Meanwhile, in Germany, Wagner singlehandedly changed the course of opera with his huge ambition and talent by introducing new ideas in harmony, the use of leitmotifs and expanded use of the orchestra and operatic structure. Perhaps his most popular opera is La Traviata, which tells the story of Violetta, a beautiful courtesan who is fatally ill with tuberculosis. Verdi understood the human voice and the internal processes behind the characters he created. Verdi, whose operas include Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and Aida wrote in a tuneful and dramatic style. The late 19th century was dominated by two giants of opera: Italian Giuseppe Verdi and German Richard Wagner, both born in 1813. It’s for good reason-the story of a Gypsy woman who values her free-spirited life above all, and the soldier who becomes obsessed with her, is packed with catchy melodies. The best-known opera of the 19th century-and possibly the most popular of all time-is French composer Georges Bizet’s (1838–75) Carmen. The most famous ‘mad scene’ occurs in Gaetano Donizetti’s (1797–1848) Lucia di Lammermoor, where the heroine, coerced into marriage, murders her husband on their wedding night and then spectacularly loses her mind. It was a good excuse to indulge in lengthy and elaborate vocal display. However, many bel canto composers enjoyed a good tragedy-often making their heroines go mad via a thwarted love affair. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) had a particular talent for ebullient comedy and unforgettable melodies-like his The Barber of Seville ( Il Barbiere di Siviglia). One important style during this time was the Italian bel canto movement (literally meaning “beautiful singing”), which was all about vocal brilliance and ornamentation bolstered by a simpler harmonic structure. Opera continued to flourish, and got bigger, louder and longer during the Romantic period (1830–1900). Mozart was also a master of high drama, as seen in his masterpiece Don Giovanni.
#DEVELOPMENT OF OPERA FULL#
It’s fast, irreverent and funny, but also full of stunning music. Take his The Marriage of Figaro ( Le Nozze di Figaro), a farce where servants ultimately outwit their aristocratic masters, based on a play by French writer Beaumarchais. The ultimate Classical opera composer was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91). This was brought about by the social movement known as the Enlightenment, with less elaborate musical forms and more realistic plots (read: fewer gods, more humans) and a reaction against excessive vocal display. Opera content began to change in the Classical period (1750–1830). Today those roles are sung by countertenors, or by women. The few who survived and made it to the top were the singing stars of the 17th and 18th century. This period also saw the rise of castrati-male singers who were castrated as boys to preserve their soprano voices. One of the greatest composers of Italian Baroque opera was a German who lived most of his life in London- Georg Frideric Handel (1685–1759). From that beginning, two types of opera began to emerge: opera seria, or stately, formal and dignified pieces to befit the royalty that attended and sponsored them, and opera buffa, or comedies.īy the Baroque era (1600–1750), opera had taken Europe by storm and was a spectacular, expensive affair full of florid arias and ornate stage sets with moving parts. Enter Jacopo Peri (1561–1633), who composed Dafne (1597), which many consider to be the first opera.
In Florence, a small group of artists, statesmen, writers and musicians known as the Florentine Camerata decided to recreate the storytelling of Greek drama through music.
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