Opera seria facts for kids
Opera seria is an Italian phrase that means "serious opera." It was a very popular style of Italian opera during the 18th century. This type of opera was different from opera buffa, which was a musical comedy. Opera seria was always about serious and often sad stories. People started using the term "opera seria" only after this style was no longer popular, to talk about its history.
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What Is Opera Seria?
Italian opera seria was always sung in the Italian language. This was true even when it was created or performed in other countries. For example, it was popular in Germany, Austria, England, and Spain. However, it was not as popular in France, because they had their own kinds of opera.
Stories and Characters
The stories in opera seria were usually about ancient Greek and Roman gods or kings. This was a big difference from opera buffa, which was about everyday people. Opera buffa often made fun of kings and important people.
The main singers in opera seria were often castrati. These were male singers who had very high voices. As the 18th century went on, female singers started getting more of the main roles. The most important female singer was called the "prima donna," which means "first lady."
How Opera Seria Sounds
Opera seria was often called dramma per musica, meaning "drama through music." The story was told using recitative. This is a fast, speech-like singing style with simple music playing along.
Then came the arias. These were the big songs where singers could really show off their amazing voices. Arias were usually in a form called da capo. This means they had a main part, a middle part, and then the main part was repeated.
Every opera would begin with an overture, which is a piece of music played by the orchestra before the singing starts. There were also ensembles, where several characters sang together at the same time.
Famous Composers of Opera Seria
Many composers wrote opera seria. Some of the most well-known include Hasse, Vinci, George Frideric Handel, Piccinni, Gluck, and Mozart.
One of the first composers to write opera seria was Alessandro Scarlatti. In England, George Frideric Handel wrote many famous opera seria works.
The Importance of Libretti
A very important person in the middle of the 18th century was Metastasio. He wrote many libretti, which are the words or stories for an opera. The greatest composers in Europe used his words for their music. These included Hasse, Porpora, and especially Mozart.
Changes in Opera Seria
Later in the 18th century, Christoph Willibald Gluck made many changes to opera. He did not want opera to be just a way for singers to show off their voices. Instead, he wanted the story and the drama to be the most important parts.
Gluck tried to make the drama, dancing, and music all work together. He also made the chorus (a group of singers) more important. His first major opera was Orfeo ed Euridice, followed by others like Alceste.
Mozart's Opera Seria
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was inspired by Gluck's new ideas. Mozart wrote two great opera seria works: Idomeneo (in 1780) and La clemenza di Tito (in 1791).
However, Mozart was often more interested in writing about everyday people rather than old Greek gods and kings. His other famous Italian operas, such as Cosi fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni, are a mix of opera seria and opera buffa. The words for these operas were written by Lorenzo da Ponte.
Other important opera seria composers were Luigi Cherubini and Gaspare Spontini. Later, Rossini also made changes to the opera seria style with his music.
Images for kids
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Jacopo Amigoni: Il cantante Farinelli con amici (with Metastasio), around 1752 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne)
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A picture from a 1764 music book of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
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See also
In Spanish: Ópera seria para niños
