Opera in New York City

Opera Origins

Opera is Latin since the Florentine Camerata (a group of intellectuals) decided to recreate Greek drama with music in 1597 Florence. It soon spread across Europe and then to the Americas.

Latin Americans have been composing opera since 1701 in Peru, and then Mexico, and Brazil. Argentine tango vocals derive from Italian opera.

Jazz has recently been accepted as American Opera. Young Latins are stretching the form in new directions.

Brazil and Mexico have strong opera traditions. In Argentina (with its 60% Italian heritage), opera evolved into tango. New York opera companies are starting to see jazz as the American opera.

One of the most unusual opera houses in the Americas is the Amazon Theatre (Teatro Amazonas) in the jungle city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The first opera there was in 1897.

The development of opera roughly follows the periods of classical music, which in turn reflect the social changes stirring the world.

16th Century (1600 – 1750)

Opera began as an attempt by the Florentine Camerata, a group of intellectuals in Florence Italy, to revive the original form of Greek drama. They believed that Greek drama was sung throughout. Jacopo Peri composed “Dafne,” considered the first opera, in 1597. It was popular.

Baroque Period (1750 – 1800)

Italian courts began performing operas for the entertainment of distinguished guests. Opera spread across Italy. The first opera house opened in Venice in 1637. This brought courtly entertainment to the masses, and encouraged other cities to open their own opera houses.

Operas from this period were serious stories (opera seria). Claudio Monteverdi’s “L’Orfeo” is the most famous Baroque Opera.

Classical Period Opera (1750 – 1800)

Opera changed in the Classical Period. Comedy (opera buffa) lightened its tone. Influenced by the Enlightenment, composers began to write operas that were simpler and more natural.

Mozart (1756 – 1791) put the trends together in his trio of classic operatic comedies: Nozze di Figaro (1786), “Don Giovanni” (1787), and Così fan Tutte (1790).

Romantic Period Opera  (1800 – 1890)

The French Revolution (1789 – 1799) changed everything. It expanded the possibilities of operatic stories.

Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini composed lyrical scores in what became known as the “Bel Canto” style (beautiful singing). Verdi (Italian, 1813 – 1901) dominated  the second half of the 19th century with Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1855), La Traviata (1855), “Otello” (1887), and “Falstaff” (1893).

Wagner revolutionized the form with his large-scale mythological operas including “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (1876) and “Parsifal” (1882).

Verismo Opera (1890 – 1920)

Verismo Opera was a period of renewal in which composers took a realistic approach to their stories. Puccini (1858 – 1924) dominated this tradition with La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), and Madama Butterfly (1904).

20th Century Opera (1900 – 2000)

Opera’s popularity began to fail as the world blew itself up in World War I (1914 – 1918) and World War II (1939 – 1945). The Post-War years opened up so many possibilities that contemporary opera may no longer be recognizable as opera.

21st Century Opera (2000-Present)

Young people are embracing opera in its contemporary forms. American Latins are stretching opera into new forms.