a drama set to music and made up of vocal pieces and orchestral music
a drama set to music and made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment and usu other orchestral music (e.g. an overture)
I do not mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it is a language I don't understand — Edward Appleton
the performance of such a drama, or the score for it
Opera is one of the most familiar musical terms, yet the most complex and multi-faceted of all musical genres if not of all art forms. First designated favola in musica, opera originated in 1590s Florence as an attempt to merge drama and music in the manner of Greek tragedy. The ground-breaking characteristic of this form was its declamatory monodic style, or recitative, but it also included arias, choruses, and instrumental music. These components (plus vocal ensembles) are still the basis of today's Grand Opera which encompasses a dazzling array of masterpieces by living and dead composers, served in performance by a vast panoply of highly skilled artists and technicians — Amanda Holden
the branch of the arts concerned with such works
a company performing operas or a theatre where they are performed
a theatre where operas are performed; an opera house
[Italian opera work, opera, from Latin opera work, pains, from oper-, opus work]