This is aglossarylist of opera genres, giving alternative names.
"Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at firstcommonly used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most composers used more precise designations to present their work to the public. Often specific genres of opera were commissioned by theatres or patrons (in which case the form of the work might deviate more or less from the genre norm, depending on the inclination of the composer). Opera genres are not exclusive. Some operas are regarded as belonging to several.[1]
Opera genres have been defined in different ways, not always in terms of stylistic rules. Some, likeopera seria, refer to traditions identified by later historians,[2] and others, likeZeitoper, have been defined by their own inventors. Other forms have been associated with a particular theatre, for exampleopéra comique at thetheatre of the same name, oropéra bouffe at theThéâtre des Bouffes Parisiens.
This list does not include terms that are vague and merely descriptive, such as "comic opera",[3] "sacred opera", "tragic opera" or "one-act opera" etc. Original language terms are given to avoid the ambiguities that would be caused by English translations.
| Genre | Language | Description | First known example | Major works | Last known example | Notable composers | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acte de ballet | French | Anopéra ballet consisting of a single entrée. 18th century. | Les fêtes de Ramire (1745),Anacréon (1754), | Rameau | [4] | ||
| Afterpiece | English | 18th/19th century short opera or pantomime performed after a full-length play. | The Padlock (1768) | Dibdin | [4] | ||
| Azione sacra | Italian | Literally, "sacred action". 17th and early 18th century opera with religious subject. Performed atVienna court. | L'humanità redenta (Draghi, 1669) | Draghi,Bertali, Pietro Andrea Ziani, Giovanni Battista Pederzuoli,Cesti | [4] | ||
| Azione sepolcrale | Italian | alternative name for azione sacra | [4] | ||||
| Azione scenica | Italian | alternative name for azione teatrale | Al gran sole carico d'amore (1975) | [4] | |||
| Azione teatrale (pluralazioni teatrali) | Italian | Small-scale one-act opera, or musical play. Early form of chamber opera. Popular in late 17th and 18th centuries. (See alsofesta teatrale, a similar genre but on a larger scale.) | Le cinesi (1754),Il sogno di Scipione (1772),L'isola disabitata (1779) | Bonno,Gluck,Mozart,Haydn | [4] | ||
| Ballad opera | English | Entertainment originating in 18th-centuryLondon as a reaction against Italian opera. Early examples used existing popular ballad tunes set to satirical texts. Also popular inDublin and America, Influenced the GermanSingspiel, and subsequently 20th-century opera. | The Beggar's Opera (1728) | Love in a Village (1762),Hugh the Drover (1924),The Threepenny Opera (1928) | Pepusch,Coffey,Arne,Weill | [4] | |
| Ballet héroïque | French | Literally 'heroic ballet'. A type ofopéra ballet featuring the heroic and exotic, of the early/mid 18th century. | Les festes grecques et romaines (Colin de Blamont, 1723) | Zaïde, reine de Grenade (1739),Les fêtes de Paphos (1758) | Royer,Mondonville,Mion | [4] | |
| Bühnenfestspiel | German | Literally, "stage festival play".Wagner's description of the four operas ofDer Ring des Nibelungen | Wagner | [4] | |||
| Bühnenweihfestspiel | German | Literally, "stage consecration festival play".Wagner's description forParsifal | Wagner | [4] | |||
| Burla | Italian | alternative name forburletta | [4] | ||||
| Burletta | Italian | Literally, "little joke". Informal term for comic pieces in the 18th century. Used in England forintermezzos and light, satirical works. | The Recruiting Serjeant (1770) | Dibdin | [4] | ||
| Burletta per musica | Italian | alternative name forburletta | Il vero originale (Mayr 1808) | ||||
| Burlettina | Italian | alternative name forburletta | [4] | ||||
| Characterposse | German | Specialized form ofPosse mit Gesang concentrating on personalities. | [4] | ||||
| Comédie en vaudeville | French | Entertainment inParis fair theatres at the end of the 17th century, mixing popularvaudeville songs with comedy. In the 18th century, developed into theopéra comique, while influencing directly the Englishballad opera and indirectly the GermanSingspiel. | |||||
| Comédie lyrique | French | Literally, "lyric comedy". 18th century: description used byRameau. 19th century: alternative name for opéra lyrique. | Platée (1745),Les Paladins (1760) | Rameau | [5] | ||
| Comédie mêlée d'ariettes | French | Literally, "comedy mixed with brief arias". An early form ofFrenchopéra comique dating to the mid 18th century. | La rencontre imprévue (1764),Tom Jones (1765),Le déserteur (1769),Zémire et Azor (1771),Le congrès des rois (Cherubiniet al., 1794) | Gluck,Grétry | |||
| Commedia | Italian | abbreviation of commedia in musica | Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) | ||||
| Commedia in musica | Italian | alternative name foropera buffa | [6] | ||||
| Commedia per musica | Italian | alternative name foropera buffa | La pastorella nobile (1788) | [6] | |||
| Componimento da camera | Italian | alternative name for azione teatrale | [4] | ||||
| Componimento drammatico | Italian | alternative name for azione teatrale | [4] | ||||
| Componimento pastorale | Italian | alternative name for azione teatrale | La danza (Gluck, 1755) | Gluck | [4] | ||
| Conte lyrique | French | alternative name for opéra lyrique | Grisélidis (Massenet, 1901) | [4] | |||
| Divertimento giocoso | Italian | alternative name foropera buffa | [6] | ||||
| Dramatic (or dramatick) opera | English | alternative name forsemi-opera | |||||
| Drame forain | French | alternative name forComédie en vaudeville | [4] | ||||
| Drame lyrique | French | Literally, "lyric drama". (1) Term used in the 18th century. (2) Reinvented in the late 19th/early 20th century to describe opera that developed out ofopéra comique, influenced byMassenet. | Echo et Narcisse (1779),La marquise de Brinvilliers (1831),Werther (1892),Briséïs (1897),Messidor (1897) | Gluck,Chabrier,Bruneau,Erlanger | [4] | ||
| Dramma bernesco | Italian | alternative name foropera buffa | [6] | ||||
| Dramma comico | Italian | alternative name foropera buffa, 18th/early 19th century. Also used for the genre that replaced it from mid 19th century, with the elimination ofrecitatives. | [6] | ||||
| Dramma comico per musica | Italian | alternative name for dramma comico | |||||
| Dramma di sentimento | Italian | alternative name foropera semiseria | [4] | ||||
| Dramma eroicomico | Italian | Literally "heroic-comic drama". A late 18th centuryopera buffa with some heroic content. | Orlando paladino (1782),Palmira, regina di Persia (1795) | Haydn,Salieri | [4] | ||
| Dramma giocoso (pluraldrammi giocosi) | Italian | Literally, "jocular drama". Mid 18th century form that developed out of theopera buffa, marked by the addition of serious, even tragic roles and situations to the comic ones. (Effectively a subgenre ofopera buffa in the 18th century.)[7] | La scuola de' gelosi (1778),La vera costanza (1779),Il viaggio a Reims (1825), | Haydn,Mozart,Salieri,Sarti,Rossini,Donizetti | [4] | ||
| Dramma giocoso per musica | Italian | full term fordramma giocoso | |||||
| Dramma pastorale | Italian | Literally, "pastoral drama". Used for some of the earliest operas down to the 18th century. | Eumelio (Agazzari, 1606),La fede riconosciuta (A Scarlatti, 1710) | A Scarlatti,Sarti | [4] | ||
| Dramma per musica (pluraldrammi per musica) | Italian | Literally, "drama for music", or "a play intended to be set to music" (i.e. alibretto). Later, synonymous withopera seria and dramma serio per musica;[8] in the 19th century, sometimes used for serious opera. | Erismena (1656),Tito Manlio (1719),Paride ed Elena (1770),Idomeneo (1781),Rossini'sOtello (1816) | A Scarlatti,Cavalli,Vivaldi,Sarti,Gluck,Mozart | [4] | ||
| Dramma semiserio | Italian | alternative name foropera semiseria | Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815) | ||||
| Dramma tragicomico | Italian | alternative name foropera semiseria. | Axur, re d'Ormus (1787) | [4] | |||
| Entr'acte | French | French name forintermezzo | [4] | ||||
| Episode lyrique | French | alternative name for opéra lyrique | [4] | ||||
| Fait historique | French | Late 18th/19th century. Opéra or opéra comique based on French history, especially popular during theFrench Revolution. | L'incendie du Havre (1786) | Joseph Barra (Grétry 1794),Le pont de Lody (Méhul 1797),Milton (1804) | Grétry,Méhul,Spontini | [4][9] | |
| Farsa (pluralfarse) | Italian | Literally, "farce". A form of one-act opera, sometimes with dancing, associated withVenice, especially theTeatro San Moisè, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. | La cambiale di matrimonio (1810),L'inganno felice (1812),La scala di seta (1812),Il signor Bruschino (1813),Adina (1818) | Rossini | [10] | ||
| Farsetta | Italian | alternative name for farsa | [10] | ||||
| Feenmärchen | German | alternative name for Märchenoper | [11] | ||||
| Favola in musica | Italian | Earliest form of opera | Dafne (1598) | L'Orfeo (1607) | Monteverdi | ||
| Festa teatrale | Italian | A grander version of theazione teatrale. An opera given as part of a court celebration (of a marriage etc.) Typically associated with Vienna. | Il pomo d'oro (Cesti, 1668) | Draghi,Fux,Caldara | [4] | ||
| Geistliche Oper | German | Literally, "sacred opera". Genre invented by theRussian composerAnton Rubinstein for his German-language, staged opera-oratorios. | Das verlorene Paradies (Rubinstein, 1856) | Der Thurm zu Babel (1870),Sulamith (1883),Moses (1894) | Christus (Rubinstein, 1895) | Rubinstein | [12] |
| Género chico | Spanish | Literally, "little genre". A type ofzarzuela, differing from zarzuela grande by its brevity and popular appeal. | Ruperto Chapí | ||||
| Género grande | Spanish | alternative name forzarzuela grande | |||||
| Grand opéra | French | 19th-century genre, usually with 4 or 5 acts, large-scale casts and orchestras, and spectacular staging, often based on historical themes. Particularly associated with theParis Opéra (1820s to c. 1850), but similar works were created in other countries. | La muette de Portici (1828) | Robert le diable (1831),La Juive (1835),Les Huguenots (1836) | Patrie! (Paladilhe, 1886) | Meyerbeer,Halévy,Verdi | |
| Handlung | German | Literally "action" or "drama". Wagner's description forTristan und Isolde. | Wagner | ||||
| Intermezzo | Italian | Comic relief inserted between acts ofopere serie in the early 18th century, typically involvingslapstick, disguises etc. Spread throughout Europe In the 1730s. PredatedOpera buffa. | Frappolone e Florinetta (Gasparini?, 1706) | La serva padrona (1733) | Pergolesi,Hasse | [13] | |
| Liederspiel | German | Literally "song-play". Early 19th century genre in which existing lyrics, often well-known, were set to new music and inserted into a spoken play. | Lieb' und Treue (Reichardt, 1800) | Kunst und Liebe (Reichardt, 1807) | ReichardtLindpaintner | [14] | |
| Lokalposse | German | Specialized form ofPosse mit Gesang concentrating on daily life themes, associated with the playwrightKarl von Marinelli. | [4] | ||||
| Märchenoper | German | "Fairy-tale opera", a genre of 19th century opera usually with a supernatural theme. Similar to Zauberoper. | Hänsel und Gretel (1893) | Humperdinck,Siegfried Wagner | [11] | ||
| Märchenspiel | German | alternative name for Märchenoper | [11] | ||||
| Melodramma | Italian | 19th century. General term for opera sometimes used instead of more specific genres. | [15] | ||||
| Melodramma serio | Italian | alternative name for opera seria | |||||
| Musikdrama | German | Term associated with the later operas ofWagner but repudiated by him.[16] Nevertheless, widely used by post-Wagnerian composers. | Tiefland (1903),Salome (1905),Der Golem (d'Albert 1926) | d'Albert,Richard Strauss | [4][16] | ||
| Opéra | French | Referring to individual works: 1. 18th century. Occasionally used for operas outside specific, standard genres. 2. 19th/20th century: an opéra is a "French lyric stage work sung throughout"[17] in contrast to anopéra comique that mixed singing with spoken dialogue. Opéra (which includedgrand opéra), was associated with theParis Opéra (the Opéra). Also used for some works with a serious tone at theOpéra-Comique. | Naïs (1749),Fernand Cortez (1809),Moïse et Pharaon (1827),Les vêpres siciliennes (1855),Roméo et Juliette (1867) | Grétry,Spontini,Rossini,Verdi,Gounod | [17] | ||
