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This article is substantially duplicated by a piece in an external publication. Please do not flag this article as a copyright violation of the following sources:
Surhone, L. M., Timpledon, M. T., & Marseken, S. F. (2010), Oberon (opera): Opera, Carl Maria von Weber, James Robinson Planche, Betascript Publishing{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Miller, F. P., Vandome, A. F., & McBrewster, J. (2010), Comic opera: Opera buffa, opera seria, opéra bouffon, operetta, Jacques Offenbach, Singspiel, zarzuela, ballad opera, Savoy opera, opéra comique, musical theatre, opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, Alphascript Publishing{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
I think a section listing many of the most famous contemporary opera singers - Renee Fleming, Audra McDonald etc - would be useful for readers looking to learn more about opera in today's context. Thoughts? Kstetson (talk) 21:09, 12 November 2013 (UTC)Reply[reply]
you are free to add sources, but always reliable sources, Thanks.--Bolzanobozen (talk) 15:28, 27 August 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Paris is a city famous for the ballet; when it comes to opera one thinks of Milan, Vienna or New York. But above all an article about opera should start with a picture focused on stage action - NOT on a building. Furthermore the Palais Garnier, beautiful as it is, is far from ideal for an opera house; it was built for wealthy Parisians to show off in and most of the building is front of house - and the stage is very limited. In the Vienna State Opera two thirds of the building is backstage which makes all the difference. In Paris they had to construct the new Bastille Opera in order to provide an adequate home for large operas whereas Vienna and Milan are still 100% functional.--Meister und Margarita (talk) 16:52, 21 January 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Meister und Margarita call the picture of the Palais Garnier beautiful and I don't think it is "silly and boring". If you look at the top of this page, you might recognise it in the logos of the WikiProject Opera. Criticising the choice of an image by pointing out deficiencies in the functionality as an opera house misses the point in a big way. Note the the Opera Project's previous logo was the Sydney Opera House which is probably less functional than the Garnier. MuM's "solution" to the perceived problem was to reduce the image's size, a less than imaginative approach. Others have suggested some alternatives:
the extreme distortion of the Vienna State Opera's auditorium is a bit disconcerting;
Callas at La Scala is very evocative, although her identity is not clear without a caption and the image's copyright status is a bit dubious;
I submit that an outdoor production of La traviata is not the best picture to lead this article;
That leaves La bohème and Die Zauberflöte at rather obscure companies, but, if pressed, the image from the DuPage Opera Theatre has more charm than the Augsburg Zauberflöte.
But none reach the iconic stature of the Palais Garnier. I suggest to keep this image which has been here (in slightly different versions) for more than 3 years. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 05:20, 22 January 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
I agree. The Palais Garnier is not only beautiful, but says "Opera" in an iconic way that the other options do not (however functional its stage may be). Markhh (talk) 05:47, 22 January 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
I personally feel that the exterior of any building, no matter how famous or beautiful of a venue for opera, is less than ideal for the lead of the opera article. I much prefer an "action shot" of an actual opera performance. Further, the excellent Palais Garnier photograph might be a better choice for the lead of the French opera article.4meter4 (talk) 20:10, 22 January 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
I think the image of the Scala of Milan is a good example for the Opera.Bolzanobozen (talk) 15:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
These two sentences in the lead seem to contradict each other:
"Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers, but is distinct from musical theater."
"Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as musical theater."
Is musical theater included in opera or distinct from it? Kaldari (talk) 03:07, 8 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
That depends on musical theater (any stage work with music, probably not meant) and musical theatre, a specific genre. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:20, 8 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Gerda, are you suggesting that the UK & US spellings have different meanings? Really they don't. Johnbod (talk) 17:59, 8 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Gerda is right about the ambiguous meaning of "musical theatre". Anyway, the phrase was added on 9 January by an IP editor, which also involved citation hijacking. I suggest to remove that phrase ("but is distinct from musical theater") and also from "include spoken dialogue such as musical theater" until we find a better way of expressing the difference. Further, that footnote after "Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition." should be removed as well. A footnote is not the place to elaborate on the distinction to other performance art. What the article needs is a new section, "What is opera"/"Characteristics"/"Definition" – no doubt not an easy subject. Until then, and to eliminate the obvious and recently introduced contradiction noted by Kaldari, the term "musical theatre" should be removed from the lead. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 14:08, 8 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Opera is "distinct from musical theater", with a rather small overlap that the lead can ignore. The second bit "including some that include spoken dialogue such as musical theater." should drop the last 4 words. Johnbod (talk) 17:59, 8 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
I think Gerda is commenting on the inherently ambiguous term "musical theat[re|er]" which can refer to "musicals", as the genre is known in almost every language, or to its literal meaning, "theatrical performance that combines singing, spoken dialogue, acting and dance", an art form that is called "Musiktheater [Wikidata]" in many languages and which indeed includes musicals and opera, and more. There is no term in English for this wider category, and I think that's where the need for demarcation in both articles, "Opera" and "Musical theatre", comes from.
… that the lead can ignore and drop the last 4 words: I agree. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 07:01, 9 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
This topic is missing an important component, if it wasn’t for Cairo opera house, Verdi wouldn’t have been commissioned and paid to compose his most famous work Aïda! I find it ridiculous to talk about the Azerbaijani and Turkish opera and even the Russian one without talking about Egypt’s role! 87.8.139.212 (talk) 22:46, 24 November 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Is there Egyptian opera? Because Verdi's - even if performed in Cairo - is Italian. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:57, 24 November 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]
That topic is already covered thoroughly at Opera in Arabic. There isn’t really much to say on the topic, as Western operas have typically been imported to Egypt and sung in their original languages rather than originating in Egypt and sung in Arabic. The most notable exceptions to that are included in that article. Aida, while certainly linked to the history of Western opera in Egypt, is written in the Italian tradition of opera and by a seminal Italian composer in the Italian language. It isn’t an “Egyptian opera” in terms of its cultural and language origins (even if set in Egypt and commissioned for performance in Egypt), being written by Italians in a thoroughly Italian style. The Russian and Czech cultures have produced many operas in their languages and from stories from their cultures that have had a wide impact on the standard opera repertory globally; something that can not be said for the Arabic world as a whole, including Egypt. As such, they rightly deserve more emphasis in this article. We could include a short summation of opera in Arabic in the opera article. 4meter4 (talk) 02:08, 25 November 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]
If you can provide WP:RS then editors can add it in, if not, sadly it will fall under WP:OR. Eruditess (talk) 22:12, 12 December 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Referencing and citation: not checked
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An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Opera eroica and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 October 11#Opera eroica until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 19:54, 11 October 2022 (UTC)