Opera in

Romantic period
Grade 9
Opera
• a dramatic work in one or more acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists.
( a story told in music)
• Combining orchestra & singing with acting ，
• Operas are able to more strongly express the emtions of a story as it is played out
on the stage.
• Operas have also often been considered entertainment for the rich & cultured
 Music is the Main Component of an Opera.

Drama in an Opera Comes Through the Music.

characteristics Operas are Composed by Opera Composers.

of opera
Opera Libretti are the Script.

An Orchestra Provides the Instrumental

Music.
Sydney Opera House
Paris opera house

Royal Opera House

 • An orchestral introduction to an opera.
• The overture is simply an instrumental piece that plays
Overture before the start of the opera or one of its acts.
• In opera's early days, many overtures were considered
incidental music that played before the audience was even
seated. 
The Magic Flute – by Mozart
• Italy has a unique
personality during the
mid-and late Romantic
period in that its
compositional output is
strongly associated with
one particular genre:
opera.
Operas in Italy
• The birthplace of opera,
Italy has produced some
of history’s most gifted,
influential and famous
composers. such as
Rossini, Bellini,
Donizetti, Verdi and
Puccini, are amongst the
most famous operas
ever written and today
are performed in opera Vincenzo Bellini Gioachino Rossini
houses across the world.
• Originating in Florence,
opera was created by the
Camerata de’ Bardi, a small
group of Florentine
intellectuals who sought to
revive and re-modernise
classic Greek dramas.
• Composed by Jacopo Peri
(1561-1633), the result was
Dafne, which was first
performed in 1598.
Unfortunately, this work has
largely been lost and as
such, his second work,
Euridice, is the earliest
surviving example of opera.
• Jacopo Peri (1561-1633),
was known to be the
Inventor of Opera. He was
the first of the early
composers who was
successful in this field.
• The opera of Italy has been
imported to France, before
1650, and Germany
(flourished in the 19th
century).
 Operas in France

• three kinds of operas

1. Grand Opera
2. Opera Comique
3. Lyric Opera
 • Grand Opera is a new genre of
opera that is characterized by
being built on a very large
orchestration with very
impressive plots and highly
colorful spectacle.
• 1820s, the middle class arose
from the ashes of the French
Revolution and Napoleonic
Empire. They are considered as
relatively uncultured audience
and were looking for an
excitement and entertainment
in the theatres. Thus Grand

1. Grand Opera Opera was produced.

• Uses all artistic elements such as
ballets, choruses and crowd scenes
to appeal to the new audience.
• Used Shakespeare’s works and
Victor Hugo’s.
2. Opera Comique
• Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias.
• The genre originated in the early 18th century with humorous and satirical plays
performed at the theatres of the Paris fairs which contained songs (vaudevilles)
• meant to cause laughter; originated from satirical parodies of grand operas.
• required fewer singers and players, and was written in a much simpler musical
idiom; its plots presented straightforward comedy or semiserious drama instead of
the huge historical pageantry of grand opera.
3. Lyric Opera

• -combination of both the Opera

Comique and Grand Opera
 • 18th century was a time where Germany
was still inferior in operas but during the
Operas in 19th century it advanced into a greater
importance.
Germany • Germany is divided into 2 periods:
1st Half: Dominated by German Romantic
Operas
Weber’s Der Freischütz, Hunters' chorus
• 2nd Half: Dominated by Richard Wagner’s
music dramas.
• -for Wagner opera is the combination of all
arts and he called it Music Drama. A
unification of music, literature, visual arts
and stagecraft. He wrote his librettos and
music, instructing the scenic design, staging,
action and so on.
• -has a powerful intellect, enormous ego, and
has a desire to control all aspect of his
theatrical works.
 • Operas produce in France ：
1. Grand Opera
2. Opera Comique
3. Lyric Opera
• Operas in Germany ：
Conclusion 1st Half: Dominated by German
Romantic Operas
2nd Half: Dominated by Richard
Wagner’s music dramas.
Activity !!!!