| Opéra-ballet | French | Genre with more dancing thantragédie en musique. Usually with a prologue and a number of self-contained acts (calledentrées), following a theme. | L'Europe galante (1697) | Les élémens (1721),Les Indes galantes (1735),Les fêtes d'Hébé (1739) | Destouches,Rameau | [4] | |
| Opera ballo | Italian | 19th-century Italiangrand opéra. | Il Guarany (1870),Aida (1871),La Gioconda (opera) (1876) | Gomes,Verdi,Ponchielli | [18] | ||
| Opera buffa (plural,opere buffe) | Italian | Major genre of comic opera in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Originating inNaples (especially theTeatro dei Fiorentini), its popularity spread during the 1730s, notably toVenice where development was influenced by the playwright/librettistGoldoni. Typically in three acts, unlike theintermezzo. Contrasting in style, subject matter, and the use of dialect with the formal, aristocraticopera seria. | La Cilla (Michelangelo Faggioli, 1706) | Li zite 'ngalera (1722),Il filosofo di campagna (Galuppi, 1754),La buona figliuola (1760),Le nozze di Figaro (1786),Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816),Don Pasquale (1843),Crispino e la comare (1850) | Don Procopio (1859) | Vinci,Pergolesi,Galuppi,Duni,Piccinni,Sacchini,Salieri,Mozart,Rossini | [6] |
| Opéra bouffe (plural,opéras bouffes) | French | Comic genre ofopérette including satire, parody and farce. Closely connected withOffenbach and theThéâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens where most of them were produced. | Orphée aux enfers (1858) | La belle Hélène (1864),La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867),La Périchole (1868) | Les mamelles de Tirésias (1947) | Offenbach,Hervé,Lecocq | [19] |
| Opéra bouffon | French | Opera buffa as performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in translation. (Sometimes confused withopéra comique.) | Le roi Théodore à Venise (Paisiello, 1786) | [20] | |||
| Opéra comique (plural,opéras comiques) | French | Literally, 'comic opera'. Genre includingarias, a certain amount of spoken dialogue (and sometimes recitatives). Closely associated with works written for theParisOpéra-Comique. Themes included were serious and tragic, as well as light. Tradition developed from popular early 18th centurycomédies en vaudevilles and lasted into 20th century with many changes in style. | Télémaque (Jean-Claude Gillier, 1715) | Les troqueurs (1753),La dame blanche (1825),Carmen (1875),Lakmé (1883) | Philidor,Monsigny,Grétry,Boieldieu,Auber, | [4] | |
| Opéra comique en vaudeville | French | alternative name forcomédie en vaudeville | |||||
| Opera eroica | Italian | 17th/18th/19th century genre which translates as "heroic opera". It mixed serious and romantic drama with improvised comedy.[21] | Enrico di Borgogna (1818)[22] | ||||
| Opéra féerie (plural,opéras féeries) | French | 18th/19th century genre of works based on fairy tales, often involving magic. | Zémire et Azor (1771),Cendrillon (1810),La belle au bois dormant (1825) | Carafa,Isouard | [23] | ||
| Opéra lyrique | French | Literally, "lyric opera". Late 18th/19th century, less grandiose than grand opéra, but without the spoken dialogue ofopéra comique. (Term applied more to the genre as a whole than individual operas.) | Gounod,Ambroise Thomas,Massenet | [4] | |||
| Opera-oratorio | Oedipe roi (1927),Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (1938) | Milhaud,Honegger,Stravinsky | |||||
| Opera semiseria | Italian | Literally, "semi-serious opera". Early/mid 19th century genre employing comedy but also, unlikeopera buffa, pathos, often with a pastoral setting. Typically included a basso buffo role. | Camilla (Paer, 1799) | La gazza ladra (1817),Linda di Chamounix (1842) | Violetta (Mercadante, 1853) | Paer,Rossini,Donizetti | [24] |
