The world of opera is a universe unto itself. The first thing that the opera neophyte needs to remember is that you can’t take this stuff too seriously. Most operatic librettos simply give performers justification to to sing heart wrenching arias, often followed by their tragic deaths. The opera is also rich with stereotypes. For example, tenors are usually stupid and often insensitive. Bases are commonly villains and there is hardly a female love interest that is not a soprano. Perhaps it is the contrast between lavish production values and the roles of schemers, scoundrels, lunatics, and lovers that can make the opera not only high art, but fun as well.

To a large extent operas tend to have strong nationalistic styles. Most people would agree that the pinnacle of operatic composition tends to be Italian. It can be argued that the five greatest operatic composers are Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi and Wagner. Of those, two are German and three are Italian. However the majority of Mozart’s operas were written in Italian (seven in German, one in Latin, fourteen in Italian) so it could be argued that Mozart, a German, comes close to falling into the Italian camp.

Italian opera tend to be light, airy and loaded with vocal fireworks. French operas are often huge productions done in a grand style (could the term “Grand Opera” have been created for the French?). Many German opera are much heavier though newer works move in many different directions including the avante garde. German composer Wagner’s operas moved in an entirely different direction with almost ponderous pacing, but possesses a huge orchestral sound that only the most heroic of performers can sing over. The overture to Tristen Und Isolde is a showcase of Wagner’s talent for orchestrations. In many ways Wagner reinvented the opera and during his life it can be said that he almost owned the operatic stage.

For the most part I’m a fan of Italian opera. One of my favorites is Il Tabarro a one act opera by Giacomo Puccini. The music of Il Tabarro moves deftly from the sounds of Paris on the Seine, to ballad, to dance and finally to the heavy tones of murder and tragedy. This 55 minute marvel is in the verismo style.

Verismo means “realism”. Verismo opera tells stories of the lives of ordinary people, with their passions, challenges and often fatal violence. The verismo opera came along relatively lately in the art form’s evolution. Prior to verismo, there were two common forms, “opera seria” and “opera buffo” respectively for serious and comic opera.

The finest of comic opera has to have been written by Rossini. His Largo al Factotum from the Barber of Seville is probably one of the most recognized of all operatic areas. Like Wagner, in his day Rossini enjoyed enormous popularity.

For all the appeal of opera buffo, It seems like the serious operas outnumber the comic by at least ten to one, though some wonderful works mix the two. Musetta’s Waltz from Puccini’s La Boheme comes to mind, a light aria sung by Musetta as she tempts and plays with the emotions of Marcello, her on-again off-again lover. Yet for all it’s lighthearted moments, La Boheme also speaks to the difficulties and the dark sides of life, with Mimi, the female lead succumbing to tuberculosis.

Sadly, I have only touched upon the most superficial aspects of the opera. It’s really impossible to do more in a few short blog entries. I will follow up with a review of a some of my favorite operatic works.