Italian opera

Italian opera can be divided into three periods, the Baroque, the Romantic and the modern. The Baroque appeared first, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and approximately 200 years later, the Romantic. The word opera is a shortened form of the Italian opera in musica (work in music); an English dictionary in 1656 stated, "In Italy it signifies a tragedy, tragi-comedy, or pastoral which is not acted after the vulgar manner, but performed by voices in that way, which the Italians term, 'recitative', being likewise adorned with scenes by perspective, and extraordinary advantage by music."

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