Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Operatic |
OperaticAdjective1. Of or relating to or characteristic of opera. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "operatic" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1856. (references) |
(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."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
The Drama | Adjective: dramatic; theatric, theatrical; scenic, histrionic, comic, tragic, buskined, farcical, tragicomic, melodramatic, operatic; stagy. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Operatic |
| English words defined with "operatic": bel canto, Beverly Sills, Brigit Nilsson ♦ Callas, Caruso ♦ Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Nellie Melba, diva, Domingo ♦ Eileen Farrell, Enrico Caruso, Ernestine Schumann-Heink ♦ Farrell, Fromental Halevy ♦ Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Guiseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ♦ Halevy, Helen Porter Mitchell, Helen Traubel ♦ Jacques Francois Fromental Elie Halevy, Jessye Norman, Joan Sutherland, John McCormick ♦ Lauritz Lebrecht Hommel Melchior, Lauritz Melchior, Leontyne Price ♦ Maria Callas, Maria Meneghini Callas, Marta Brigit Nilsson, Mary Leontyne Price, McCormick, Melba, Melchior ♦ Nilsson, Norman ♦ Placido Domingo, price, prima donna, Puccini ♦ Renata Tebaldi ♦ Schumann-Heink, Sills, Sutherland ♦ Te Kanawa, Tebaldi, Traubel ♦ Verdi. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Willie the Operatic Whale (1946) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Red feather the costilest and most gorgeously mounted comic opera ever seen in America : with a cast of well known operatic artists headed by Cheridah Simpson and a great singing chorus. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hyde & Behman's Operatic Spectacular Minstrels under the personal supervision of Richard Hyde direct from their own beautiful theatre, Brooklyn, New York. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Operatic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.49% of the time. "Operatic" is used about 195 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 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.49% | 194 | 22,014 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.51% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 195 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "operatic": operatic aria ♦ operatic highlight ♦ operatic star. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "operatic": operatic-style. | |
Ending with "operatic": cod-operatic, non-operatic, quasi-operatic. | |
| 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 |
operatic simon | 17 |
operatic | 17 |
operatic passage | 11 |
mp3 operatic | 2 |
arias operatic | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "operatic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i operës. (various references) | |
Arabic | أوبرى ذو علاقة بالأوبرا. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | оперен (cocky, fledged, opera, pert, plumose). (various references) | |
Dutch | Nederlandse Opera-Stichting, A'dam (Netherlands Operatic Society), muziekdramatische opleiding (operatic training). (various references) | |
Farsi | مربوطبه اپرا. (various references) | |
Finnish | oopperamusiikki (operatic music), oopperalaulaja (operatic music). (various references) | |
French | d'opéra. (various references) | |
German | opernhaft, opern- (opera). (various references) | |
Greek | μελοδραματικόσ (melodramatic). (various references) | |
Hebrew | של אופר". (various references) | |
Hungarian | operai, opera-. (various references) | |
Italian | melodrammatico (melodramatic), lirico (lyric, lyrical), di opera. (various references) | |
Manx | kiaulldrameydagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | operaticay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | relativo a ópera, relativa a drama lírico. (various references) | |
Romanian | de operã. (various references) | |
Russian | оперный. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | operski. (various references) | |
Spanish | operístico, de ópera. (various references) | |
Swedish | opera-, teatralisk (flamboyant, histrionic, stagy, theatrical). (various references) | |
Turkish | opera türünden, opera ile ilgili, çok dramatik. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | оперний. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "operatic": operatically, operatics. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "operatic": nonoperatic. (additional references) | |
| |
"Operatic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: omerovic, operai, operat, operati, operatics, speratic, sperratic. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "operatic" (pronounced Ä'pera"tik) |
