Portal:Opera
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Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work (called an opera) which combines a text (called a libretto) and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble.
Opera started in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with Jacopo Peri's lost Dafne, produced in Florence around 1597), and was championed by Claudio Monteverdi with works such as L'Orfeo. It 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. 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. Today the most renowned figure of late 18th century opera is 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 The Magic Flute, a landmark in the German tradition.
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. It also saw the advent of Grand Opera typified by the works of Meyerbeer. The mid to late 19th century is considered by some a golden age of opera, led by Wagner in Germany and Verdi in Italy. This 'golden age' developed through the verismo era in Italy and contemporary French opera through to Puccini and Strauss in the early 20th century. During the 19th century, parallel 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. Operas were also performed on (and written for) radio and television.
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In this month
- 1 September 1854 – The German composer, Engelbert Humperdinck, best known for his opera Hänsel und Gretel, was born in Siegburg.
- 10 September 1659 – Henry Purcell (pictured), the composer of some of the earliest English operas including Dido and Æneas, King Arthur, and The Fairy-Queen, was born in London.
- 14 September 1872 – The Teatro Dal Verme opened in Milan. The theatre saw the world premieres of Puccini's Le Villi in 1884 and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in 1892.
- 16 September 1977 – The celebrated Greek soprano, Maria Callas, died in Paris at the age of 53.
- 23 September 1835 – The Italian bel canto composer Vincenzo Bellini, whose operas include La sonnambula, I puritani, and Norma, died in Paris at the age of 33.
- 25 September 1886 – Alfred Cellier's comic opera Dorothy premiered at London's Gaiety Theatre with Marion Hood in the title role.
- 28 September 1968 – The prominent Spanish tenor, Plácido Domingo, made his Metropolitan Opera debut when he substituted for Franco Corelli in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.
- 30 September 1791 – Mozart's opera The Magic Flute received its world premiere at the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna.
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From Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, sung by Enrico Caruso, Frieda Hempel, Maria Duchêne, Andrés de Segurola and Léon Rothier (1914)
Did you know?
- ... that soprano Adele Addison (pictured) stepped into the role of Bess in the 1969 film version of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess as a last-minute replacement of a singer who sounded too shrill?
- ... that French opera singer Gustave Huberdeau performed roles ranging from lead roles to character roles to mute roles?
- ... that both Herbert Witherspoon and Göran Gentele died before the opening nights of their first seasons as general directors of the Metropolitan Opera?
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Main topics
Opera history: Origins of opera • Italian opera • Opera in German • French opera • Opera in English • Polish opera • Russian opera • Hungarian opera • Armenian opera • Opera in Latin America
Opera genres: Azione teatrale · Ballad opera · Comédie en vaudevilles · Comédie mêlée d'ariettes · Dramma giocoso · Dramma per musica · Farsa · Festa teatrale · Género chico · Grand Opera · Music Drama · Opéra-ballet · Opera buffa · Opéra bouffe · Opéra bouffon · Opéra comique · Opéra féerie · Opera semiseria · Opera seria · Operetta · Pastorale héroïque · Romantische Oper · Savoy opera · Semi-opera · Singspiel · Spieloper · Tragédie en musique · Verismo · Zarzuela · Zeitoper
Opera terms: Aria · Aria di sorbetto · Arioso · Bel canto · Breeches role · Burletta · Cabaletta · Cadenza · Cantabile · Castrato · Cavatina · Chest voice · Claque · Coloratura · Comprimario · Convenienze · Coup de glotte · Da capo aria · Diva · Entr'acte · Fach · Falsetto · Fioritura · Gesamtkunstwerk · Head voice · Intermezzo · Kammersänger · Leitmotif · Legato · Libretto · Literaturoper · Mad scene · Maestro · Melodrama · Melodramma · Monodrama · Messa di voce · Opera house · Passaggio · Portamento · Prima donna · Prompter · Recitative · Regietheater · Répétiteur · Sitzprobe · Spinto · Sprechgesang · Squillo · Stagione · Surtitles · Tessitura · Timbre · Vibrato
Opera voices: Baritenor · Baritone · Bass · Bass-baritone · Coloratura soprano · Contralto · Countertenor · Dramatic soprano · Haute-contre · Lyric soprano · Mezzo-soprano · Soprano · Soubrette · Spinto soprano · Tenor · Tenore contraltino · Tenore di grazia
Opera lists: Opera topics • List of operas by composer • Important operas • Major opera composers • Opera librettists • Opera houses • Opera companies • Opera festivals • Opera directors • Operetta composers • Orphean operas • Zarzuela composers • Opera genres • Operas set in the Crusades • The Record of Singing • Bayreuth canon
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Agrippina (opera)
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Kathleen Ferrier
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1899 poster of Mme. M. Sissieretta Jones
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Advertisement for the music score of La Bohème, 1895
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Al quartiere latino, bozzetto di Adolf Hohenstein per La Bohème (1896) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON000086 - Restoration
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Fausta Labia, porträtt - SMV - H5 028 - Restoration
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Fromental Halévy, L'Éclair score cover - Restoration
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Georges Rochegrosse's poster for Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte
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Giacomo Puccini (1924) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO003293 - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, Giovanna d'Arco, Vocal Score - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, La traviata title page - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, Lombardi alla prima crociata. Libretto, 1843 - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto, Vocal score illustration by Roberto Focosi - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, Simon Boccanegra first edition libretto for the 1881 revision of the opera - Restoration
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Giuseppe Verdi, Un Ballo in maschera, Vocal score frontispiece - restoration
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H. M. Brock - Gilbert and Sullivan - D'Oyly Carte Opera Company Ruddigore revival 1921
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H.J. Whitlock - Photograph of Arthur Sullivan
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Hector Berlioz, Béatrice et Bénédict score title page - Restoration
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Hector Berlioz, La Prise de Troie score cover - Restoration
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Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens vocal score cover - Restoration
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Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens à Carthage vocal score cover - Restoration
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Il trovatore by Luigi Morgari
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Illustrated London News - Giuseppe Verdi's Attila at Her Majesty's Theatre, London
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Iolanthe piano transcriptions by Ernst Perabo
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Ivor Novello
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Jeremiah Gurney - Photograph of Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa
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PikiWiki Israel 13773 AIDA AT MASADA 2011
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Poster for Gilbert and Clay's Ages Ago at the Royal Gallery of Illustration
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Poster for Jules Massenet's La Navarraise with Emma Calvé in the rôle of Anita
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Poster for Le pardon de Ploërmel 1859
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Prudent-Louis Leray - Poster for the première of Georges Bizet's Carmen
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Robert Jacob Hamerton - Poster for A Sensation Novel
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Robert Jacob Hamerton - Poster for F. C. Burnand and Arthur Sullivan's The Contrabandista
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Rosa Raisa (1917) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO002701 - Restoration
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Set design by Philippe Chaperon for Act1 sc2 of Aida by Verdi 1871 Cairo - Gallica - Restored
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Set design by Philippe Chaperon for Act4 sc2 of Aida by Verdi 1880 Paris
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Strauss, Richard - Ariadne auf Naxos - Restoration
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Teatro Municipal de São Paulo 8
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The Mikado Chappell Vocal Score cover (c.1895)
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