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Definition: Opera |
OperaNoun1. A drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes. 2. Theater where opera is performed. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "opera" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1588. (references) |
Etymology: Opera \Op"er*a\, noun. [Italian, from opera work, composition, opposed to an improvisation, from Latin opera pains work, from opus, operis, work, labor: compare to French op['e]ra. See Operate.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | OPERA, n. A play representing life in another world, whose inhabitants have no speech but song, no motions but gestures and no postures but attitudes. All acting is simulation, and the word simulation is from simia, an ape; but in opera the actor takes for his model Simia audibilis (or Pithecanthropos stentor) -- the ape that howls. The actor apes a man -- at least in shape; The opera performer apes and ape. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
19th Century Satire | A drama that has taken on airs and refuses to speak, yet always sings its own praises. GRAND OPERA An excuse for displaying several boxes of jewelry and peaches with pedigrees. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904. |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of attending an opera, denotes that you will be entertained by congenial friends, and find that your immediate affairs will be favorable. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This article is about opera as an art form. For information on the web browser, see Opera web browser. Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music.The drama is presented using the typical elements of theater, such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera (collectively referred to as the libretto) are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble, which in some operas can be as large as a full symphonic orchestra.
In the most traditional type of opera, there are two modes of singing: recitative, which is similar to ordinary declamation, and aria, which refers to sung solo passages. Short sung passages are also referred to as ariosos. Each type of singing is accompanied by musical instruments.
Singers, and the roles which they play, are classified depending on their respective pitches. Male singers are classified, in increasing pitch, as bass, bass-baritone, baritone, tenor, countertenor. Female singers are classified, in increasing pitch, as alto, contralto, mezzo-soprano, or soprano.
Opera draws from many other art forms. Whether the words or the music are paramount has been a central bone of contention since the 17th century. The visual arts, such as painting, are employed to create the visual "spectacle" on the stage, which is considered an important part of the performance. Finally, dancing is often part of an opera performance. For this reason, the famous opera composer Richard Wagner referred to the genre as Gesamtkunstwerk, or "unified artwork".
History
Origins
The word opera means simply "works" in Latin, the plural of opus suggesting that it combines the arts of solo and choral singing, declamation, dancing, and so forth, in a staged spectacle. The earliest known work that would be recognizable as an opera today dates from around 1597. It was Dafne, (now lost) written by Jacopo Peri for an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered together as the "Camerata." Significantly Dafne was an attempt to revive the classical Greek drama, part of the wider revival of Antiquity we identify with the Renaissance. A later work by Peri, Euridice, dating from 1600, is the first opera score to have survived to the present day. Spoken or declaimed dialogue accompanied by an orchestra, called recitative in opera, is the essential feature of melodrama, in its original sense. The most familiar example of such incidental music is Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream. The pit orchestra that underscored the dramatic action in 19th century melodrama survives in film scores, and spectacular films incorporating serious music are the direct heirs of melodrama and in their "special effects" both the heirs and the competitors of grand opera.
Opera was not spontaneously created from nothing. Earlier 16th century elements that had not yet fused into a recognizable "opera" included the courtly pageants called masques. New elements of masque, with many songs, were features of Shakespeare's late fantasy play "The Tempest" (ca. 1611). Musico-dramatic elements can also be seen in 16th century suites of madrigalss that were strung together to suggest a dramatic narrative.
In earlier times, music had been part of medieval mystery plays. A surviving musical work which is known to be older than Dafne is Philotea, to a religious text, by a priest called Silberman. (Opera director Johannes Reithmeier, former general manager of the opera houses of Passau and Landshut (Bavaria, Germany), brought it to stage in Munich, Germany, in the mid 1990s.) Even music of Hildegard of Bingen has been given dramatic staged performances.
Baroque Opera
Opera did not remain confined to court audiences for long; in 1637 the idea of a "season" (Carnival) of publicly-attended operas supported by ticket sales emerged in Venice. Influential 17th century composers of opera included Francesco Cavalli and Claudio Monteverdi whose Orfeo (1607) is the earliest opera still performed today. Monteverdi's later Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (1640) is also seen as a very important work of early opera. In these early Baroque operas, broad comedy was blended with tragic elements in a mix that jarred some educated sensibilities, sparking the first of opera's many reform movements, which came to be associated with the poet Pietro Metastasio, whose librettos helped crystallize opera seria's moralizing tone. Comedy in Baroque opera was reserved for opera buffa, in a separately developing tradition that owed a lot to commedia dell'arte.
Italian opera set the Baroque standard. Italian librettos were the norm, even for a German composer like Händel writing for London audiences, or for Mozart in Vienna near the century's close.
Bel Canto
The age of bel canto is exemplified by the operas of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti
French Opera
In conscious rivalry to imported Italian opera productions, a separate French tradition, invariably sung in French, was founded by Italian Jean-Baptiste Lully, who established an Academy of Music and monopolized French opera from 1672. Lully's overtures, fluid and disciplined recitatives, danced interludes, divertissements and orchestral entr'actes between scenes, set a pattern that Gluck struggled to reform almost a century later. The text was as important as the music: royal propanganda was expressed in elaborate allegories, generally with upbeat endings. Opera in France has continued to include ballet interludes and feature elaborate scenic machinery.
Baroque French opera, elaborated by Rameau, was simplified by the reforms associated with Gluck (Alceste and Orfee) in the late 1760s. French opera was influenced by the bel canto of Rossini and other Italians (though sung in French).
Opera Buffa and Opera Comique
French opera with spoken dialogue is referred to as opera comique, irrespective of its subject matter. Depending on the weight of its subject matter, opera-comique shades into operetta, which, along with vaudeville gave rise to the musical comedy perfected in New York.
Romantic Opera and 'Grand Opera'
The elements of French Grand Opera first appeared in Rossini's Guillaume Tell (1829) and Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable (1831)
German Opera
Mozart's German singspiel The Magic Flute (1791) stands at the head of a German opera tradition that was developed in the 19th century by Beethoven, Weber, Heinrich Marschner and Wagner.
Wagner pioneered a through-composed style, in which recitative and aria blend into one another without musical "numbers", and are constantly accompanied by the orchestra, with applause taking place only between acts. Wagner also made copious use of the leitmotif (Weber had used a similar device earlier), a musical device which associates a musical line with each character or idea in the story.
Other National Operas
Spain also produced its own distinctive form of opera, known as zarzuela. Starting with Glinka Russian composers also wrote important operas, including Mussorgsky, Anton Rubenstein, Tchaikovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov.
After Wagner: Verismo and Modernisms
Opera in Wagner's huge wake took several paths. One reaction was the short-lived sentimental "realistic" melodramas of verismo operas. Another reaction to mythic medievalizing can be seen in the psychological intensity and social commentary of Richard Strauss.
Throughout the twentieth century, opera enjoyed tremendous appeal, and was performed in many cities around the world, but only a very small handful of modern operas have joined the standard repertory: Berg's Wozzeck, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes and Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites could be mentioned, but the list is short.
Contemporary trends
Famous Opera Theatres
- Arena, Verona
- Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Bayreuth, Bavaria
- Colón Theater, Colón Theater, Buenos Aires.
- La Scala, [[Milan
- La Fenice, Venice
- Liceu, Barcelona
- Metropolitan Opera, New York
- L'Opéra National de Paris (Palais Garnier, Paris)
- Opéra-Comique, Paris
- Opera Garnier de Monte-Carlo
- Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
- San Carlo, Naples
- Sydney Opera House
- Teatro Regio, Parma
- Vienna State Opera
- Bolschoi, Moscow
- Marinski or Kirov, St Petersburg
- Opéra National de Lyon
- Deutsche Oper Berlin
- Komische Oper Berlin
- Oper Frankfurt
- Bayerische Staatsoper, München, Munich
- Drottningholms Slottsteater, Stockholm
- Tokyo Kokuritsu Gekijou, New Opera Theatre, Tokyo
Further Links
simple:Opera
- List of opera composers
- List of famous operas
- List of opera houses
- Genres
- opera seria
- opera buffa
- operetta
- Rock opera
- musical
- Singspiel
- zarzuela
- Grand Opéra
- opéra comique
- Rettungsoper
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Opera."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Opera web browser was created as an alternative to the popular Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers. It is developed by a Norwegian company, Opera Software. It is available for BeOS, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MacOS, OS/2, QNX Realtime Platform, Symbian OS, and all 16-Bit and 32-Bit versions of Microsoft Windows.In December 2000, Opera changed from a demoware business model with a 30-days-of-use trial version to offering a freely downloadable version of the browser that displays ad banners. These banners can be eliminated by paying a registration fee, and have been shown not to exhibit the privacy problems of some adware. The source code of the application is not available to end users.
