What is the opera?

Opera is a dramatic work that mixes elements of theater, dance and music. Almost all dialogue is sung or at least delivered by tone. Opera composers generally begin with a written script of a story called libretto or a "small book". The libretto can be a completely original story or adaptation of an existing literary work. The words and storyline form the basic structure of the opera. If the texts reveal the real emotions of the character such as love or fear, the composer of the opera can create a fully scoring song called aria . Aria could sing some of the main characters, but quite often it works as a showcase for a particularly strong singer. Many arias have become quite well known all over the world.

Opera also contains many moments when the characters are essentially interviewing each other. For these scenes, the composer of the opera can use a musical form called recitative . Recitative is a piece of dialogue set to music, although music may not be very interesting for the audience. They performRecitative can sing their lines without much concern about the real melody. Some modern composers no longer use recitatives, but allow actors to normally speak their lines. In classical form, however, all dialogue is set to some kind of music.

Many music historians suggest that the first opera to be performed was a piece called Dafne , written in Jacop Perim in 1598. At that time it was not considered commercial and rarely carried out by modern opera companies. The first composer, whose work still enjoys popularity in the opera world, was an Italian musician named Claudio Monteverdi. Monteverdi is attributed to the transition of music theory of Renaissance style to the Baroque style, which are an example of composers such as J.S. Bach.

Opera survived as a musical form mainly because it can adapt or at least adaptT any form of music at the time popular. Over the years it has incorporated folk music, patriotic or nationalist anthem, jazz, blues and even rock music. Staging the opera can also be quite creative and breathtaking on a scale. For example, the whole rings of the Nibelung cycle by Richard Wagner can take several weeks of planned production.