Opera

Opera was born in Florence around 1600 as a fully complete spectacle combining singing, drama and instruments. In 1762 Gluck reformed the genre with Orfeo ed Euridice; in 1786 Mozart perfected its comedy with The Marriage of Figaro and its tragedy, with Don Giovanni. Nineteenth-century Italy dominated the playbills: Rossini’s liveliness in The Barber of Seville and Verdi’s passion in La Traviata. In the twentieth century Puccini brought lyricism into the modern age with “Nessun dorma” from Turandot. From the earliest mythological tales to verismo intensity, opera remains the place where music and theatre fuse.
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