Opera is a comprehensive art that integrates music (vocal and instrumental music), drama (script and performance), literature (poetry), dance (folk dance and ballet), stage art, etc. , usually composed of arias, recitatives, duets, choruses, overtures, intermezzos, dance scenes, etc. (sometimes spoken and recited). As early as ancient Greek dramas, there were chorus accompaniments, and some recitations even appeared in the form of singing. In the Middle Ages, miracle plays based on religious stories and promoting religious views were also popular and continued. But modern Western opera, which can truly be called "musical drama", came into being with the secularization of music culture during the Renaissance in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Opera is regarded as part of the Western classical music tradition, and therefore, like classical music, is not as popular as contemporary pop music, while modern musicals are regarded as modern versions of opera.
The mainstream of Italian opera has always been formal opera, until Gluck launched the "renovation opera" in the 1760s to combat the artificiality of formal opera. The 18th century opera master who is still famous today is obviously Mozart. Mozart first started with serious operas when he was young, and then his Italian comic operas became popular all over the world. He is especially praised for "The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni" and "All Women". The Magic Flute, Mo's penultimate opera (the last one being The Mercy of King Dido), is an iconic work of German opera.
The early 19th century was the peak period of bel canto style opera. Operas by Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini were popular at that time and are still commonly seen on the stage today. At the same time, Giacomo Meyerbeer's operas became the model of French Grand Opera and became popular throughout France.
The mid-to-late 19th century is known as the "golden age" of opera, with Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi leading the way in Germany and Italy. After the golden age, in the early 20th century, Western European opera continued to evolve into different styles, such as Italian verismo and French contemporary opera, and later Giacomo Puccini and Richard Strauss. works. Throughout the 19th century, in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Russia and Bohemia, the rise of the National Music School created opera works that developed in parallel between local and Western Europe.
Throughout the 20th century, modern stylistic elements were often tried to be mixed into operas, such as the atonal approach and twelve-tone composition of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, and Igor Neoclassical music represented by Stravinsky and minimalist music by Philip Glass and John Adams. As recording technology improved, singers like Enrico Caruso became names known to outsiders of opera. As technology advanced in the 20th century, operas were also broadcast on radio and television, and operas written for broadcast media also appeared. Opera, the representative word of opera in Western languages, comes from the plural form of "work" (Opus, Opera) in Latin. It was later extended to other European languages ????in Italian. As the name suggests, the original meaning of opera not only includes solo singing, duets and choruses on the stage, but also Includes dialogue, acting and dancing. At the end of the 16th century, a group of humanist scholars in Florence, Italy, formed the Camerata to revive the stage performance art of ancient Greece. They believe that the "chorus" part in ancient Greek dramas is actually a chorus part. Some even think that ancient Greek dramas are actually the same as today's operas, with all plots being told in songs. Therefore, when the first known opera in history, "Dafne" composed by Jacopo Peri and based on ancient Greek mythology, premiered in 1597, the reviews were rave. They all believed that it "successfully resurrected the dramatic spirit of ancient Greece." Unfortunately, "Daphne" was eventually lost, but Perry's other opera "Euridice", which premiered in 1600, is still occasionally performed today. But the oldest standard repertory opera in the opera world today is Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo", which was first performed at the court of Mantua in 1607.
The origin of opera can be traced back to the tragedies of the ancient Greek period. This art form is the root of the art of opera.
Some musical forms in the medieval period also laid the foundation for opera. The first is the religious drama at the end of the 10th century. Later, the religious drama was replaced by the mystery drama (Mystery) and the miracle drama (Miracles), which prevailed from the 14th to the 16th century. The second is the pastoral drama. This genre uses music, poetry, and drama to express the countryside. Scenes from life, it remained popular until the 16th century and became one of the important origins of opera.
Renaissance pastoral opera also heralded the birth of opera. Composers use the pastoral form to compose some dramatic scenes in poetry, or use a group of pastoral songs to describe some simple storylines. The latter form is called a pastoral opera.
The most direct origin of opera is the Intermedio at the end of the 15th century. These were some fables, mythological plays or pastoral plays interspersed between the acts of comedies at that time. By the 16th century, the interludes between acts formed a related story in terms of plot, and added decorative melodies. and simple harmonic accompaniment.
