Opera through the Ages
Of the many musical genres, it is likely opera that has the narrowest audience. This is a very particular genre of music and many people’s tastes do not include this type of music. Opera is more like a singing play. It originated initially around the early 1600s. Unlike a musical performance on stage where the singers play their instruments and sing their songs, opera has all the aspects of a play including costumes, props and scenery. It is like the players replace the spoken words of the script with song. There is usually a full orchestra to accompany them.
The parts are given out according to a singer’s voice type. Women and men are categorized slightly differently. Women’s voices must be contralto, mezzo soprano or soprano. A man will be a countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass baritone or bass. This is only the first classification. Then they are recognized by their range, timber, power, and vocal quality. This second further breakdown of voice types makes it easier when casting opera to know what parts are appropriate for what types of voices. An opera singer may see changes in their singing voices throughout their career that could change their classification of voice type.
Operas have two styles of singing. One is the standard parts, known as the parts that steer the plot. This part is called recitative. The other part is the aria. This is the emotional part of the opera. Opera has been written by some of the greats of our time. Richard Wagner decided he wanted to give opera a different sound. He wanted to eliminate the differences between the dialogue pieces and the emotional pieces. He wanted the orchestra to have a bigger influence. Wagner wanted opera to be written in a form he called endless melody. So opera changed, but it also changed back since some composers liked his efforts others while many others did not.
Opera has many forms in part based on the language that the opera is being sung in. It is most popular in Italian, where it had its beginnings, but also in German, French and English. The first opera, Dafne, or work that was said to be most like an opera piece, was written in 1597. Though there are records of the existence of this opera it unfortunately disappeared. An opera written in 1600 called Euridice is still in evidence. But it is an opera written in 1607 and called Orfeo, that continues to be acted out. This was originally performed in the courts in Italy. Although these first operas were preformed in the courts to entertain royalty, it did not take too long before the common man could buy tickets to attend an opera in various cities in Italy. By 1640, this was happening all over the country. But it was still very new and the reactions to it came from those who loved it and those who criticized it fiercely.
The French discovered opera in 1672 when an Italian brought it to the courts of the King. These operas were done in French and over the next hundred years many were written. Many of them after that were from German composers who preferred their work in their language. By the 1820s, this reversed itself and the operas once again were sung in French. In the 1730s the Russians discovered opera in the courts of their royalty. It quickly became very popular amongst the aristocracy. Interestingly, establishing opera in English was a struggle, whether it was the emotion of the language or the lack of interest among patrons, opera was not really established with an English flavor until the twentieth century.
