TWIF first glimmerings ot opera in history can hr wen as rartv a* in the cukure of ancient tirerce where much of Greek tragedies are said to have been chanted and sung. Bin opera as we know it now first developed in hah during the Renais saner. In Fforenct in I5B0 the (amerata Group was founded by < omit triovanni Bardi. The members of this group were scholars who were also amateur poets, singers and iiiusK ians. much infused by the new spirit of the agr that glorified things Greek. In discussing the ancient (creek forms of musical drama, the group sis st arts ulated its own theory of music al theatre combining serious drama with serious musk. Then. < ount Giovanni Bardi commissioned some of the < amerata Group to produce its own music al play Jacopo Pen wn x< Dafre whichwas^awdin the Bardi s home in 159" This was c aUed "un opera in muska". In Italian opera simple means a work and this innovative muskal work bec ame a ik-m art-form — the first modern opera in history This novel form of entertainment was instantly successful In the beginning, the music was secondary Io the drama. But as it flourished it kept evolving and c lunging. In Venice in 1W7. the first opera house. Sen ( asaiano opened. Now the audience was larger and the public taste demanded more musk. Monteverdi wrote a great many operas where the emphasis now shifted from dramatic action to music. Soon musical and vocal displays had become more important than die text

By 16"0. public opera houses had opened in many cities of Italy but Venice remained the operatk capital And it was here that the terms aria and rec ilativo developed. An aria as we .ill know. is a song to be- sung solo often studded with elaborate vocal orname ntations. Sometimes peopk-rcmeinber an opera, or an opera singer is made legendary , un the stre ngth of an aria. A recitativo nar rates the story often with only harpsi chord or basso continuo accompaniment. By now opera had become a scries of arias interrupted by recitativo. often as qukkly as possible and al the cost of the dramatk. But what emerged from this was the rise and importance of the singer. This prompted the grand entry onto the arena of muskal history and on the operatic stage, of the famous Castrati. Most castrati began their career as choir boys with unusually Ix-autihil vokes who underwent castration so their voke would not c hange and they could then aspire to becoming famous singers for female parts. At this time, Italian laws forbade women from appearing on stage! This barbark praetke of castration was mostly engendered by the deadly combination of poverty and ambition.

However |>opular and important opera singe rs were during the seven-tcviMh and e ighteenth centuries, the real course of opera history was laid by its great composers. Some of the most famous of these are as follows:

HANDEL One of the most sue cessful writers of Italian opera seria or serious opera was the German bom Handel He was one of those composers w ho wrote not just to show case the virtuosity of the singer but created well characterized roles and sustained dramaturgy. He made elegant musk and stage spectacle a prime factor in opera.

MOZART: This famous Austrian, one of the greatest composer of operas, was not as well appreciated in his native Vienna as be should have been This w as purely due to tl te court politics of the day. The Austrian emperor Josef 11 preferred his court composer Antonio Salieri over Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (The Salieri — .Mozart rivalry that emerged

has been popularized by Peter Sha ffer s plav and later film. Amadeus > Royal patronage and material prosperity notwithstanding. it was not Salieri but Amadeus Mozart who triumphed and remains the most popular composer of opera. Although he wrote opera seria too. he is re membered and kived best for his opera buffa. or comedies. The Marriage of Figaro. Don (.iovanni and Cosi Fan Futte and The Magk Flute which is ready another form caled the singspiel, a little different from the traditional Italian opera. In his work. Mozart introduced duets, choruses as well as arias, and he employed pairs of contrasting characters to explore human psn liokxp

The nineteenth century is called the golden age of opera and the stan darel repertory works performed to day are mostly from this period. The two most mitstanding composers of this period are also the most note worthy in the annals of this art — Verdi and Magner, who revoht-lionised, enriched and shaped opera as we know it today. But before them came three other composers who laid the groundwork for the Italian style whkh has been the hall mark of most operas since. To music lovers. Italy is the land of bel canto (beautiful singing! and the 19th century was the age when this special method of singing was developed, mainly by the three great bel canto composers Rossini. Bellini and Donizetti. Much of present day oper atk vocal training is based on this technique. In their works, these composers gave priority to melody and vocal artistry. They also c hanged the recitativo aspect greatly by eliminating the harpsk hord only accompaniment. Instead lull scale orehestral compositions were introduced whkh made opera more melodkally enter taining. (Who can forget Rossini's overture to "William Tell" — much abused as it has been since becoming the theme tunc for the old TA serial The Lone Ranger!)

Rossini also called littje Mozart" for his melodic genius, wrote much serious opera too. but he is more renowned for his comedies like. II Barbiere di Siviglia or The Barber of Seville and L Italiana in Algeri.

Donizetti's servfce to opera is more in the dramatk aspect He was much influenced by the realistk the atre of the 19th century , and this is apparent in his masterpiece Lucia di Lammermuor".

Bellini often called the Chopin of opera, was not as prolific as his ocher tw o contemporaries but his work was perhaps the most poetk and majes-tic. Certainly, his famous "Norma" is till today considered the acid test for many great female singers, it has the most challenging and demanding role for the Soprano voice.

VERDI: Giuseppe Verdi was perhaps, along with Wagner, the most

outstanding composer in the entire history of Ae art. (atMnitifi the tra dK in of bd canto w* fas mdividuai genius he revolutionis'd the operatk form and from fas prolific compositions. has to date kept the opera in dustry well supplied. It Is said that some opera companies could subsiM solely by performances of this fa mous Rigoletto, II Trovatore and La Traviata. And living in Rome, I can add that till recently , during summer evenings even the great rubes of the Baths of Caracalla subsumed its majesty to become merely a back drop to Verdi's Aida, and as the

Ritorna vincitor' aria would rise through the vanished ceiling) of the Baths it was Verdi who filed and dominat'd the veivety night sky, and the powerful emperor in whine budd ing we were sitting was forgotten. ( nlike poikks. Musk conquers not temporaRv but eternally.

WAGNER: Richard « agner was m i nfluential figure not only for (lerman opera but tor opera in general A most innovative and revolutionarv figure modern musk and opera both have a lot to be grateful for to VI agners creative ideas. In dramatk aspects he is known for the deeply complex and fascinating characters he w rote. In muskal terms he is considered a pioneer of modern harmonks and fa mous for the use of chromaticism to illustrate the action on stage. The term leitmotive was used for his re vival of the tradition of using melody to present a character or idea and for generally using orchestra like the Greek chorus. In other ways too. Wagner brought innovations in operatk praetke and production. Some of these we now take for granted, not realising that it is to Wagner we owe thanks. For example, the dimming of the house lights during a performance. (Earlier, the lights were kept on so the ladies could display their jewellery and wardrobe and the men could exchange gossip!) Also the praetke of placing the orc hestra be low stage level so as not to distract attention from the stage was due to W agner. These are merely some inter esting facets of this great creative spirit, he could be immortalised on the strength of his operatic achieve-ments alone: 'Tannhauser,' Tohengrin. ’ The Flying Dutchman and Tristan and isolated".

French opera has lead a different kind of history from the Italian and Cierman. The French loved opera instantly and Paris became the opera capital of Europe. Many composers from different countries made their fortunes in Paris. But the French pre ferred a style called "Grand Opera" with emphasis on spectacle, elaborate ballet and plenty of stage effects. Thus serious composers like A erdi and Wagner were not successful in Paris. The constant pressure for creating visual and scenk effects and artifices to entertain the masses re-

suhed in much second nu operas. A erdi called the French opera of h. time la boutique At out point French ktirary Naniini of Zote aid Merimee influenced opera loo. Bizet s work (armen is a famous example

In Italy Naturalism was called verimo and a noteworthy example of this style is a short work performed even today called Cavallieri Rustkana now almost always ttaprd with another short work 'Paghacci' The musw continues io be traditional but the story concerns the poor Aerismo opera calls for much insert shy >>f enation and powerful smgmg. (hereby making for sm cessful opera

The operetta is a simpirr, less so-ptastkated form of comk opera. By the late 19th century Gilbert and Sullivan did much to make thn form popular My own favourite is The Pirates of Penzanc e In V ienna, op-eratta became the vehicle for the ever popular waltzes of the famih Strauss. Among the French operettas my favourite is Offenbach s Tates of Hoffmann But k was in America that the operetta found its true form — the Broadway Muskal The pioneers of this new entertainment were (ole Porter Rodgers and Hammerstein (Carousel. South Pacific). Lerner and Loewe (My Fair Lady). Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story >. as well as vxne real opera like Gershwin s Porgy and Bess. I Bernstein s Candide and Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. The Broadway AtuMcai rarely requires op cratic voices but has established the operatta tradition securely on American grounds.

In the present century the opera scene and standard repertory has been dominated by Rm hard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini Puccini's woek was a judkious mix of the Italian Style of R< issim and Verdi with many of the innovations of Wagner. Among the works of Puccini are. "La Boheme.' 'Tosca', 'Mada ma Butterfly-and TurandoT.

Strauss was a radical character and his work is starkly modern, atonal and expressionistic in style. His moat popular works are, "Die Rove okas alter". Ariadne .ml Naxes" and Aralxlfa

Modern opera is not just written, composed and performed. It is sung, and the operatic voke is, in my opin km. tlx- best part ot opera. Fhe opera voke is classified as follows: The female voke ranges from Soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto: the male voke is divided into tenor, baritone and basso. Some famous Sopraixis ol tlx- past and present are Maria Callas. Montserrat ( abalte. Brigit Nilsson. Renata Scotto. Jessye Norman. Mirella Freni Beverly Silis. Joan Sutherland, and my favourite Kiri Fc Kanawa Some famous male singers ranging from the legendary Caruso to the present are: Gigli. Franco Corelli. Mario del Monaco. Ilans Hutter. Nkofai Ghiaurov. Tito <>obbi. Richard Tucker and many nxjre. But today, even among non-opera fans, the names of Luciano Pavarotti and Pfacido Domingo have become familiar as the renowned tenors of the day.

Perhaps this is the right place to stop. On a night of full moon. " July 1990. at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, three giants of opera. Pavarotti. Domingo and Jose Carreras gave a joint concert, conducted by Zubin Mehta, and created an evening of muskal history in this city of countless histories. .As I listen to a recording of that concert, I feel as if tlx- arias are still steeped in tlx- moonlight radiating from the ruins, and 1 know that the crumbling Baths are now forever haunted by Pavarotti's Nessun ckxina or no ooe steeps — ai least, not the ancient stones of t-iracalla.