Changes

An '''opera''' is a dramatic work in which the performers sing all or most of their lines. It is a staged narrative fusion of music, drama (or comedy, or both) and spectacle, with the emphasis on the music.

An '''opera''' is a dramatic work in which the performers sing all or most of their lines. It is a staged narrative fusion of music, drama (or comedy, or both) and spectacle, with the emphasis on the music.

An opera can last for five hours or more ([[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]’s “''Mastersingers of Nuremberg''”) or under ten minutes ([[Darius Milhaud]]’s “''The Deliverance of Theseus''”; have a cast of hundreds ([[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]’s “''Aida''” – with or without the [[elephant]]s) or just a handful ([[Samuel Barber]]’s “''A Hand of Bridge''”; can be a story from the start of the world (Eugen D'Albert’s “''Cain''”) or its end (Wagner’s “''Götterdämmerung''”); historical ([[Handel]]’s “''Julius Caesar''”) or topical ([[John Adams]]’ “''Nixon in China''”), for children (“''Hansel and Gretel''”) or adults (“''Salome''”); the fantasmagorical ([[Mozart]]’s “''The Magic Flute''”) or of real and grubby life [[Alban Berg]]’s “''Lulu''”).

An opera can last for five hours or more ([[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]’s “''Mastersingers of Nuremberg''”) or under ten minutes ([[Darius Milhaud]]’s “''The Deliverance of Theseus''”; have a cast of hundreds ([[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]’s “''Aida''” – with or without the [[elephant]]s) or just a handful ([[Samuel Barber]]’s “''A Hand of Bridge''”; can be a story from the start of the world (Eugen D'Albert’s “''Cain''”) or its end (Wagner’s “''Götterdämmerung''”); historical ([[Handel]]’s “''Julius Caesar''”) or topical ([[John Adams]]’ “''Nixon in China''”), for children (“''Hansel and Gretel''”) or adults (“''Salome''”); the fantasmagorical ([[Mozart]]’s “''[[The Magic Flute]]''”) or of real and grubby life [[Alban Berg]]’s “''Lulu''”).

Many of the works of the world’s great writers have been adapted for the operatic stage – from [[Shakespeare]] (“''[[Macbeth]]''”, “''[[Hamlet]]''”, “''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]''”, “''A Midsummer Night’s Dream''” and more.) [[John Bunyan]] (“''The Pilgrim’s Progress''”), Aleksandr Pushkin (“''Eugene Enegin''” “''Boris Godunov''” etc.), [[Tolstoy]] “''War and Peace''”) [[Goethe]] (“''Faust''”) and many more.

Many of the works of the world’s great writers have been adapted for the operatic stage – from [[Shakespeare]] (“''[[Macbeth]]''”, “''[[Hamlet]]''”, “''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]''”, “''A Midsummer Night’s Dream''” and more.) [[John Bunyan]] (“''The Pilgrim’s Progress''”), Aleksandr Pushkin (“''Eugene Enegin''” “''Boris Godunov''” etc.), [[Tolstoy]] “''War and Peace''”) [[Goethe]] (“''Faust''”) and many more.