Opera (Music for Theatre )

Opera tells a story through songs.The music is played by an orchestra,while the actors sing on stage.The frist opera was performed in the early 17th century.

La Scala opera house in Milan

Opera soon became very poppular in Europe,and many opera houses(special theatres for opera) were built.

The performers were often much more famous than the composers.People would go to an opera to hear singers they liked.
Title page of Verdi's La traviata
There are lots of different types of opera.The styles have changed grandually over the years.In Handel's operas,all the words are sung,and the stories are serious.They are often based on history or mythology.Several of Mozart's operas,including The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte,are based on comical stories and contain spoken pasts.In the 19th century,composers like Verdi and Puccini wrote operas with sad,romantic stories. These are often about the lives of ordinary people ,not historical or legendary ones.The story used in the opera is called the libretto.This is the Italian word for 'little book'When opera first began,the people in the audience had this in front of them so that they could read the words while the opera was being performed.later,the audience sat in the dark,and only it too dark to read,but it was easier to see what was happening on the stage.

Imformation :Book name,Learn to Play more easy piano classics by caroline phipps
(ISBN 0-7460-1698-0)