由管弦乐伴奏之声乐曲、序曲、间奏曲组成的音乐剧。歌剧发明於16世纪末，当时由诗人、音乐家、学者组成的社团卡梅拉塔会社试图模仿古希腊戏剧，其中已知大部分为吟咏或歌唱。由於真正的希腊音乐无人知晓，作曲家在重新构思时拥有相当的自由。希腊田园诗的模仿作品成为早期歌剧脚本的基础。最早的歌剧由佩里（1958年的《达夫尼》，已亡佚）和卡契尼（1600年的《尤丽狄西》）写成，从头到尾都是模拟音调语言的轻度伴随旋律。最伟大的早期歌剧人物蒙特威尔第在1607年写出第一物杰作《奥菲欧》。和先前的歌剧不同，《奥菲欧》为小型管弦乐写作，其中的宣叙调开始与咏叹调有明显的区别，这个成就是後来歌剧成功的决定性因素。在法国，卢利制造出宫廷歌剧的原型，他的影响後来支配了18世纪中期的法国歌剧。拉摩、韩德尔、葛路克是18世纪前三分之二时间里最重要的歌剧作曲家，他们的作品被莫札特灿烂的歌剧超越。在19世纪早期，罗西尼和董尼才第支配着义大利歌剧。19世纪晚期出现了威尔第和华格纳的伟大作品，其中後者进行大胆的改革，成为蒙特威尔第以降影响最大的歌剧人物。史特劳斯和普契尼浦契尼写下了20世纪最受欢迎的歌剧。亦请参阅ballad opera、operetta。
opera
Musical drama made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment, overtures, and interludes. Opera was invented at the end of the 16th century in an attempt by the Camerata, an academy of Florentine poets, musicians, and scholars, to imitate ancient Greek drama, which was known to have been largely sung or chanted. Since no actual Greek music was known, composers had considerable freedom in reconceiving it. Imitations of Greek pastoral poetry became the basis for early opera libretti. The first operas, by Jacopo Peri (Dafne, 1598; lost) and G. Caccini (Euridice, 1600), consisted throughout of lightly accompanied melody closely imitating inflected speech. C. Monteverdi, the greatest early operatic figure, composed the first masterpiece, Orfeo, in 1607; unlike its predecessors, Orfeo is scored for a small orchestra, and recitative here begins to be clearly distinguished from aria, an achievement that would prove decisive for opera's future success. In France, J.-B. Lully produced a prototype for courtly opera whose influence would dominate French opera through the mid-18th century. J.-P. Rameau, G.F. Handel, and C.W. Gluck were the most significant opera composers of the first two-thirds of the 18th century; their works were surpassed by the brilliant operas of W.A. Mozart. In the early 19th century, G. Rossini and G. Donizetti dominated Italian opera. The later 19th century saw the great works of G. Verdi and Richard Wagner; the latter, with his bold innovations, became the most influential operatic figure since Monteverdi. R. Strauss and G. Puccini wrote the most popular 20th-century operas. See also ballad opera, Beijing Opera, operetta.