| Opera seria (plural,opere serie) | Italian | Literally, "serious opera". Dominant style of opera in the 18th century, not only in Italy but throughout Europe (exceptFrance). Rigorously formal works using texts, mainly based on ancient history, by poet-librettists led byMetastasio. Patronized by the court and the nobility. Star singers were oftencastrati. | Griselda (1721),Cleofide (Hasse, 1731),Ariodante (1735),Alceste (1767),La clemenza di Tito (1791) | Alessandro Scarlatti,Vivaldi,Hasse,Handel,Gluck,Mozart | [4][2] | ||
| Opéra-tragédie | French | alternative name fortragédie en musique | [25] | ||||
| Operetta | English (from Italian) | Literally, "little opera". Derived from English versions ofOffenbach'sopéras bouffes performed in London in the 1860s. Some of the earliest native operettas in English were written byFrederic Clay andSullivan. (W. S. Gilbert and Sullivan wished to distinguish theirjoint works from continental operetta and later called them "comic operas" orSavoy operas). | Cox and Box (1866) | Princess Toto (1876),Rip Van Winkle (1882),Naughty Marietta (1910),Monsieur Beaucaire (1919),The Student Prince (1924),The Vagabond King (1925) | Candide (1956) | Sullivan,Herbert,Romberg,Friml,Leonard Bernstein | [26] |
| Opérette (plural,opérettes) | French | Frenchoperetta. Original genre of light (both of music and subject matter) opera that grew out of the Frenchopéra comique in the mid 19th century. Associated with the style of theSecond Empire by the works ofOffenbach, though his best-known examples are designated subgenerically asopéras bouffes. | L'ours et le pacha (Hervé, 1842) | Madame Papillon (Offenbach, 1855),Les mousquetaires au couvent (1880),Les p'tites Michu (1897),Ciboulette (1923) | Hervé,Offenbach,Varney,Messager,Hahn | [26] | |
| Opérette bouffe | French | Subgenre ofFrench opérette. | La bonne d'enfant (1856),M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . . . (1861) | Offenbach | [26] | ||
| Opérette vaudeville (or vaudeville opérette) | French | Subgenre ofFrench opérette. | L'ours et le pacha (Hervé, 1842) | Mam'zelle Nitouche (1883) | Hervé, Victor Roger | [26] | |
| Operette (plural,operetten) | German | Germanoperetta. PopularViennese genre during the 19th and 20th centuries, created under the influence of Offenbach and spread toBerlin,Budapest, and other German and east European cities. | Das Pensionat (Suppé, 1860) | Die Fledermaus (1874),The Merry Widow (1905),Das Land des Lächelns (1929) | Frühjahrsparade (Robert Stolz, 1964) | Johann Strauss II,Lehár,Oscar Straus | [26] |
| Pasticcio | Italian | Literally "a pie" or a hotchpotch. An adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, or inauthentic. Also used for a single work by a number of different composers, particularly in early 18th-centuryLondon. | Thomyris (Pepusch,Bononcini,Scarlatti,Gasparini,Albinoni, 1707)Muzio Scevola (1721),Ivanhoé (1826) | Handel,Vivaldi | [4] | ||
| Pièce lyrique | French | alternative name for opéra lyrique | [4] | ||||
| Pastorale héroïque | French | Type of ballet héroïque (opéra-ballet). Usually in three acts with an allegorical prologue, that typically drew on classical themes associated with pastoral poetry. | Acis et Galatée (1686) | Issé (1697),Zaïs (1748),Naïs (1749) | Lully,Rameau | [27] | |
| Posse | German | alternative name forPosse mit Gesang | [4] | ||||
| Posse mit Gesang (pluralPossen mit Gesang) | German | Literally, "farce with singing". Popular entertainment of late 18th/early 19th centuries, associated withVienna,Berlin andHamburg. Similar to theSingspiel, but with more action and less music. Re-invented in the early 20th century byWalter Kollo and others. | Der Alpenkönig und der Menschenfeind (Raimund, 1828),Filmzauber (1912) | Kreutzer,Müller,Schubert,Walter Kollo | [4] | ||
| Possenspiel | German | early name forPosse mit Gesang | [4] | ||||
| Possenspil | German | early name forPosse mit Gesang | [4] | ||||
| Radio opera | English | Works writtenspecifically for the medium of radio. | The Red Pen (1925) | The Willow Tree (Cadman, 1932),Die schwarze Spinne (Sutermeister, 1936),Comedy on the Bridge (1937),The Old Maid and the Thief (1939),Il prigioniero (1949),I due timidi (1950) | Martinů,Sutermeister,Menotti,Dallapiccola,Rota | [28] | |