Opera 7.23 displaying the official Opera website. "Cocoa" skin was downloaded from the official website.The browser has been developed with different priorities from Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator/Mozilla. Specifically, it has been designed for low footprint and very high browsing speed. Notably, Opera displays cached pages much faster than competitors, and also opens new windows faster. Opera was the first browser to integrate mouse gestures as a quicker way to navigate pages. Opera also has some other original features, including background loading of pages, batch opening of bookmark folders, fast forward and rewind functions (which predict where you would surf next), notes, skins and session management (i.e. you can close the browser and re-open it with all the opened pages automatically restored). Other browsers have (as of late 2001) begun to imitate many of these features.
Opera became famous (and somewhat notorious) for its Multiple Document Interface (MDI); that is, all browser windows were opened in the same parent window. This was later complemented with a taskbar that showed the currently opened windows. Version 6.0 brought a major philosophical change for Opera, with the addition of a Single Document Interface (SDI) Mode. Ironically, this happened when many other browsers, like Mozilla and Galeon, started using a tabbed interface (similar to Opera's MDI+taskbar, but without assigning individual window sizes to each page) to make navigation of multiple pages at the same time easier. Opera gives the user the choice to use either MDI, SDI or tabbed mode in version 6.0 and is thereby the first browser to support all three modes. Opera also has a presentation mode which allows the use of a single source document for large-screen presentations and web browsing (document parts relevant for the presentation are marked up in a special fashion).
The browser also includes a mail client, and a news client. An ICQ-compatible instant messaging client was briefly available but ceased to function after the ICQ protocol was altered. Each of these three utilities lacks the functionality of its counterparts in competing web-browser "suites", but provides quick access to the most relevant features.
Opera rendering the Yahoo! WAP home page. (Cropped image.)Opera 6.0 supports most common web standards (including Cascading Style Sheets), Netscape plugins and some other recent standards such as WAP and WML for wireless devices. However, as of early 2002, its implementation of ECMAScript with the HTML DOM still left a bit to be desired, especially on highly dynamic pages.
In November 2002, a public beta release of Opera 7 was made. Opera 7 offers a new rendering engine with greatly improved scripting and DOM support, a rewritten skinned user interface and a new and radical mail and news client called M2.
Analysis of its success
Since its first release in 1996, the browser has met with limited success. Its availability on many platforms has given users access to a highly functional browser where this choice did not previously exist. Opera Software was one of the first companies active in the area of mobile devices, where it has gained significant market share.On the Microsoft Windows platform, Opera has not been able to gain significant market share over its gratis competitors, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. StatMarket is the primary source for international browser usage statistics. On December 4, 2001, StatMarket released data assigning a global usage share of 0.67 per cent to the Opera browser. However, the press release states:
Although still far behind Microsoft and Netscape, Opera's global usage share has more than doubled since January 2001, when it was less than 0.3 percent.With regard to Europe, the differing success mirrors the development of other browsers, for example, according to StatMarket, in October 2001 Netscape Navigator still held about 20% usage share in Germany, whereas its global usage share was about 13%.[...]
Opera usage share has been growing at a faster rate in certain European countries since January 2001. For instance, its usage share in Russia as of November 29, 2001 was 5.88 percent, up from about 1.5 percent at the beginning of the year, StatMarket reported. And in Germany and Sweden, Opera was at 3.37 percent and 1.8 percent respectively, having grown from a 1.3 percent and .5 percent usage share in January 2001.
This differing success can be explained by a variety of factors. A skeptical attitude toward Microsoft, maker of Internet Explorer, is likely to be relevant. Also, in countries with less copyright enforcement, the wide availability of crackss and serial numbers to remove Opera's banners may increase the adoption of the browser by end-users.
