Opera
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Opera combines sung drama with orchestral accompaniment, blending libretto and musical score into a comprehensive theatrical experience. Emerging from Italy in the late 16th century, the form spread across Europe and developed into the classical art form that still commands devoted collectors today.
About the Opera genre
Opera began in Italy around 1597 with Jacopo Peri's lost Dafne and quickly took root across Europe through composers like Heinrich Schütz, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Henry Purcell establishing national traditions. By the 18th century, Italian opera dominated most of Europe except France, with figures like Georg Friedrich Händel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shaping the era. Mozart's Italian comic operas, particularly The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, remain central to the repertoire alongside The Magic Flute, which anchored the German tradition.
The 19th century defined opera's golden age with Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi leading the charge in Germany and Italy respectively. The bel canto style flourished in the first third of the century through Gioacchino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works endure in performance. Parallel traditions emerged in Russia and Bohemia during this period, while the late 19th century brought verismo in Italy and continued innovation in France through composers like Giacomo Puccini and Johann Strauss II.
The 20th century saw opera expand into modernist territories, with Arnold Schönberg and Alban Berg exploring atonality and serialism, Igor Stravinsky pursuing Neo-Classicism, and Philip Glass and John Adams developing Minimalist approaches. Recording technology transformed the art form, allowing singers like Enrico Caruso to reach audiences far beyond opera houses, while radio and television performances introduced new formats and compositions.