什麼是歌劇

由管絃樂伴奏之聲樂曲、序曲、間奏曲組成的音樂劇。歌劇發明於16世紀末，當時由詩人、音樂家、學者組成的社團卡梅拉塔會社試圖模仿古希臘戲劇，其中已知大部分爲吟詠或歌唱。由於真正的希臘音樂無人知曉，作曲家在重新構思時擁有相當的自由。希臘田園詩的模仿作品成爲早期歌劇腳本的基礎。最早的歌劇由佩裏（1958年的《達夫尼》，已亡佚）和卡契尼（1600年的《尤麗狄西》）寫成，從頭到尾都是模擬音調語言的輕度伴隨旋律。最偉大的早期歌劇人物蒙特威爾第在1607年寫出第一物傑作《奧菲歐》。和先前的歌劇不同，《奧菲歐》爲小型管絃樂寫作，其中的宣敘調開始與詠歎調有明顯的區別，這個成就是後來歌劇成功的決定性因素。在法國，盧利製造出宮廷歌劇的原型，他的影響後來支配了18世紀中期的法國歌劇。拉摩、韓德爾、葛路克是18世紀前三分之二時間裏最重要的歌劇作曲家，他們的作品被莫札特燦爛的歌劇超越。在19世紀早期，羅西尼和董尼才第支配着義大利歌劇。19世紀晚期出現了威爾第和華格納的偉大作品，其中後者進行大膽的改革，成爲蒙特威爾第以降影響最大的歌劇人物。史特勞斯和普契尼浦契尼寫下了20世紀最受歡迎的歌劇。亦請參閱ballad opera、operetta。

opera

Musical drama made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment, overtures, and interludes. Opera was invented at the end of the 16th century in an attempt by the Camerata, an academy of Florentine poets, musicians, and scholars, to imitate ancient greek drama, which was known to have been largely sung or chanted. Since no actual Greek music was known, composers had considerable freedom in reconceiving it. Imitations of Greek pastoral poetry became the basis for early opera libretti. The first operas, by Jacopo Peri (Dafne, 1598; lost) and G. Caccini (Euridice, 1600), consisted throughout of lightly accompanied melody closely imitating inflected speech. C. Monteverdi, the greatest early operatic figure, composed the first masterpiece, Orfeo, in 1607; unlike its predecessors, Orfeo is scored for a small orchestra, and recitative here begins to be clearly distinguished from aria, an achievement that would prove decisive for opera's future success. In France, J.-B. Lully produced a prototype for courtly opera whose influence would dominate French opera through the mid-18th century. J.-P. Rameau, G.F. Handel, and C.W. Gluck were the most significant opera composers of the first two-thirds of the 18th century; their works were surpassed by the brilliant operas of W.A. Mozart. In the early 19th century, G. Rossini and G. Donizetti dominated Italian opera. The later 19th century saw the great works of G. Verdi and Richard Wagner; the latter, with his bold innovations, became the most influential operatic figure since Monteverdi. R. Strauss and G. Puccini wrote the most popular 20th-century operas. See also ballad opera, Beijing Opera, operetta.