Opera Flashcards
Aria
Character sings about their emotions
Orchestra is active
Overture
Musical introduction prior to the show with excerpts from the opera
Recitative
Speech likes singing in between where the ACTION takes place
Orchestras is choppy
Chorus
Musical piece sung by a group
Libretto
The script or written text of the opera
Opera Buffa
Comic opera
Opera Seria
Serious opera
Grand Opera
Lots of spoken dialogue in German
Intimidating
How does it relate to opera?
Imposing, frightening
The singers screaming at you in another language
Majestic
How does it relate?
Over-the-top, graceful, fancy
In an opera, they spend time making the costumes, set, and props very nice looking and fancy.
Sustain
How does it relate?
To keep up; hold out
The singers hold on long notes and sing for 2-3 and a half hours
Evolution
To progress over time; advancement
Opera evolved from being a thing that everyone went to, to a stereotypical fancy thing
Cultivate
To grow, evolve
Opera houses and the singers’ voices developed
Convincingly
Persuade; to make believable
The actors try to convince you that they’re actually sad, happy, etc.
Grandeur
Over-the-top, fancy, impressive
Opera is a huge , grand, impressive production
