An opera in which the subject matter and characters are usually treated light-heartedly and humorously, the ending is happy or conciliatory, and a…

The genre of serious, usually tragic, opera in which the entire text is set to music; an opera of this type. Also figurative.

A short, originally one-act, opera, usually on a light or humorous theme. Now also: the genre of music characteristic of such works.

= comic opera, n.

A comic opera; a musical farce.

(Italian) comic opera, with dialogue in recitative and characters drawn from everyday life; an example of this. Frequently attributive or as adj.…

In opera: the quality of being intermediate in style or tone between seriousness and comedy. Also: (a singer suited to playing) a character having…

Serious or tragic opera; spec. a type of opera with elaborate arias, prevalent in the 18th cent. and usually based on a classical or mythological…

An opera on a light or humorous theme; (as a mass noun) such works as a genre.

A genre of French opera of the 17th and 18th centuries which makes use of tragic mythological or epic subjects; an opera in this genre. Cf. opera…

Serio-comic opera.

French comic opera, with dialogue in recitative and characters drawn from everyday life (cf. opera buffa, n.); an example of this. Frequently attrib…

= operetta, n. Also in extended use.

an opera at the end of which the hero or heroine is rescued from imprisonment, natural catastrophe, etc., by some heroic action.

a stylized form of opera popular in China since the late 18th cent., in which speech, singing, mime, and acrobatics are performed to instrumental…

A dramatic piece for a single performer, originally with spoken text and musical accompaniment (cf. melodrama, n. 1); an operatic work for one…

Opera with a fantastic or supernatural subject.

Short for opera bouffe, n., comic opera: see opera, n.1