Opera 101
Baroque // Classical // Bel Canto // Romantic // Modern
Baroque Period
1600 – 1750
The musical period that saw an expansion in harmonic complexity and an emphasis on contrast. Opera saw an emphasis in the aria as opposed to the recitative. Instrumental music saw the rise in sonata form, the suite and the concerto grosso. A few noted composers of this time period are Handel, Vivaldi, and Bach.
Orpheus and Eurydice
Christoph Willibald Gluck – 1762
Giulio Cesare
George Friedrich Handel – 1724
Don Giovanni
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – 1786
Fidelio
Ludwig van Beethoven – 1814
Bel Canto School
1800 – 1850
Bel Canto is the 19th century Italian opera style with the emphasis on the beauty of the human voice to tell its stories. Literally “beautiful singing,” this period showcases elaborate vocal ornamentation, embellishment and trills (coloratura) that require extreme agility and pitch control.
Norma
Bellini – 1831
La traviata
Verdi – 1853
Romantic Period
1830-1900
The Romantic movement synthesized themes of individualism and self-expression across literature, art and music. In Romantic opera, this new emphasis on emotional revelation found its voice in more expressive harmony, techniques such as leitmotiv, and a closer approach to equality between vocal and instrumental elements.
La boheme
Puccini – 1896
Carmen
Bizet – 1875
Nixon in China
John Adams – 1987
Porgy and Bess
George Gershwin – 1935