The generally low rate of adoption can certainly in part be attributed to the fact that the browser was at first only available in trial-versions and commercial versions, and only became available in an ad-sponsored version as of version 5.02, whereas Netscape and IE include neither permanent animated advertising banners, nor do they have to be paid for (although, arguably, the Windows version of IE is already paid for with the purchase of the Windows operating system; however, the version for Mac OS is still gratis). Microsoft's bundling of its own browser with its Windows operating system (and into Mac OS by contract with Apple Computer), which requires an extra effort to install any other browser, has also been cited as a main cause for Internet Explorer's domination of the browser market.
Latest stable versions of the Opera web browser
Note: Versions may be slightly different between languages; these numbers are for the English (US) version.
- Microsoft Windows: 7.23 (Windows 95 and later); 3.62 (Windows 3.x)
- Mac OS: 6.03 (Mac OS X), 5.0 (Mac OS Classic)
- GNU/Linux: 7.23 (Sparc), 7.23 (PowerPC), 7.23 (SPARC)
- FreeBSD: 7.23
- Solaris: 7.23
- QNX: 5.2.1
- OS/2: 5.12
- Symbian OS: 6.01
- BeOS: 3.62
Latest beta versions of the Opera web browser
- Microsoft Windows: None
- GNU/Linux: None
- FreeBSD: None
- Solaris: None
- QNX: 6.0 β1
External links
- Opera website
- Opera community forums
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Opera (browser)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Flying Dutchman (original German title: Der fliegende Holländer) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner.
Text by the composer. First production in Dresden, 1848. In this opera Wagner, for the first time, departed from the usual opera form of arias, duets, etc., and created the uninterrupted melody and the Leitmotif, which here appears in the first bars of Senta's ballad in the second act.
Plot
Place: on the coast of Norway.
Act I.
On his homeward journey, the sea-captain Daland is compelled by stormy weather to seek a port of refuge. He leaves the helmsman on watch and he and the sailors retire. (Song of the helmsman: "With tempest and storm on distant seas.") The helmsman falls asleep. A ghostly vessel appearing astern is dashed against Daland's vessel by the sea and the grappling irons hold the two ships together. Invisible hands furl the sails. A man of pale aspect, dressed in black, his face framed by a thick black beard, steps ashore. He laments his fate. (Aria: "The time has come and seven years have again elapsed.") Having broken his troth, he is compelled to roam the sea without rest. At the end of every seven years the angry waves cast him upon the shore; if he can find a wife who will be true to him forever he will be released. Daland meets him. He offers him treasure, and when he hears that Daland has an unmarried daughter, he asks for her as his wife. Tempted by gold Daland consents, and favoured by the south wind joyfully acclaimed by Daland's men (repetition of the song of the helmsman and chorus), both vessels set sail.
Act II.
Girls are singing and spinning in Daland's house. (Spinning chorus: "Spin, spin, fair maiden.") Senta dreamily gazes upon the picture of the Flying Dutchman, whom she desires to save. Against the will of her nurse she sings the story of the Dutchman (Ballad with the Leitmotiv), and declares she will save him by her fidelity. Erik arrives and hears her; the girls depart, and the huntsman, who loves the maiden, warns her, telling her of his dream, in which Daland returned with a mysterious stranger, who carried her off to sea. She listens with delight, and Erik leaves her in despair. Daland arrives with the stranger; he and Senta stand gazing at each other in silence. Daland is scarcely noticed by his daughter, even when he presents his guest as her betrothed. In the following duet, which closes the act, Senta swears to be true till death.
Act III.
Later in the evening the crew of Daland invite the men on the strange vessel to join in the festivities, but in vain. The girls retire in wonder; ghostly forms appear at work upon the vessel of the Flying Dutchman, and Daland's men retreat in fear. Senta arrives, followed by Erik, who reproves her for her desertion, as she had formerly loved him and vowed constancy. When the stranger, who has been listening, hears these words, he is overwhelmed with despair, as now he is forever lost. He summons his men, tells Senta of the curse, and to the consternation of Daland and his crew declares that he is the "Flying Dutchman." Hardly has he left the shore when Senta plunges into the sea, faithful unto death. This is his salvation. The spectral ship disappears, and Senta and the Dutchman are seen ascending to heaven.
References and external links:
Plot taken from The Opera Goer's Complete Guide by Leo Melitz, 1921 version.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "The Flying Dutchman."
Synonym: OperaSynonym: opera house (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Clothing | Headdress, headgear; chapeau, crush hat, opera hat; kaffiyeh; sombrero, jam, tam-o-shanter, tarboosh, topi, sola topi, pagri, puggaree; cap, hat, beaver hat, coonskin cap; castor, bonnet, tile, wideawake, wimple; nightcap, mobcap, skullcap; hood, coif; capote, calash; kerchief, snood, babushka; head, coiffure; crown; (circle); chignon, pelt, wig, front, peruke, periwig, caftan, turban, fez, shako, csako, busby; kepi, forage cap, bearskin; baseball cap; fishing hat; helmet; mask, domino. |
Poetry | Dramatic poetry, lyric poetry; opera; posy, anthology; disjecta membra poetae |
The Drama | Theater; playhouse, opera house; house; music hall; amphitheater, circus, hippodrome, theater in the round; puppet show, fantoccini; marionettes, Punch and Judy. |
Play, drama, stage play, piece, five-act play, tragedy, comedy, opera, vaudeville, comedietta, lever de rideau, interlude, afterpiece, exode, farce, divertissement, extravaganza, burletta, harlequinade, pantomime, burlesque, opera bouffe, ballet, spectacle, masque, drame comedie drame; melodrama, melodrame; comidie larmoyante, sensation drama; tragicomedy, farcical-comedy; monodrame monologue;duologue trilogy; charade, proverbs; mystery, miracle play; musical, musical comedy. | |
Western, horse opera; flick; spy film, love story, adventure film, documentary, nature film; pornographic film, smoker, skin flick, X-rated film. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I promised I'd go with you to a hockey game, and you promised you'd sit through an entire opera. (Manhattan Murder Mystery; writing credit: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman. Starring Woody Allen as Larry Lipton, Diane Keaton as Carol Lipton, Alan Alda as Ted, and Anjelica Huston as Marcia Fox.) How could anyone not like the opera. Opera is transcendent (Caroline in the City; writing credit: Angela Carneiro) I'll see you at the opera tonight (Duck Soup; writing credit: Bert Kalmar ; Harry Ruby) I'm going to write an opera. (Scott Joplin; writing credit: Christopher Knopf) Sounds more like it should be an opera house or something (Breakfast at Tiffany's; writing credit: George Axelrod) | |
Lyrics | So the soap opera is told and unfolds (Lose Yourself; performing artist: EMINEM) Soap opera says you've got one life to live (What Have You Done For Me Lately; performing artist: Janet Jackson) | |
Clever | How to act insane: Sing along at the opera. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Saddle Soap Opera (1974) Music with Roots in the Aether: Opera for Television by Robert Ashley (1974) Manjari Opera (1970) Opera Cordis (1968) The Opera Caper (1967) | |
Song Titles | What's Opera, Doc? (performing artist: Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
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Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Harbor and Opera House from The Rocks, Sydney, Australia. Credit: CDC. |  | Opera House and ferry boat, Sydney, Australia. Credit: CDC. |
 | Caption: Metropolitan Opera Co. Truck, Equipped with Edison Storage Batteries; New York, NY; Unknown Date; {06.116/2} (jpg). |  | Colored lithograph, after a sketch by L.W. Hastings, USN, published by Middleton, Strobridge & Co., Lithographers, Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati, Ohio, circa 1864-65. The text below the image includes a list of Carondelet's engagements, from February 1862 to May 1864. Credit: NAVY. |
 | Quartette from the new opera of the "Whig celebration at Lundy's Lane." Tune "Will you come to the bower". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Theater of Opera and Ballet (1931-45; 1956), main portico, Novosibirsk, Russia. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540. |
 | Dottie and Lottie. I've lost my job, Dottie, it was like this : I was showing a velvet opera cloak ... Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Title page of Opera quae ad nos extant omnia, with Froben family device of caduceus clasped by two hands. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Vienna. Opera house. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | French Opera House, New Orleans. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "China opera" by Ogs Commentary: "China opera." | "Paris opera" by Stella Reese Commentary: "The opera in Paris." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Soap opera; dramatic; foreboding; anxiety; apprehension; apprehensiveness; augury; bad omen; bad vibes; chill; dread; fear; foreshadowing; foretoken; forewarning; funny feeling; good vibes; portent; prediction; premonition; prenotion; presage; presentimen. | | Soap opera; dramatic; foreboding; anxiety; apprehension; apprehensiveness; augury; bad omen; bad vibes; chill; dread; fear; foreshadowing; foretoken; forewarning; funny feeling; good vibes; portent; prediction; premonition; prenotion; presage; presentimen. |
