Waterford Concert Series Musical Overviews
Opera, Operetta & Musical Theatre

A wit on a music blog recently described the difference between opera and operetta as “two t’s and an e.” However, there is more to the matter than that. Opera may be briefly described as a musical production in which everything is sung, including the dialogue, except for an occasional line here and there. Operetta is mostly sung, but the dialogue is spoken. A musical is a play illustrated by music and dance.

Opera as we know it began in Italy in the sixteenth century, but most of what we hear today dates from the eighteenth century. Although categories are seldom set in stone and may sometimes overlap even within a work, a brief history of operatic styles may be useful, even to the confirmed opera lover.

Opera Seria was the Italian high style in the early eighteenth century. It was characterized by elevated tone and themes in formal stylized settings. The hero was often sung by a castrato, a male neutered before puberty in order to retain the high timbre of the voice. The libretto was usually in Italian, even when written by Handel for English audiences. In the latter half of the century the composer Gluck rebelled against its artificiality in his work and influenced others, notably Mozart.

The Paris Opera House

The Classical Period brought forth the genius of Mozart. His first operas were in the seria style (Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito), but he came to be loved for his Italian comedies, in his own time as well as today.

Bel Canto (beautiful singing) began in the early nineteenth century, and its major figures are Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. It featured exotic themes and high drama and music with an extremely intricate vocal line demanding great clarity and flexibility in the voice, which came to be known as coloratura. Around the same time the Paris opera was developing a highly spectacular style known as Grand Opera.

Grand Opera “pulled out all the stops.” The lavish productions of four, or even five, acts depicted historical or mythological figures in flamboyant stage settings. An elaborate ballet was an essential part of the performance. Rossini wrote his last opera in this style (William Tell) and its greatest proponent was Meyerbeer.

The mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor

The latter part of the nineteenth century produced some of the greatest opera of all time. The Golden Age, as it came to be known, was dominated by two towering giants of the form, Verdi and Wagner. They were poles apart in taste and temperament, disliked each other’s work and never met. Verdi’s direct and forceful style, genius for melody and dramatic import, brought him great acclaim in his lifetime and ever since. Wagner’s revolutionary operas abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favor of a continuous musical line of “endless melody.” He vastly increased the role and size of the orchestra; consequently the singers need very large voices to be heard above the music. The late nineteenth century also saw the emergence of a new form.

Verismo opera began with Leoncavallo (I Pagliacci) and  Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana) and reached its apotheosis with Puccini (La Boheme). Verismo abandoned the grand themes for scenes of everyday life among ordinary people, fallen women and bohemians.

Russian opera belongs in a class of its own, with its nationalistic fervor and distinct musical language. From its beginnings in the eighteenth century with Michael Glinka (Russian and Ludmila) to the avant-garde Stravinsky (The Rake’s Progress), it brought an exciting and exotic tone to the repertoire.

The first important composer at the beginning of the twentieth century was Richard Strauss. Though influenced by Wagner, he developed his own style and tone, often using dissonant harmonies to dramatic effect. A wide variety of operatic styles ensued from composers as diverse as Poulenc, Debussy, Gershwin, Britten, Menotti, Barber, and the avant-garde Philip Glass, John Adams, and Douglas Moore.

Operetta began in the second half of the nineteenth century with Offenbach (La Belle Helene). Lighter in music and subject than opera, it features comic or farcical plots and mistaken identities. It is performed by classically-trained singers, and the dialogue is spoken rather than sung. Many popular operas were composed by Johann Strauss Jr., Franz Lehar, Sigmund Romberg and many more. The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are among the most popular operettas of all time.

Musicals are plays illustrated by dance and song. They are performed by actors who are proficient in both genres, but do not need operatic voices for the most part. The work of the choreographer is of the utmost importance in a musical.