| 4 | -a" t i k | acrobatic, aerobatic, aristocratic, aromatic, asthmatic, asymptomatic, attic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, bureaucratic, charismatic, cinematic, climatic, democratic, diagrammatic, diplomatic, dogmatic, dramatic, ecstatic, electrostatic, emblematic, emphatic, enigmatic, enzymatic, erratic, fanatic, hepatic, homeostatic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, lymphatic, mathematic, melodramatic, monochromatic, numismatic, pancreatic, phosphatic, pneumatic, posttraumatic, pragmatic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, prostatic, psychosomatic, rheumatic, schematic, semiautomatic, static, symptomatic, systematic, technocratic, thematic, theocratic, traumatic, undemocratic, undiplomatic. |
| 3 | -t i k | acetic, acoustic, aesthetic, agnostic, alphabetic, altruistic, amniotic, anachronistic, analytic, anesthetic, antagonistic, Antarctic, antibiotic, antic, anticlimactic, antiseptic, aortic, apathetic, apocalyptic, apologetic, apoplectic, aquatic, arctic, arithmetic, arthritic, artistic, ascetic, astronautic, atavistic, atheistic, athletic, authentic, autistic, ballistic, bombastic, capitalistic, catalytic, cathartic, caustic, chaotic, characteristic, chauvinistic, chiropractic, climactic, coloristic, cosmetic, critic, cryptic, cultic, cystic, dendritic, despotic, deterministic, diabetic, diagnostic, dialectic, diamagnetic, didactic, dietetic, diuretic, domestic, drastic, drumstick, dualistic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, eclectic, ecliptic, elastic, electrolytic, electromagnetic, emetic, empathetic, energetic, enthusiastic, epigenetic, epileptic, erotic, euphemistic, evangelistic, exotic, expressionistic, extragalactic, fantastic, fatalistic, ferromagnetic, feudalistic, fiberoptic, frantic, frenetic, futuristic, galactic, genetic, geomagnetic, gigantic, granitic, gymnastic, halophytic, hectic, hedonistic, hemolytic, heretic, hermaphroditic, holistic, homiletic, humanistic, hyperkinetic, hypnotic, iconoclastic, idealistic, idiotic, imperialistic, impressionistic, individualistic, inelastic, interscholastic, jingoistic, journalistic, kinesthetic, kinetic, lactic, legalistic, linguistic, logistic, magnetic, majestic, masochistic, materialistic, mechanistic, militaristic, monastic, monopolistic, moralistic, mystic, narcissistic, narcotic, nationalistic, naturalistic, neritic, neurotic, novelistic, oligopolistic, onomastic, opportunistic, optic, optimistic, orthodontic, pantheistic, paralytic, paramagnetic, parasitic, parasympathetic, parthenogenetic, paternalistic, pathetic, patriotic, patristic, pectic, pedantic, peptic, peripatetic, pessimistic, phonetic, plastic, pluralistic, poetic, polytheistic, porphyritic, primitivistic, propagandistic, prophetic, prophylactic, prosthetic, psychoanalytic, psychotherapeutic, psychotic, puristic, quixotic, realistic, relativistic, ritualistic, robotic, romantic, rustic, sadistic, sarcastic, scholastic, semantic, semiotic, sensationalistic, septic, simplistic, skeptic, socialistic, statistic, stylistic, surrealistic, sycophantic, symbiotic, sympathetic, synergistic, synthetic, tactic, terroristic, therapeutic, thermoplastic, thrombolytic, transatlantic, triptych, unapologetic, unauthentic, uncharacteristic, unenthusiastic, unpatriotic, unrealistic, unsympathetic, voyeuristic. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-i-o-p-r-t" | |
-1 letter: apricot, aprotic, ectopia, erotica, paretic, parotic, picrate. | |
-2 letters: aortic, atopic, capote, captor, carpet, cartop, coater, copier, copter, erotic, opiate, picaro, pirate, poetic, preact, protea, protei, toecap, tropic. | |
-3 letters: actor, aport, apter, areic, atrip, caper, caret, carpi, carte, cater, ceria, citer, coapt, coati, coper, copra, coria, crape, crate, crept, cripe, epact, erica, irate, oater. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-i-o-p-r-t" | |
+1 letter: ametropic, operatics, preatomic, precoital, proactive. | |
+2 letters: amphoteric, evaporitic, explicator, importance, metaphoric, pratincole, precaution, replicator. | |
+3 letters: aponeurotic, appreciator, atmospheric, ceratopsian, chiropteran, comparative, cooperating, cooperation, cooperative, corporative, crepitation, cryptomeria, decapitator, deprecation, depreciator, diaphoretic, dipterocarp, emancipator, explicators, explicatory, importances, imprecation, imprecatory, incorporate, metamorphic, narcoleptic, neuropathic, nonoperatic, orthopaedic, outcapering, percolating, percolation, pratincoles, precautions, predication, predicatory, preromantic, problematic, procreating, procreation, procreative, prophetical, protractile, protractive, provocative, reciprocate, replication, replicators, spirochaete, spirochetal, tetrasporic, triceratops, tropicalize. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Derivations 11. Rhymes 12. Anagrams | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
