Appendix:Glossary of opera
This is a glossary of opera.
| Contents: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
A
[edit]- aria
- aria di sorbetto
- arioso
B
[edit]- bel canto
- breeches role
- burletta
C
[edit]- cabaletta
- cadenza
- A part of a piece of music, such as a concerto, that is very decorative and is played by a single musician.
- cantabile
- castrato
- cavatina
- chest voice
- claque
- coloratura
- Florid or fancy passages in vocal music.
- comprimario
- convenienze
- coup de glotte
D
[edit]- da capo aria
- diva
- Any female celebrity, usually a well known singer or actress.
- duodrama
E
[edit]- entr'acte
F
[edit]- fach
- falsetto
- The "false" (singing) voice in any human, usually airy and lacking a purity of vowels; created by utilizing the next highest vocal folds above those used for speech and normal range singing.
- fioritura
G
[edit]- gesamtkunstwerk
H
[edit]- head voice
I
[edit]- intermezzo
- A short piece of music or act in the interval of the main spectacle.
K
[edit]- kammersänger
L
[edit]- leitmotif
- A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.
- legato
- libretto
- The text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera.
- literaturoper
M
[edit]- mad scene
- maestro
- melodrama
- In opera, a passage in which the orchestra plays a somewhat descriptive accompaniment, while the actor speaks; as, the melodrama in the grave digging scene of Beethoven's "Fidelio".
- monodrama
- A play in the form of a monologue.
- messa di voce
O
[edit]- opera house
P
[edit]- passaggio
- portamento
- prima donna
- prompter
R
[edit]- recitative
- A dialogue, in an opera etc, that, rather than being sung as an aria, is reproduced with the rhythms of normal speech, often with simple musical accompaniment or harpsichord continuo; serves to expound the plot
- regietheater
- répétiteur
- ritornello
S
[edit]- sitzprobe
- spinto
- sprechgesang
- squillo
- stagione
- surtitles
T
[edit]- tessitura
- timbre
V
[edit]- vibrato
- The musical effect or technique where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound.