In fact, the entire opera scene is quite overwhelming as well-dressed patrons erupt into spontaneous applause or throw roses to the stage. You, on the other hand, can t seem to figure out with all the enthusiasm is about, and have even caught yourself nodding off during long stretches of incomprehensible Italian babble. Not just yet. Few people are born enjoying one of the world s oldest and most popular art forms. For most, opera appreciation requires a little study and a lot of patience.
Opera is simply a play put entirely to music.
What an opera is not is a musical, which has a significant amount of dialogue interspersed between the musical numbers. In opera, the performers must sing throughout the entire two-hour or more production a physically demanding feat that adds to the beauty of the art. Most classic operas are performed in foreign languages only because opera was first born in polyglot Europe. Operas are typically written in the language of the composer regardless of where the operatic story takes place. Georges Bizet is a Frenchmen who wrote the famous gypsy opera called Carmen.