Opera was finally produced in Florence, Italy, at the end of the 16th century. At that time, a group of celebrities in the cultural and artistic circles often gathered at the homes of the nobles Bardi and Corsi. They were keen to restore ancient Greek drama and tried to create a vivid art that combined poetry and music. They believed that polyphonic art destroyed the expression of the meaning of lyrics, and advocated the use of monophonic melodies. In practice, they found that the tones sung freely with harmonic accompaniment can not only be used in the same poem, but also in the entire drama. . Then came the earliest operas, which were called pastoral dramas at that time. The development and characteristics of early Italian opera
Florence Opera
1. The first opera: "Daphne" ("Daphne"), which was performed in 1597 and was written by Linuccini and composed by Perry. Dafne), since only fragments of the score remain, people usually refer to the complete version of Euridice, which was performed in 1600, with a libretto by Linuccini and music by Pelli and Caccini. As one of the earliest operas.
2. Characteristics of early operas: The script was based on Greek mythology, and later historical themes were added. The music part adopts the form of continuo, and the singing part is mainly in the form of chanting recitative. The range is not wide, the rhythm is free, there is a small amount of musical instrument accompaniment, and chorus is also used.
Roman Opera
1. Representative figures and works: "The Embodiment of Spirit and Flesh" ("The Embodiment of Soul and Flesh") created by Roman composer E. Cavalieri (approximately 1550-1602) La rappresentazione di Anima, edi Corpo) was performed in February 1600, and the play laid the foundation for Roman opera. "The Embodiment of Spirit and Flesh" is actually regarded by historians as an oratorio, with the prototype of an opera, and its content involves religious and moral aspects.
2. Features: Focusing on the pleasure brought by the spectacular opera scenes, adding gorgeous stage design, mechanical scenery and ballet scenes, each act ends with chorus and dance.
Venetian Opera
1. The establishment of the first opera house: San Cassiano, the first opera house established in Venice in 1637, was the origin of opera from the aristocratic salon and The court moved towards the civil class. Monteverdi served as conductor in 1617 and composed "The Return of Ulys".
2. Representative figures and works: In 1607, Venetian opera writer Monteverdi completed the opera "Orfeo". The theme of the opera was similar to Linuccini's "Euridice" . In the play, Monteverdi relied on his rich experience in pastoral and religious music creation, combined with various means from the musical treasure house of the 16th century, to make "Orfeo" the first truly authentic opera in the history of opera. opera.
3. Features: A large number of arias and duets are used in operas, focusing on emotional expression, paying attention to bel canto singing, rarely using chorus forms, and the string instrument family plays an important role for the first time, thus strengthening the performance of music force. Use dissonant intervals and new musical expressions such as pizzicato and tremolo.
Naples Opera
1. Developing in the direction of serious opera: Naples is the last city in Italy where opera developed. It began at the end of the 17th century and was established as serious opera (Opera seria) in the 18th century. , the influence of this kind of opera extended into the 19th century.
It often uses fictional history or heroic deeds as its themes, and due to the pursuit of bel canto, those "castrati" singers who have both the strong lung capacity of men and the soft and bright voice of women have become popular.
2. Representative figures and works: Alemandro Scarlati (1660-1725), a representative of the Neapolitan school of music, created freely developed arias (aria) based on the lyrical tone of vocal music, giving Bel Canto Singing is a vast world. Represented as "Theodora".
3. Characteristics (also the characteristics of formal opera):
1) In terms of content: mostly based on ancient myths and historical legends, the content is serious, as opposed to comedy. 2) In terms of structural form: the original five-act opera has been transformed into a compact three-act structure, with comic interludes (Intremezzo, performed at the stage entrance) often interspersed between acts. It opens with a very personal overture (three sections of fast-slow-fast), with recitatives and return arias alternating, with few duets, choruses, and no dances.
3) Two different recitatives: one is a dry recitative, used for longer dialogues or monologues, with only continuo accompaniment for the solo part; the other It is an accompaniment recitative. It is good at expressing complex emotions and is also used in dramatic and tense scenes. The solo is accompanied by an orchestra.
