Skip to content
    skip to navigation

    Classic FM

    Listen

    On Air Now

    Early Breakfast with Lucy Coward 4am - 6am

    Early Breakfast with Lucy Coward

    Now Playing

    Semiramide - Overture Gioachino Rossini Download 'Semiramide - Overture' on iTunes

    Semiramide - Overture artwork
    • Playlist
    • Schedule
    • Home
    • Radio
    • News
    • Discover Music
    • Composers
    • Artists
    • Lifestyle
    • Win
    • Charity
    • Podcasts
    • Events
    • Dating
    • Follow us on:
      Follow Classic FM on Twitter
      Follow Classic FM on Facebook
      Follow Classic FM on Instagram
      Follow Classic FM on Youtube

    Discover Music

    • Discover Music Home
    • Periods & Genres
    • Occasions
    • Mood
    • Instruments
    • Music Theory
    • Learning
    • Humour
    • Women in Music
    • More Classic FM

    The story of Baroque opera from 1600

    The first ever operas were written around 1600 by Baroque composers including Monteverdi and Cavalieri, and the genre quickly took off. Early operas used dramatic text and music to express their stories, which were often based on Classical Greek and Roman mythology.

    1. greek

      1. Greek tragedy

      In the early 1600s, intellectuals thought the music of their day was trivial, so they took their inspiration from an era when drama and academia flourished in Ancient Greece. Emotion in Greek drama was portrayed through song or dramatic speech, and musicians in the 1600s attempted to capture this.

    2. harpsichord

      2. Emotive words with harpsichord accompaniment

      In sowing the seeds of early opera, composers wrote emotive words with elaborate musical embellishments or clashing harmonies to highlight the text. A lute or harpsichord provided the accompaniment.

    3. dafne

      3. Dafne and Apollo

      An example of early opera include the 1598 work 'Dafne' by Jacopo Peri. This is the first continuously sung pastoral work, but the music is now lost.

    4. orpheus painting

      4. Orpheus

      Jacopo Peri and rival composer Giulio Caccini each wrote a version of the Orpheus legend, 'Euridice', writing music to the text by the court poet. When Peri’s version was performed in 1600, Caccini insisted in writing the lines his own pupils were singing.

    5. Shakespeare period instruments

      5. Happy ending

      Features of these early operas included a happy ending, uses of choruses and songs, a simple plot, and a small group of instrumentalists.

    6. Claudio Monteverdi

      6. Monteverdi's Orfeo

      Monteverdi’s version of the Orpheus story, 'Orfeo', written in 1607, is the first example of an early opera that is still popular today. Interesting music, dancing, and dramatic ornaments to highlight important words in the libretto by Alessandro Striggio.

    7. Monteverdi

      7. Monteverdi's operas

      After Orfeo, Monteverdi wrote another opera the following year, 'Arianna'. He then took a break from the genre for almost 20 years, writing his next operatic work, 'Licori finta pazza', in 1627 – but this was never staged and the music is now lost.

    8. Cavalli

      8. Francesco Cavalli

      Monteverdi’s pupil Cavalli carried on the operatic tradition, and wrote around 32 operas between 1639-73. He used the recitative to propel the story and made use of a new form of aria, a ‘da capo’ aria in two sections, where the first section is repeated at the end of the song.

    9. Farinelli castrato

      9. The rise of the castrato

      By the 1670s, opera’s popularity had spread all over Italy, and with it, the rise of the diva. The public favoured longer songs and preferred listening to upper voices, particularly the male castrato singers.

    10. Alessandro Scarlatti composer

      10. Alessandro Scarlatti

      Scarlatti was a prolific opera composer in the late 1600s and early 1700s. His music marks an important transition between the Italian Baroque vocal techniques used by earlier composers, and the music of the early Classical period.

    11. george frideric handel

      11. Handel’s operas

      Handel composed an impressive 42 operas between 1705 and 1741, including 'Giulio Cesare' from 1724. Some of his most famous operas were originally oratorios, including 'Semele' from 1743.