| Rappresentazione sacra | Italian | alternative name for azione sacra | [29] | ||||
| Rescue opera | French | Early nineteenth century transitional genre betweenopéra comique, Romantic opera, and grand opera, featuring the rescue of a main character; calledopéra à sauvetage in French, andRettunsoper orBefreiungsoper in German (alsoSchrekensoper) | Les rigueurs du cloître (Henri Montan Berton, 1790) orLodoïska (1791); some antecedents whose inclusion in the genre is debated | Fidelio,Lodoïska,Les deux journées | Dalibor (1868) | Cherubini,Dalayrac,Le Sueur | [4] |
| Romantische Oper | German | Early 19th-century German genre derived from earlier Frenchopéras comiques, dealing with "German" themes of nature, the supernatural, folklore etc. Spoken dialogue, originally included with musical numbers, was eventually eliminated in works by Richard Wagner. | Silvana (1810) | Der Freischütz (1821),Hans Heiling (1833),Undine (1845),Tannhäuser (1845) | Lohengrin (1850) | Weber,Marschner,Lortzing,Wagner | [4] |
| Sainete | Spanish | Literally, "farce" or "titbit". 17th/18th century genre of comic opera similar to the Italianintermezzo, performed together with larger works. Popular inMadrid in the latter 18th century. During the 19th century, the Sainete was synonymous withgénero chico. | Il mago (1632) | Pablo Esteve,Soler, Antonio Rosales | [4][30] | ||
| Sainetillo | Spanish | Diminutive of sainete | [30] | ||||
| Savoy opera | English | 19th-century form ofoperetta[31] (sometimes referred to as a form of "comic opera" to distance the English genre from the continental) comprising the works ofGilbert and Sullivan and other works from 1877 to 1903 that played at theOpera Comique and then theSavoy Theatre inLondon. These influenced the rise ofmusical theatre. | Trial by Jury (1875) | H.M.S. Pinafore (1878),The Pirates of Penzance (1880),The Mikado (1885),The Gondoliers (1889),Merrie England (1902) | A Princess of Kensington (1903) | Sullivan,Solomon,German | [31] |
| Saynète | French | French for sainete. Description used for a particular style ofopérette in the 19th century. | La caravane de l'amour (Hervé, 1854),Le rêve d'une nuit d'été (Offenbach, 1855),Le valet de coeur (Planquette, 1875) | Hervé,Offenbach,Planquette | [30] | ||
| Schauspiel mit Gesang | German | Literally, "play with singing". Term used byGoethe for his early libretti, though he called themSingspiele when revising them. | Erwin und Elmire (Goethe 1775) | Liebe nur beglückt (Reichardt, 1781),Die Teufels Mühle am Wienerberg (Müller 1799) | [32] | ||
| Schuloper | German | Literally, "school opera". Early 20th century, opera created for performance by school children. | Der Jasager (1930),Wir bauen eine Stadt (Hindemith, 1930) | Weill,Hindemith | [33] | ||
| Semi-opera | English | Early form ofopera with singing, speaking and dancing roles. Popular between 1673 and 1710. | The Tempest (Betterton, 1674) | Psyche (1675),King Arthur (1691),The Fairy-Queen (1692) | Purcell | [4] | |
| Sepolcro | Italian | Azione sacra on the subject of the passion and crucifixion of Christ. | Draghi | [29] | |||
| Serenata | Italian | Literally, "evening song". Short opera performed at court for celebrations, similar to theazione teatrale. (Also used to refer toserenades.) | Acis and Galatea (1720),Il Parnaso confuso (Gluck 1765) | Handel,Gluck | [4] | ||
| Singspiel (pluralSingspiele) | German | Literally, "sing play". Popular genre of the 18th/19th centuries, (though the term is also found as early as the 16th century). Derived originally from translations ofEnglishballad operas, but also influenced by Frenchopéra comique. Spokendialogue, combined withensembles, folk-colouredballads andarias. Originally performed by traveling troupes. Plots generally comic or romantic, often includingmagic. Developed into German "rescue opera" andromantische Oper. | Der Teufel ist los (Johann Georg Standfuss, 1752) | Die verwandelten Weiber (1766),Die Jagd (1770),Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782),Abu Hassan (1811) | Hiller,Mozart,Weber | [4][32] | |
