- The word opera means "work" in Italian (it is the plural of Latin opus meaning "work" or "labour")
- The words of an opera are known as the libretto (literally "little book"). Some composers, notably Richard Wagner, have written their own libretti.
- During the seventeenth century, women were not allowed to sing onstage, not even in a chorus. Castrated males, or castrati, would sing the soprano/mezzo/alto parts.
- The shortest opera is only seven minutes long and is Darius Milhaud’s The Deliverance of Theseus.
- Traditional opera, often referred to as "number opera," consists of two modes of singing: recitative, the plot-driving passages sung in a style designed to imitate and emphasize the inflections of speech, and aria (an "air" or formal song) in which the characters express their emotions in a more structured melodic style.
- Opera composers would sometimes hire a group of people to cheer their works or boo the works of their rivals.
- Dafne by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. It was written around 1597, largely under the inspiration of an elite circle of literate Florentine humanists who gathered as the "Camerata de' Bardi".
- When Charles Gounod’s (1818-1893) opera Faust wasn’t selling tickets, the producer gave away tickets for the first three performances to people out of town and declared the performances were sold out. Wondering what all the fuss was about, the public began buying tickets, and Faust became a hit.
- The honour of being the first opera still to be regularly performed, goes to Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, composed for the court of Mantua in 1607.
- Mozart wrote his first opera, Bastien und Bastienne, a parody of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s operatic intermezzo Le devin du village (The Village Soothsayer), when he was only 12 years old.
- Beethoven wrote only one opera, Fidelio.
- Wagner revolutionized opera by disposing of existing operatic rules and structures. He also created the “Leitmotif” (or leading theme), which is a musical theme that is associated with a main character.
- Whistling at many European operas actually means “boo!”
- The earliest surviving opera (written by Jacopo Peri and Ottavio Rinuccini) is Euridice which was performed in Florence in 1600. Opera quickly spread from Florence to Rome, Venice, and all other major cities in Italy.
- Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) wrote one of the most famous operas, The Barber of Seville, in just two weeks.
- Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), arguably the greatest opera singer of all time, was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy.
- After Plácido Domingo performed the title role in Verdi's Otello in Vienna on July 30, 1991, the audience clapped for one hour and 20 minutes (and 101 curtain calls), setting a new world record for the longest applause ever.
- Luciano Pavarotti received 165 curtain calls on February 24, 1988, after singing in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in Berlin.
- Later in life, Wagner considered writing operas about Jesus Christ and Buddah.
- Contraltos are the lowest and most rare female voice category. They were often assigned roles originally written for castrati, or male singers who were castrated before puberty.
20 interesting Opera facts
