Opera

Opera is a kind of theatre in which music is a key component and singers have dramatic roles, but it is different from musical theatre in that it is performed entirely on stage. In most cases, such a "work" (the exact translation of the Italian term "opera" is "operatic work") is the result of the cooperation of a composer and a librettist, and it includes a variety of performing arts disciplines such as acting, staging, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is usually held in an opera house and is accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical group, which has been directed by a conductor from the early nineteenth century.

Western classical music heritage is incomplete without opera, which is a major component of it. Opera, which was originally thought of as a completely sung work, as opposed to a play with songs, has evolved to include a wide range of genres, including those that contain spoken dialogue, such as musical theatre, Singspiel, and Opéra comique. Singing styles used in conventional number opera include recitative, which is a speech-inflected form, and self-contained arias, which are short pieces of music that stand alone. The development of the continuous music theatre began in the nineteenth century.