Opera
Operas are basically plays set to music, date from the early Baroque period and use:
solo singers
chorus
orchestra or instrumental accompaniment
scenery, make up and costumes.
(Mime and Wotan from the Scottish Opera production of Wagner's 'Siegfried'. Photograph: Bill Cooper)
Over the coming centuries the form developed to reflect the changes in:
instruments
style
harmony
a general artistic development as the form became more sophisticated.
There are five areas of study within this topic which cover the periods of music in which operas have been written. These ideally should be studied in chronological order starting with Baroque and finishing with the 20th century.
| Early Opera - The Baroque period, Monteverdi, Purcell and Handel |
| Classical Opera - Gluck and Mozart |
| Early Romantic Opera - Beethoven, Weber, and the Italian bel canto composers |
| Later Romantic Opera - Verdi and Wagner |
| 20th Century Opera - Puccini to Britten |
| Opera quiz - Test your knowledge and understanding of the concepts used in Opera |
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