| Soap opera; dramatic; foreboding; anxiety; apprehension; apprehensiveness; augury; bad omen; bad vibes; chill; dread; fear; foreshadowing; foretoken; forewarning; funny feeling; good vibes; portent; prediction; premonition; prenotion; presage; presentimen. | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Dan Cook | The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings. |
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini | How wonderful opera would be if there were no singers. |
Gioacchino Rossini | One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend hearing it a second time. |
Hannah More | Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a sin that carries its own punishment with it. |
Jean De La BruyFre | The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one. |
Robertson Davies | A Librettist is a mere drudge in the world of opera. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | It takes you three hours and a half to hear and enjoy an opera. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The danseuses of the opera are rosy savagesses |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Turkmenistan | During the year, the President closed the state-sponsored opera and ballet in Ashgabat, claiming that there was no place for such institutions in Turkmen society; however, foreign music is still taught and performed throughout the country. (references) |
Senegal | In September the Minister of the Interior (MOI) halted the screening of a Karmen Gei, a film version of the classic opera Carmen, following a day-long sit-in protest by members of the Mouride Islamic brotherhood, who criticized the film as blasphemous. (references) | |
Economic History | Austria | We tend to think of Austria in terms of skiing, the opera, and Mozart. (references) |
Travel | Croatia | Zagreb has two five-star hotels: the Opera and the Sheraton. (references) |
Australia | In major cities, opera, ballet, and theater companies perform throughout the year. (references) | |
Egypt | A new line now runs from Tahrir Square passing by the Cairo Opera House and ending at Cairo University in Giza. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FROG, n. A reptile with edible legs. The first mention of frogs in profane literature is in Homer's narrative of the war between them and the mice. Skeptical persons have doubted Homer's authorship of the work, but the learned, ingenious and industrious Dr. Schliemann has set the question forever at rest by uncovering the bones of the slain frogs. One of the forms of moral suasion by which Pharaoh was besought to favor the Israelities was a plague of frogs, but Pharaoh, who liked them fricasees, remarked, with truly oriental stoicism, that he could stand it as long as the frogs and the Jews could; so the programme was changed. The frog is a diligent songster, having a good voice but no ear. The libretto of his favorite opera, as written by Aristophanes, is brief, simple and effective -- "brekekex-koax"; the music is apparently by that eminent composer, Richard Wagner. Horses have a frog in each hoof -- a thoughtful provision of nature, enabling them to shine in a hurdle race. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Opera" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 89.69% of the time. "Opera" is used about 2,336 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 89.69% | 2,095 | 4,150 |
| Noun (proper) | 10.18% | 238 | 19,410 |
| Unclassified Items | 0.13% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 2,336 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| France | Opera Construction |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "opera": beggar's opera ♦ comic opera ♦ diagonal opera glass ♦ diagonal or side opera glass ♦ grand opera ♦ horse opera ♦ light opera ♦ opera bouffe ♦ opera box ♦ opera buffa ♦ opera cloak ♦ opera comique ♦ opera company ♦ opera festival ♦ opera flannel ♦ opera girl ♦ opera girls ♦ opera glass ♦ opera glasses ♦ opera hat ♦ opera hood ♦ opera house ♦ opera night ♦ opera seria ♦ opera singer ♦ opera star ♦ professional opera singer ♦ rock opera ♦ side opera glass ♦ soap opera ♦ space opera. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "opera": Opera-ballet, opera-ballets, Opera-bastille, opera-girl, opera-glass, opera-glasses, opera-goers, opera-going, opera-house, opera-houses, opera-ish, opera-lover, opera-lovers, opera-loving, opera-nut, opera-pantomime, opera-singer, opera-singers, opera-star. | |
Ending with "opera": soap-opera. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
soap opera | 9,287 | day of our life soap opera | 191 |
opera | 5,361 | opera house | 186 |
phantom of the opera | 2,885 | network opera soap | 168 |
soap opera digest | 1,620 | massenet opera | 163 |
abc soap opera | 1,537 | soap opera magazine | 160 |
soap opera update | 888 | soap opera news | 146 |
general hospital soap opera | 725 | daytime soap opera | 142 |
soap opera spoiler | 616 | phantom of the opera ticket | 130 |
soap opera central | 600 | soap opera daily update | 126 |
opera browser | 504 | soap opera.com | 125 |
metropolitan opera | 446 | bellini opera | 125 |
sydney opera house | 408 | opera glasses | 118 |
passion soap opera | 383 | los angeles opera | 116 |
phantom of the opera lyrics | 299 | opera carmen | 115 |
cbs soap opera | 227 | all my child soap opera | 114 |
san francisco opera | 221 | 7.11 opera | 110 |
baby opera | 208 | opera singer | 110 |
soap opera weekly | 207 | guiding light soap opera | 108 |
the young and the restless soap opera | 202 | opera web browser | 106 |
santa fe opera | 201 | lyrics opera house | 102 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "opera"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | opera. (various references) | |
Albanian | operë, art opere. (various references) | |
Arabic | الأ وبرا, دار الأوبرا. (various references) | |
Asturian | opera, ópera. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | опус (opus), оперен (cocky, fledged, operatic, pert, plumose), опера (opera house). (various references) | |
Cebuano | opera. (various references) | |
Chinese | 歌劇 , 歌剧 (operas). (various references) | |
Cornish | gwary-cán. (various references) | |
Czech | operní, opera (opera house). (various references) | |
Danish | opera. (various references) | |
Dutch | opera. (various references) | |
Esperanto | opero. (various references) | |
Faeroese | sangleikur. (various references) | |
Farsi | تماشاخانه (Theater), اپرا, اهنگ اپرا. (various references) | |
Finnish | ooppera. (various references) | |
French | opéra. (various references) | |
Frisian | opera. (various references) | |
German | Oper. (various references) | |
Greek | όπερα. (various references) | |
Hebrew | אופרה. (various references) | |
Hungarian | opera. (various references) | |
Indonesian | opera. (various references) | |
Inuktitut | ingiqvik, ingiqtuq. (various references) | |
Irish | ceoldrÚma. (various references) | |
Italian | operistico, opera lirica, opera (action, agency, deed, foundation, handiwork, institution, opus, organization, work). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 歌劇 , 楽劇 (musical play), オプション取引 (medical operation, obelisk, oblisque, Omaha, omega, omelette, omelette rice, omit, omnibus, Omron Corporation, opaque, opcode, OPEC, opera glasses, opera house, opera-comique, operand, operating, operating system, operating-system, operation, operation center, operation code, operational, operational amplifier, operations, operations research, operator, operetta, opossum, opportunism, opportunist, opposition party, optical, optical art, optimism, optimist, optimistic, optimize, optimizer, option dealing, option trading, option transaction, optoelectronics, OR, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OS). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | がくげき (musical play), かげき (extreme, radical), オペラ . (various references) | |
Kongo | nzo a nkinzi. (various references) | |
Korean | 오페라 (operas). (various references) | |
Macedonian | opera. (various references) | |
Manx | kiaulldramey. (various references) | |
Norwegian | opera. (various references) | |
Papiamen | òpera. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | operaay.(various references) | |
Polish | opera. (various references) | |
Portuguese | ópera (opera house, opera-cloak). (various references) | |
Provencal | operà. (various references) | |
Romanian | operã (action, creation, deed, making, opera house, work, writing). (various references) | |
Russian | оперное искусство, опера оперный, опера. (various references) | |
Samoan | tala faamusika. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | opera (opera house). (various references) | |
Spanish | ópera (opera house). (various references) | |
Swedish | opera. (various references) | |
Tagalog | ópera. (various references) | |
Thai | เรื่องน้ำเน่า (soap opera). (various references) | |
Turkish | opera (grand opera). (various references) | |
Turkmen | opera (r). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | оперне мистецтво, опера. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | nhà hát lớn (opera-house). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | arthritis mutilans manus, arthritis mutilans pedis, athritis mutilans digiti, opera. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Romans Chapter 2, Verse 6 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | OV apodwsei ekastw kata ta erga autou |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Qui reddet unicuique secundum opera eius |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | God "sceal leanian ilcum for þam þæt he hæfð gedon." |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | That schal yelde to ech man aftir his werkis; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Which will rewarde every ma accordinge to his dedes: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King |