    12. vivaldi composer

      12. Vivaldi composed 94 operas…

      Or so he claimed. As it happens, fewer than 50 titles have been identified, and more than half of these scores are now lost. Some of his most famous operas are 'Orlando furioso' from 1727 and 'L'Olimpiade' from 1734, although the composer is best-known for his concertos.

    13. louis xiv

      13. French opera

      While opera took hold in Italy in the late 1600s, composers like Perrin and Lully developed the genre in France. Lully’s style was quite different from the Italian styles, with simple plot lines and music based on recitative rather than arias.

    14. opera comique paris

      14. Comic opera

      By 1714, light-hearted pieces were being called ‘opéras comiques’ in France. These were so successful that the Comédie-Française had them banned in Paris, for fear of competition. These comic operas like paved the way for the often amusing ‘opera buffa’ style of the mid 1700s. The Opéra-Comique in Paris still hosts performances to this day, after being set up in 1793.

    Latest on Classic FM

    Ledoux on stage at the Volksoper in Orpheus in the Underworld

    Mezzo stands in last-minute for tenor lead, doubling as Venus and Orpheus in Offenbach opera

    Four musicians on a street piano

    Four virtuoso pianists astonish passersby with epic boogie-woogie improvisation

    Videos

    Kateryna is now studying at Clifton College during the week, and the Royal Academy of Music’s Junior programme on Saturdays.

    12-year-old Ukrainian refugee lands a place studying piano at the Junior Royal Academy of Music

    Zeb Soanes, Moira Stuart, Alexander Armstrong

    Audience growth for Classic FM as it welcomes 5 million weekly listeners

    Ludovico Einaudi surprises young fan at airport piano

    Ludovico Einaudi surprises young fan in spontaneous airport piano duet

    Einaudi

    William is a 10-year-old senior chorister at Ripon Cathedral

    Choirboy William, 10, says singing in a cathedral choir helps manage his arthritis pain

    9-year-old girl plays 'Titanic' theme in South Africa shopping mall

    9-year-old pianist scores duet deal after viral shopping centre video

    McDonald's in Wrexham to play Beethoven after 5pm to deter loiterers

    McDonald’s restaurant in Wales to play Beethoven to tackle late-night antisocial behaviour

    Beethoven

    This week’s on-air highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery.

    This week’s Classic FM radio highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery

    What classical music is in Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’?

    What classical music is in Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans’, and does Michelle Williams really play the piano?

    Williams

    Best classical music

    See more Best classical music

    10 pieces of classical music that will 100% change your life

    10 pieces of classical music that will 100% change your life

    4 eras of classical music

    The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    Women composers gallery

    21 of the greatest women composers in classical music

    Best pianists of all time

    The 25 best pianists of all time

    Some of history's greatest composers were part of the LGBTQ+ community.

    15 LGBTQ+ composers in classical music history that you probably already know

    More Periods and Genres

    See more More Periods and Genres

    Baroque

    Classical

    Romantic

    Film & TV

    Opera

    Video Games

    Back to top

    Also on Classic FM

    • Listen to Global Player
    • Alexander Armstrong on Classic FM
    • Google Doodle
    • Quizzes
    • Mozart
    • Debussy
    • Music theory
    • Instruments
    • Classic FM Live
    • Brahms
    • Vivaldi
    • Bach
    • LBC News
    • Tchaikovsky
    • Chopin
    • Andrea Bocelli
    • Florence Price
    • Beethoven
    • Best classical music
    • Classic FM Requests
    • Best pianists
    • Harry Potter music
    • Saturday Night at the Movies
    • Star Wars soundtrack
    • Composer or pasta
    • Music for Studying
    • Best violinists
    • Classical music tearjerkers
    • Relaxing classical

    Useful Links

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • How To Listen
    • About Classic FM
    • Company Details
    • Cookies
    • Privacy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Advertise
    • Global Jobs

    Download the app

    Get it on the app store Get it on Google Play

    Follow Us

    Follow Classic FM on Twitter
    Follow Classic FM on Facebook
    Follow Classic FM on Instagram
    Follow Classic FM on Youtube
    © Global 2023
    30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA
    Privacy Manager