A brief walk through the origins of opera...

A little knowledge and understanding of the history of opera will enhance a listener's enjoyment of the music. If we skip over the history of music itself (organized sound) we find the beginnings of opera manifesting in the early 1500's; with England, France, Germany, and of course Italy each playing a leading role.

Origin of opera

The dramatic art form known as Opera originated in Europe. In opera a story is expressed through the voice and musical instruments, and is often accompanied by ornate costumes and sets. From the beginning of the form, there has been contention whether it is the music or words which are most important in the genre.

In England and France, opera evolved out of the musical entertainments that were popular with the European royal courts of the 1600's. These spectacularly orchestrated events boasted elaborate costumes, dances and visual effects. Most of the stories or themes were taken from classical mythology. Typically these productions celebrated a marriage or political visit and were often used by kings and nobles to make an impressive show of wealth.

Prior to the 1600's Italy was not known for its musical conceptions; but rather for its appreciation of music on the whole. The country was a large importer of musical talent. Eventually, distinctively Italian secular music grew from within the Italian courts. Similar to the court entertainments in England and France, Italy enjoyed carnival celebrations which were enriched by canti carnascialeschi (carnival songs). The carnival songs evolved into the 16th-century madrigal.

Early opera

The period of Italy's greatest musical influence throughout Europe is referred to as Baroque. (1500's to the mid 1700's). During this period new attitudes embraced new appreciation of the relation of lyrics to music and the treatment of rhythm. The resulting style of the baroque music brought forth several new genres of music such as: oratorio, concerto, and sinfonia and opera.

The first opera

The first true opera is thought to be Dafne (1598) composed by Peri at the home of Jacopo Corsi in Florence Italy. (Music by Corsi and Peri, Libretto by Rinuccini). Dafne was the first in a series of similar productions that established an enduring tradition; Italian opera. Sadly, the score does not survive.

A better-known early operatic composer was Monteverdi. His early works, including Orfeo, (1607) were composed for the court of Mantua; he later wrote for the first public opera house (Venice, 1637). Apart from Monteverdi's works, the main 17th Century opera still performed today is Dido and Aeneas (1689), written in English by Purcell. Henry Purcell developed a peculiarly English form of opera, the half-sung and half-spoken opera. Professional actors typically took the lead roles and rarely sang. Purcell's semi-opera style flourished in the 1670's and lasted into the 1700's.

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Opera in the 1700's

The Baroque period stretched into the 1700's and was still largely dominated by the Italians. Operatic performances had already split into two flavors; the serious (aptly called Opera Seria) and the comedic operas (known as opera buffo).

Opera Seria had plots based on subjects from myth and history. Castrati (castrated male singers) typically sang the lead roles in soprano and alto voices. The connecting bits between the arias are also sung and are usually called recitative. Many German composers were successful in the opera seria style.

Opera Buffo... expressed tales of ordinary people, as opposed to the historic tales of exalted historical heroes (often mythological). Realistic characters involved in plots of disguise, deceit and passion and wealth. Top billing usually wen tot he tenors and basses rather than castrati. Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte (1790) and Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786) are classic examples of the opera buffo style.

Ballad Opera... One of the earliest (and best known) ballad operas is The Beggar's Opera (1728), written in English by John Gay. The tunes of these operas came from the old ballads, most already familiar to the audience. Ballad opera was so popular that for a while it eclipsed Italian opera in London.

Singspiel Opera... combined songs with spoken dialogue (as opposed to a sung recittaive) in a fashion similar to ballad opera. Singspiel style of oprea has long been associate with the German language. It is generally accepted as the German equivalent to the French opera comique. Both Singspiel (associated with German language) and Opera Comique (assocated with French) find their origins in the Italian roots of opera buffa.

Opera in the 1800's

Opera in the 1800's was again dominated by the Italians. In the first half of the century it was Rossini that took the spotlight. In Rossini's 20 year career he created nearly 40 operas; including The Barber of Seville (1816) and William Tell (1829). Following Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti rose to prominence as popular and inflential composers.

In the second half of the century the commanding operatic figure was Giuseppe Verdi. His operas were known for their tragic story lines, passionate orchestral styles, and forceful voices. Many of his operas dramatize the struggle against tyranny and oppression; a popular theme in Italy at this time. La Traviata (1853) is one of his most reknown operas. Other Verdi operas include: Rigoletto (1851), Il Travatore (1853), Aida (1871) Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893).

Following Verdi's passionate and triumphant operas of the mid to late 1800's comes the opera genre known as verismo (realism), which emphasized sordid settings and violent contrasts. Some of the more famous operas of the verismo style include Mascagni's Cavalleria Rutsicana (1890), Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (1892) and Bizet's Carmen.

Opera in the 1900's

The masterful composer Puccini led opera into the 1900's with his verismo operas La Boheme (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904).

The rigid separation of dialogue and music gradually broke down, and was virtually eliminated in the final Verdi works as well as in the emerging Wagner operas. Wagner operas (German) were characteristically nationalistic and often based on legends and folklore. Some of Wagner's operas include: Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring), Tristan und Isolde, and Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Ductchman).

Russia's Boris Godunov (by Mussorgsky) and War and Peace (by Prokofiev) are other examples of this turn in operatic style.

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