Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work (called an opera), which combines a text (called a libretto) and a musical score.[1] Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. While the scale of opera can be larger or smaller—there are many different genres of opera—performance typically involves different types of artist (singers, instrumentalists and often dancers and actors) and technical staff. Usually an orchestra led by a conductor accompanies the singers. In contrast to spoken theatre, the opera world is international. Italian, German, French, English, and Russian works are performed worldwide in their original languages, and artists travel from country to country performing.[2]

The following is a list of articles on general opera topics:

Essence of opera

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History of opera

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Opera in different national traditions

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Operas have been written in a diversity of languages with many countries or regions developing their own operatic style, tradition and history.[3]

Component parts

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  • Overture – Instrumental introduction to an opera, ballet, or oratorio
    • French – Musical form from the Baroque period
    • Italian – Opening orchestral music for operas, operettas and other large scale works
  • Aria – Musical piece for a single voice as part of a larger work
    • Aria di sorbetto – Short solo by a secondary character
    • Arioso – Vocal solo between recitative and aria in style
    • Cabaletta – Two-part musical form favored for arias
    • Cantabile – Musical term meaning "songlike"
    • Catalogue aria – Opera aria in which the singer recounts a list of information
    • Da capo aria – Baroque musical form
    • Insertion aria – Aria added to previously unrelated operatic composition
    • Rage aria – Operatic aria expressing rage
  • Cavatina – Musical term
  • Intermezzo – Opera genre
  • Mad scene – Conventional scene depicting madness in opera
  • Recitative – Ordinary speech-like singing in opera, cantata, mass or oratorio
  • Chorus – On-stage performers other than the featured players.
  • Ballet – Form of performance dance

Operatic genres

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Over the centuries, the original form of opera, as established by Claudio Monteverdi and his contemporaries, has diversified into distinct and recognisable genres, in addition to the national traditions listed above. These include, but are not limited to, the following.

General opera concepts

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English opera terms

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French opera terms

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German opera terms

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Italian opera terms

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Opera terms from other languages

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Music concepts relevant to opera

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Theatre concepts relevant to opera

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  • Prop – short for "theatrical property"

Opera house

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People in opera

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Opera composers, librettists, directors

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Opera singers categories

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Participants in opera

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Opera performer – similar to, but more specialized than performers in other theatrical productions.[2] Opera performers are at the same time both singers and actors, and often dancers as well.

Other participants are
  • Director – in the sense of stage director, not general manager or general director (often also called opera director)

Opera lists

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Opera discographies

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Books about opera

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Films about opera

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Some definitions of opera: dramatic performance or composition of which music is an essential part, branch of art concerned with this (Concise Oxford English Dictionary); any dramatic work that can be sung (or at times declaimed or spoken) in a place for performance, set to original music for singers (usually in costume) and instrumentalists (Amanda Holden, Viking Opera Guide); musical work for the stage with singing characters, originated in early years of 17th century (Pears' Cyclopaedia, 1983 ed.).
  2. ^ a b Plotkin, Fred (1994). Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera. Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-8025-6.
  3. ^ Silke Leopold, "The Idea of National Opera, c. 1800," Unity and Diversity in European Culture c. 1800, Tim Blanning and Hagen Schulze (eds), Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 19–34; The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Stanley Sadie (ed), Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1992, passim

Additional sources

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  • Operabase – database for opera companies, artists, managers and performances
  • OperaGlass – a resource at Stanford University including libretti, source texts, performance histories, synopses, discographies and lists of rôle creators.
  • Operissimo – resource for composers and works as well as houses, companies and artists.