as a challenge to the French tradition. Many French critics angrily rejected Wagner's music dramas while many French composers closely imitated them with variable success. Perhaps the most interesting response came from Claude Debussy. As in Wagner's works, the orchestra plays a leading role in Debussy's unique opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902) and there are no real arias, only recitative. But the drama is understated, enigmatic and completely unWagnerian. Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. ... Orphée aux enfers is an operetta in two acts by Jacques Offenbach. ... Charles Gounod. ... Faust is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carrés play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Goethes Faust, Part I. It debuted at the Théatre-Lyrique in Paris on March 19, 1859. ... Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875), was a French composer of the romantic era best known for his opera Carmen. ... Poster from the 1875 premiere of Carmen Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ... Romantics redirects here. ... Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (May 12, 1842 - August 13, 1912) was a French composer. ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns () (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for his orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson et Dalila, and Symphony No. ... Delibes is the last name of some famous people: Leo Delibes (1836-1891), a French composer Miguel Delibes (1920- ), a Spanish Writer This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as they were later called). ... Claude Debussy, photo by Félix Nadar, 1908. ... Pelléas et Mélisande is the name of several dramatic works. ...

Other notable 20th century names include Ravel, Dukas, Roussel and Milhaud. Francis Poulenc is one of the very few post-war composers of any nationality whose operas (which include Dialogues des carmélites) have gained a foothold in the international repertory. Olivier Messiaen's lengthy sacred drama Saint François d'Assise (1983) has also attracted widespread attention.^[9] Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral work, Boléro, and his famous 1922 orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition. ... Paul Dukas (October 1, 1865 – May 17, 1935) was a French composer of classical music. ... The Roussel was a French automobile manufactured from 1908 to 1914. ... Darius Milhaud was a French composer. ... Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (IPA: ) (January 7, 1899 - January 30, 1963) was a French composer and a member of the French group Les Six. ... Dialogues of the Carmelites ( in French, Dialogues des Carmélites) is an opera in three acts by Francis Poulenc. ... Olivier Messiaen It has been suggested that List of students of Olivier Messiaen be merged into this article or section. ... Saint François dAssise is a French opera in three acts and eight scenes by composer and librettist Olivier Messiaen, written from 1975 to 1983. ...

Prelude Toreador song. ...

From Georges Bizet's Carmen. Performed by the Damrosch Orchestra (1903)

Problems listening to the file? See media help. Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875) was a French composer and pianist of the romantic era. ... For other uses, see Carmen (disambiguation). ...

English-language opera

In England, opera's antecedent was the 17th century jig. This was an afterpiece which came at the end of a play. It was frequently libellous and scandalous and consisted in the main of dialogue set to music arranged from popular tunes. In this respect, jigs anticipate the ballad operas of the 18th century. At the same time, the French masque was gaining a firm hold at the English Court, with even more lavish splendour and highly realistic scenery than had been seen before. Inigo Jones became the quintessential designer of these productions, and this style was to dominate the English stage for three centuries. These masques contained songs and dances. In Ben Jonson's Lovers Made Men (1617), "the whole masque was sung after the Italian manner, stilo recitativo".^[10] In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... Costume for a Knight, by Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the heroic torso in armour and other conventions were still employed for opera seria in the 18th century. ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... For other persons of the same name, see Ben Johnson (disambiguation). ...