| Situationsposse | German | Specialized form ofPosse mit Gesang concentrating on social situations. | [4] | ||||
| Songspiel | German | Literally, "song play" ("Song" being the English wordas used in German, e.g. by Brecht, etc.) Term invented byKurt Weill to update the concept ofSingspiel | Mahagonny-Songspiel (1927) | Kurt Weill | [4] | ||
| Spieloper | German | Literally, "opera play". 19th-century light opera genre, derived fromSingspiel and to a lesser extentopéra comique, containing spoken dialogue.Spieltenor andSpielbass are specialized voice types connected with the genre. | Zar und Zimmermann (1837),The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849) | Lortzing,Nicolai | [4] | ||
| Syngespil | Danish | Local form ofSingspiel. Late 18th/19th century. | Soliman den Anden (Sarti, 1770),Holger Danske (1787),Høstgildet (Schulz, 1790) | Sarti,Schulz,Kunzen | [4] | ||
| Television opera | English | Works writtenspecifically for the medium of television. | Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) | The Marriage (1953),Owen Wingrave (1971),Man on the Moon (2006) | Menotti,Martinů,Sutermeister,Britten | [34] | |
| Tonadilla | Spanish | Literally, "little tune". 18th century miniature satirical genre, for one or more singer, that developed out of the sainete. Performed in between longer works. | La mesonera y el arriero (Luis Misón, 1757) | Antonio Guerrero,Misón, José Palomino | [4] | ||
| Tragédie | French | alternative name fortragédie en musique | [25] | ||||
| Tragédie en musique | French | 17th/18th century lyric genre with themes fromClassical mythology and the Italian epics ofTasso andAriosto, not necessarily with tragic outcomes. Usually 5 acts, sometimes with a prologue. Short arias (petits airs) contrast with dialogue in recitative, with choral sections and dancing. | Cadmus et Hermione (1673) | Médée (1693),Scylla et Glaucus (1746) | Lully,Marais,Montéclair,Campra,Rameau | [4][25] | |
| Tragédie lyrique | French | alternative name fortragédie en musique | [25] | ||||
| Tragédie mise en musique | French | alternative name fortragédie en musique | [25] | ||||
| Tragédie-opéra | French | alternative name fortragédie en musique | [25] | ||||
| Verismo | Italian | Late 19th/early 20th century opera movement inspired by literary naturalism and realism, and associated with Italian post-romanticism. | Cavalleria rusticana (1890) | Pagliacci (1892),Tosca (1900) | Mascagni,Leoncavallo,Puccini,Giordano | [4] | |
| Volksmärchen | German | alternative name for Märchenoper. | Das Donauweibchen (Kauer 1798) | [11] | |||
| Zarzuela | Spanish | Dating back to the 17th century and forward to the present day, this form includes both singing and spoken dialogue, also dance. Local traditions are also found inCuba and thePhilippines. | El Laurel de Apolo (Juan Hidalgo de Polanco, 1657) | Doña Francisquita (1923),La dolorosa (1930),Luisa Fernanda (1932) | Hidalgo,Barbieri | [4] | |
| Zauberoper | German | Literally, "magic opera". Late 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly associated with Vienna. Heavier, more formal work than Zauberposse, but also with spoken dialogue. | Oberon, König der Elfen (Wranitzky, 1789) | Die Zauberflöte (1791),Das Donauweibchen, (Kauer, 1798) | Kauer,Müller,Schubert | [4] | |
| Zauberposse | German | Specialized form ofPosse mit Gesang concentrating on magic. | Der Barometermacher auf der Zauberinsel (Müller 1823) | Müller | [4] | ||
| Zeitoper (pluralZeitopern) | German | Literally, "opera of the times". 1920s, early 1930s genre, using contemporary settings and characters, including references to modern technology and popular music. | Jonny spielt auf (1927),Neues vom Tage (1929) | Krenek,Weill,Hindemith | [35] | ||
| Zwischenspiel | German | German name forintermezzo | Pimpinone (1725) | [4] |
The following cover other forms of entertainment that existed around the time of the appearance of the first operas in Italy at the end of the 16th century, which were influential in the development of the art form:
