What Type of Opera is the Music Irrelevant to the Plot?
Contents
A quick and easy guide to help you understand what type of opera is the music irrelevant to the plot.
What is Opera?
Opera is a type of theater in which the music is as important to the plot as the dialogue. The word “opera” is from the Italian word for “work” or “labour.” It originated in the 16th century as a marriage of two art forms: spoken drama and sung music.
Definition of Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers, but is distinct from musical theatre. Such a “work” (the literal translation of opera) is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costumes, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor.
History of Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers. Opera combines poetry, drama, and often dance, and the songs are usually in recitative, with some sections sung in arias. In traditional opera the story is told in music; later works make little use of musical recitative and more use of aria, giving more scope to the music. The music of opera often draws on both popular tradition and subsidies from wealthy patrons.
Opera first developed in Italy at the end of the 16th century and soon spread throughout Europe. It reached its height in the 18th century with such composers as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Georg Friedrich Händel. In 19th-century opera, Wagner created musical masterpieces that were extraordinarily long and complex. Verdi also wrote operas that continue to be popular, such as La traviata and Aida. Many 20th-century composers wrote operas, including Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Giacomo Puccini, Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, and Philip Glass. Although opera is usually associated with classical music, it has also been used in other genres such as rock (Tom Waits’s The Black Rider), jazz ( Duke Ellington’s Queenie Pie), and even electronic music (Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht).
What are the Different Types of Opera?
There are four different types of opera: grand opera, comic opera, tragic opera, and opera buffa. Grand opera is the most popular and well-known type of opera. It is a serious opera with a complex plot and usually lasts for three or more hours.
Opera Buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera that was popular in the 18th century. The plots are often about everyday people and situations, and the music is usually light and comic. Opera buffa is different from opera seria, which has more serious plots and music.
Examples of opera buffa include The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, and La Cenerentola by Rossini.
Opera Seria
Opera seria (“serious opera”) is an Italian musical genre that dominated the world of opera in the 18th century. It is characterized by highly stylized musical accompaniment, intricate plotlines, and grandiose emotions. The music is often considered to be irrelevant to the plot, and is therefore not as memorable as that of other genres.
Opera Semiseria
Opera semiseria is a type of opera that falls somewhere between opera buffa and opera seria in terms of tone and subject matter. Semiseria operas usually have a serious plot, but also include comic relief in the form of songs or scenes. This type of opera was popular in the 19th century, and examples include Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.
Opera Bouffe
Opera bouffe, or comic opera, is a type of opera in which the plot is not particularly important and the focus is on the music and the characters. This type of opera often has a light-hearted or humorous tone. Many of the best-known operas, such as The Marriage of Figaro and The Barber of Seville, are opera bouffes.
Which Type of Opera is the Music Irrelevant to the Plot?
There are four types of opera-comic, tragic, semi-opera, and opera buffa. In a comic opera, the music is relevant to the plot and often heightens the comic effect. In a tragic opera, the music is relevant to the plot and often reinforces the emotional effect.
Opera Buffa
Opera buffa is a sub-genre of opera, characterized by comic themes and tunes. The music in these operas is often less important to the plot than it is in other types of opera.
Opera Seria
Opera seria (Italian: [ˈɔːpera ˈsɛːrja]; English “serious opera”) is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and “serious” style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770. The term itself was rarely used at the time and only attained currency in English after c. 1850, mainly in connection with 19th-century works by Donizetti,Bellini, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini. Opera seria was usually, but not exclusively, performed by professional singers (castrati in the lead male roles) who were member of a musical academy or an opera company under Royal patronage, paid a salary; it contrasted on many counts with opera buffa, the other main genre of Italian opera.
Over time, most opera seria was supplanted by “romantic” opera; where music was relevant to plot and character development.
Opera Semiseria
Opera semiseria is a type of opera in which the music is mostly irrelevant to the plot. This can be frustrating for some audiences, but it can also be a refreshing change of pace. Opera semiseria is typically more light-hearted and comedic than other types of opera, so it can be a good choice if you’re looking for something a little different.
Opera Bouffe
Opera bouffe (/ˈbʊfeɪ/ BOOf-ay, French: [ɔpɛʁa buf]) is a genre of opera that is characterized by light-hearted, often satirical libretti, and other elements that are meant to appeal to a broad range of audiences. Opera bouffe was particularly popular in mid-19th century France and Italy, though it has been produced sporadically in other countries as well.
Though opera bouffe shares many ingredients with other genres such as operetta and comédie musicale, it has several unique features that distinguish it from its predecessors and contemporaries. One key difference is that opera bouffe tends to be more overtly sexualized and risqué than other forms of opera. This is often reflective of the Bouffe’s roots in the perverse and often bawdy Commedia dell’arte.
Other distinguishing features of opera bouffe include extended musical sequences that are often irrelevent to the plot (known as “lazy music”), over-the-top stage effects and costumes, and a general sense of humor that is sometimes lacking in other forms of opera.
