Opera and Musicals Opera and musicals are popular performing arts of the world. Since a majority of people think that musicals are a lighter and an easier genre of performing art than opera, musicals are more widely appreciated than opera in this century. Opera and musicals both consist of music, stage, story, performer and audience, however, there are numerous differences among these elements. Opera’s history begins in Italy in late 16th century with a group called Cameras. Cameras was a group of young musicians and poets in Florence, people who were tidying new music invented opera by reproducing ancient Greek dramas.
While the origin of opera can be found clearly in time and space, the origin of musicals are ambiguous; because, musicals have been developed from the tradition of opera. The origin of musicals can begin with Musical Farce that is originated in England in the 17th century, or Musical Comedy and Musical Play in late the 19th century, or Broad way Musicals developed in New York in the 20th century. Both opera and musicals have satirized issues and events in old societies; in modern society, they are received as performing arts loved by world people. Opera and musicals have different rules and features in their performances.
Opera has more simple stages when musicals usually have various styles of stages. Opera’s stage seldom changes while performing, and costumes are neat and formal; musical’s stage changes its stage sets in diverse ways while performing, and costumes are more characterized. The stories of opera are limited in classic literature and classic music. In contrast, the stories of musicals are unrestricted; classic literature, revision of old literature, and cent creation can be used. Therefore, the backgrounds of opera are limited in old days, but musicals’ background may transcend not only time but also space.
Music is the most important element in both opera and musicals. Opera always use a live orchestral accompaniment with conductor; in contrast, musicals mostly use a recorded or live instrumental accompaniment, rarely has an orchestra; however, the musical “Chicago’ performed by London team in Korea in 2003 had a live orchestral accompaniment. Opera songs are limited in classic music when musical ones cover a wide range of genres of music like classic, Jazz, pop, ballad, rap and other genres. The story is telling via songs in opera while the story is telling via songs, lines, dance and mime in musicals.
Opera music is limited to classic only, but musical music can be made or edited to easier for audience to appreciate. The songs in opera are often sung in language of the original songs, so the audience may refer the brochure for songs in opera; the songs in musicals can be translated into language of performers, and the lyrics can be edited by director’s intention, so the audience understand the story and music easily. Singers in opera are called vocalists, they mostly are great singers, and most of them have a college degree in voice major, or they are Just extraordinary talented singers.
Performers in musicals are called actors; most of them are fairly good at singing, dancing and acting, but some of them are excellent in one or two of skills. Since vocalists’ number one requirement is singing, compare essay – opera and musical By sausage vocalists in opera do not have to be very beautiful or handsome, slim or muscular like movie stars. In contrast, since actors have to sing, dance and act in musicals, more limitations are bound to follow; heroes and heroines in love stories in musicals are usually visually attractive, most of actors are able to make fixable movements, and have their own showmanship.
In opera, vocalists sing their songs formally in their voice range like soprano, alto or mezzo-soprano with orchestral play; but in musicals, actors sing and dance to the music accompaniment with giving off their charms. Opera usually performed in opera exclusive theaters with high quality sound yester; there are globally famous opera theaters: Theatre all Scale in Milan in Italy, Strapped Wine in Vienna in Austria, The Metropolitan Opera in New York in United States, Royal Opera House in London in United Kingdom, and Appall Grainier in Paris in France.
However, musicals can be performed in either small or large theaters and even outdoors, it Just depend on characteristic of story, intention of director, and budget of the production. In theater, a physical distance between vocalist and audience is far from each other due to the orchestra in opera, but actors and audience mostly are physically close in musicals. Opera and musicals have uncountable famous works.
There are some of most famous operas: Mozart The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Verse’s Originator, La Trivia, Aid, Baize’s Carmen, and Puccini La bob©me, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, and other well-known classics; and musicals s: Chicago, Less Miserable, Mamma Aim, 42nd Street, Aid, Avenue Q, Beauty and The Beast, Cats, Don Juan, Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, Rent and so on. These well-known works are loved and played globally to this day. In addition, numerous operas often become created to musicals.
For example, opera Carmen, opera Aid and opera La bob©me have become famous musicals in new styles. The opera La bob©me has reinterpreted to rock musical Rent by Jonathan Larson. Opera La bob©me’s background, backstreet of Paris in sass, has reinterpreted to an east village of New York in sass in musical Rent. Characters also have reinterpreted to this new time period: a tailor in La bob©me has become a club dancer in Rent, a poet in La bob©me has become a rock musician in Rent, a philosopher in La bob©me has become a scientist in Rent, and a Caucasian in La bob©me has become a drummer in Rent.
Music also has changed to musical style. Genres of music in La bob©me are opera Aria and orchestral accompaniment, and genres of songs in Rent are rock music with strong beat, R&B, tango and others. The most important clue in this story, the disease of heroine also has changed in Rent. The heroine suffers from tuberculosis in La bob©me; however, the heroine in Rent is a drug addicted HIVE virus carrier. The endings also are contrast to each other. The play ends in tragedy by heroine’s death in La bob©me, but Rent as a happy ending story with heroine’s revival.
Opera and musicals take primary roles in today’s performing art culture. Both performances are purposed on singing and telling a story to audience on the stage. However, they are dissimilar from their origins. Opera have longer history than musicals, opera have more restrictions than musicals in stage setting, costumes, story and their backgrounds. Opera has only classic music while musicals have diverse types of music. Performers in opera and musicals have different characteristics.
Opera prefer high quality theaters, but ajar works in their fields, and they are still performed globally. Furthermore, numerous well-known operas often become reinterpreted to musicals s in today’s style like La bob©me and Rent. Therefore, though, both opera and musicals are performing arts loved by world people, there are more differences than similarities between them. Since musicals have more mass appeals than opera, the relationship between performer and audience is closer in musicals than opera, so musicals carry more diverse types of audience than opera in modern society.