4) Return to the beginning aria: This aria is in the form of ABA three sections. Composers usually no longer write out the reproduced section A, but only mark da capo at the end of section B, which means Repeat from the beginning, pretending to mean "returning to the beginning", and mark Fine (meaning the end) at the end. The greatest influence in Rome was the Neapolitan opera school represented by Scarlatti. His opera "The Good, the Good and the Bad," which he composed in 1681, established the typical pattern of opera overtures, namely the three-part "fast-slow-fast" format. This period also established the ABA-style aria format. Music at this time often used grand scenes and choruses, giving opera a tendency to emphasize music and light drama. This tendency made the development of opera increasingly rigid in the future. As a result, in the 1720s, the comic opera genre, which was based on daily life, had humorous plots and simple music, emerged. The first classic example of Italian comic opera is Pagolesi's "The Housewife" (premiered in 1733). The play was originally an interlude of a serious opera. When it was performed in Paris in 1752, it was He was slandered by conservatives, thus setting off the famous "Comic Opera Controversy" in the history of opera. The first comic opera in France, "The Soothsayer" written by Rousseau, was born under the inspiration of this debate and this opera.
Italian opera was the first to be transformed in France and combined with French national culture. Lully was the founder of French opera ("lyrical tragedy"). In addition to creating solo melodies that were closely integrated with French, he was also the first to use ballet scenes in opera. In England, Purcell created Britain's first national opera, Didon and Aeneas, based on the country's masquerade tradition. In Germany and Austria, folk operas were developed into German and Austrian national operas by Haydn, Dietersdorf, Mozart and others. Representative works include Mozart's "The Magic Flute". By the 18th century, Gluck, aiming at the mediocrity and superficiality of operas in Naples at that time, insisted that operas must have profound content, music and drama must be unified, and the performance should be simple and natural. His ideas and works such as "Orfeo and Eurydice" and "Iphigenes in Olyd" had a great influence on the development of opera in later generations. The roles played by singers are classified according to their respective range (tessitura), agility, power and timbre (timbre). Male singers are divided from low to high vocal range: bass, baritone, baritone, tenor, and falsetto tenor (sopranist/countertenor). Female singers are divided from low to high ranges: alto, mezzo-soprano and soprano. Sopranos can also be subdivided into different categories such as coloratura sopranos and lyric sopranos. Basically, the range of male voices is lower than that of all female voices, but some falsetto tenors can sing into the range of altos. Falsetto tenor singing is more common in roles sung by castrati in ancient compositions.
After classifying by vocal range, some adjectives about singing are often added, such as lyric soprano, dramatic soprano, solemn soprano (soprano spinto), coloratura soprano (soprano coloratura), light soprano. Soprano soubrette. Although these terms cannot fully describe a voice, they can often classify different voices into different roles. The voices of some singers undergo sudden and drastic changes, or their voices may not reach their mature glory until they are in their thirties or even middle age. Soprano has always been the best choice for the heroine of most operas. However, before the classical music period, the primary requirement for sopranos was voice control technology, rather than the wide range required today; and at that time, the highest note required of sopranos often did not exceed high A[21]. The term mezzo-soprano is a relatively recent concept, but there are many roles it can play, such as Dido in Purcell's and Brangan in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" Special (Brangäne)[22]. The roles that altos can sing are often relatively few, and connoisseurs often joke that altos can only sing "witches, bitches, and britches" (roles that wear trousers). In recent years, many roles originally sung by altos or castrati have become the work of falsetto tenors.
The tenor has been the leading actor in operas since the classical music period to the present day. Many of the most challenging tenor roles came from the bel canto opera period, such as Donizetti's opera "La Fille Du Régiment" (also translated as "La Fille Du Régiment") for male protagonists. 9 consecutive high C's for the protagonist. Wagner, on the other hand, required that his tenor protagonists be heavier than ordinary tenors, and even asked people to invent a new word "Heldentenor" to describe this type of role; a meaning that is equivalent to Wagner's requirements. There are also operatic roles such as Calafo in Puccini's "Turandot". The bass also has a long history. In the opera era, it was used as a supporting role, often as a comic character to entertain the audience. There are also many roles that basses can play, such as Liporello in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and King Wotan in Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung". Between the tenor and the bass, there is the baritone, a concept that did not appear until the middle of the 19th century. Famous roles include Guglielmo in Mozart's "All Women" and Roddy in "Don Carlo" Ge.