Opera is a genre of vocal and dramatic art. Its content is embodied through musical drama, mainly vocals. Opera as an art form appeared in Italy in the 16th century. Various forms of opera music have developed over time.
Instructions
Step 1
Opera ballet appeared in France in the 17th-18th centuries as a form of court art. It combines dance numbers with various operatic forms. Opera-ballet included several scenes that were not related to each other in terms of plot. By the 19th century, this genre had practically disappeared from the stage, but individual ballets appeared over the next centuries. Opera-ballets include Jean Philippe Rameau's Gallant India, André Campra's Gallant Europe and Venetian Holidays.
Step 2
Comic opera finally took shape as a genre at the beginning of the 17th century and met the needs of the democratic part of the audience. She is characterized by simple characteristics of the characters, an orientation towards folk songs, parody, dynamism of action and comedic content. The comic opera has certain national characteristics. Italian (opera-buffa) is characterized by parody, everyday plots, simple melody and buffoonery. The French comic opera combines musical numbers with spoken inserts. The Singspiel (German and Austrian varieties) also contains dialogues in addition to musical numbers. The music of the singspiel is simple, the content is based on everyday subjects. Ballad opera (an English variety of comic opera) is associated with English satirical comedy, which includes folk ballads. In genre terms, it was predominantly a social satire. The Spanish version of the comic opera (tonadilla) began as a song and dance performance in a performance, and then developed into a separate genre. The most famous comic operas are “Falstaff” by G. Verdi and “The Beggar's Opera” by J. Gay.
Step 3
The opera of salvation appeared in France at the end of the 18th century. It reflects the realities of the times of the Great French Revolution. Heroic plots and dramatic expressiveness of music combined with elements of comic opera and melodrama. The plots of the opera of salvation are most often based on the rescue of the main character or his beloved from captivity. It is characterized by civic pathos, denunciation of tyranny, monumentality, modern subjects (as opposed to the previously dominant ancient subjects). The brightest representatives of the genre are Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven, The Horrors of the Monastery by Henri Montand Burton, Eliza and Two Days by Luigi Cherubini.
Step 4
Romantic opera originated in Germany in the 1820s. Her libretto is based on a romantic plot and is distinguished by mysticism. The brightest representative of romantic opera is Karl Maria von Weber. In his operas "Sylvanas", "Free Shooter", "Oberon", the peculiarities of this genre are clearly expressed as a national German variety of opera.
Step 5
The Grand Opera established itself as the mainstream in musical theater in the 19th century. It is characterized by the scale of the action, historical plots, and the colorful scenery. Musically, she combines elements of serious and comic operas. In a major opera, the emphasis is not on orchestral performance, but on vocals. Major operas include Rossini's Wilhelm Tell, Donizetti's Favorite, and Verdi's Don Carlos.
Step 6
The roots of the operetta go back to comic opera. Operetta as a genre of musical theater developed in the second half of the 19th century. It uses both typical operatic forms (arias, choirs) and colloquial elements. The music is pop in nature, and the plots are everyday, comedy. Despite its light character, the musical component of the operetta inherits a lot from academic music. The most famous are the operettas by Johann Strauss ("The Bat", "Night in Venice") and Imre Kalman ("Silva", "Bayadera", "Princess of the Circus", "Violet of Montmartre").
