The Birth and Life of Opera

Opera was created in Florence, Italy by the Camerata which consisted of a group of people involved in the arts. They put together their first show which was ready in 1598 called Dafne.

It's really interesting that Opera almost didn't take off and was almost dead in the water. It's crazy because of how influential it is on history and the arts today. Many of the early Operas drew upon the concept of love, and religion. Opera was in a position of political influence and had access to a lot of influential people. The content that these composers included reflected the changing of times and many times controversial subject matters.

The composers for Opera continued to create Operas that had messages that clearly reflected the times. In the case of the Opera The Marriage of Figaro, the message was that the rich were treating their employees terrible. By the end of the Opera, the employees had succeeded over their master. This Opera in particular was foreshadowing for the revolutions to come. The operas definitely reflected the times in history and to make people really think about events that were taking place.

The documentary was very informational. I never knew how much influence opera had on specific events in history. I knew that art had that influence but I never knew how popular opera was.