The Birth and Life of Opera

After watching the birth and life of opera it definitely made me have more appreciation for this form of art. Opera is an amazing art form the combines several different forms, such as dance, music, and theater. Those that made the opera were from the Camerata (people such as artist, philosophers, scientists, and writers) in Florence over 400 years ago. I found it most interesting that the styles of opera changed depending on what was going on around them. There were several styles of opera. Ones that were looking to tell a story, a romantic and/or serious opera that included the audience. Then there were operas that wanted to show up one another, or highly impress their guests (usually the kings and queens.) One example of an opera for the rich and famous is Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Because operas were political in many ways, people began exploiting the operas based on their political views such as in 1996, when a Venetian opera burns because of political views. Today opera is not as popular as once before, however they seem to be rising in countries that are experiences rapid change and growth. One example is in China in the People's Republic of China as they just completed that Shanghai Grand Theater in 1998.