Opera It comes from the Italian language and refers to the play whose text is sung with an orchestra accompaniment . The term is applied to name the work, the dramatic poem intended for this type of representation, the gender which groups these works, to the typical music of the genre and to the theater built to represent operas.
For example: “Tonight I will see an opera at the Teatro Colón”, “My dream is to go to the Sydney Opera House”, “Giacomo Puccini is one of the greatest opera composers of the history”.
The opera concept began to be used around the year 1350 . The genre is part of the tradition of Western classical music and involves various types of compositions, among which we find the Aryan, the recitative and the song.
The opera can be sung by duos, trios or other formations, and may require the presence of a choir, both for exclusively choral pieces and to accompany certain arias, for example. With the weather, several genres linked to the opera emerged although with some particular characteristics, such as British and American musical , the Spanish zarzuela and the Viennese Operetta .
Italy It is one of the countries with the greatest tradition at the opera Composers Gioacchino Rossini (1792 -1868 ) and Giuseppe Verdi (1813 -1901 ) and the tenors Enrico Caruso (1873 -1921 ) and Luciano Pavarotti (1935 -2007 ) are some of its main exponents.
Opera culture
When talking about opera, it is impossible to ignore the concept of diva, as well as its male version, divo. These terms have been linked to the culture operatic for a long time, significantly distorting the essence of this art form, which is without a doubt music.
Contrary to what many believe, opera has gone through moments of great fame at the popular level, generating fanaticisms and rivalries equivalent, but of greater intensity, to those that currently occur with the most prevalent genres. Thanks to the tireless work of the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, endowed with an unparalleled voice and musicality that places her above any of her competitors, many stories about singers have been unearthed castrated, who (says the interpreter) were the first stars of pop.
Given the absence of audio or video recordings of the great castrati, such as Farinelli or Senesino, it is very difficult to analyze their careers compared to those of a current singer, although the documents of the time left evidence of euphoria that his presentations caused in the public. This is very understandable, since they were voices with qualities superhuman, capable of performing jumps and ornaments that exceed the abilities of a normal person; but also questions the prominence of the music in their recitals.
Anyone who has seen a live opera knows that during the several hours of the show, the tension in the environment is palpable; a considerable percentage of the public attends the theater to severely judge the singers, mainly to tenor and soprano. Opera does not admit mistakes, however small; a slight challenge or the last-minute decision to avoid a sharp note is considered dishonor, insults, and generate a inevitable and unfortunate reaction from the audience: the boo.
As unfortunate and as predictable as the undeserved applause a superstar receives from her fans, no matter what she does; these favorite people yes they can deflate, make cuts in the arias or pronounce Italian badly Simply put, the opera culture is as human as any other.
Rock opera
The notion of opera rock It refers to records of the rock genre composed of songs that make up a single story. "Tommy", from the British group The who , is usually considered the first rock opera. On the other hand, "The Wall" , from Pink floyd , enjoys great worldwide fame.
