Romantic Opera

French Operas
Georges Bizet ~1863-75
Grand opera- serious, historical themes with huge choruses, crowd scenes, elaborate dance episodes, elaborate costumes and scenery.
Lyric opera- A hybrid of grand opera and opera comique. This type of opera features lyrical melodies and romantic drama of which Carmen is one of the masterpieces of French Opera.
Italian Operas
Gioachino Rossini ~ 1808-29	Giuseppe Verdi ~ 1838-93
Giacomo Puccini ~ 1893-1904
Verismo- Post-Romantic type of opera which features realism, ie characters picked from everyday life. Examples of this type of operas are La Boheme, Tosca by Puccini
Opera seria and opera buffa
German Operas
Richard Wagner ~ 1833-74
Wagner created the music drama where the focal point is the orchestra. The orchestra unifies the action and characters. He used leitmotifs, which is used throughout the work. These motifs carry a specific meaning, like an emotion, an idea, an object or a scenery. Within the opera, the leitmotif is transformed as the opera progresses. Wagner's harmonic language is one of chromatic dissonance. The unresolved harmony creates tension which depicts the emotional states of the characters.