Opera seria
Serious Italian opera of the 18th century.
What it means
Opera seria (Italian for "serious opera") denotes the serious Italian opera of the 18th century. Its subjects come from mythology and ancient history; the plot revolves around rulers, love and duty and usually ends happily. The action is driven forward in dry recitative, while in the arias the characters reflect on their feelings.
Musical use
The arias usually follow da capo form (A–B–A), in which the repeat section was ornamented by the singer. Pietro Metastasio wrote many of the libretti, which were set by numerous composers. Famous singers, including castrati, shaped the genre. Composers include Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Adolf Hasse and George Frideric Handel with his operas for London. The reform of Christoph Willibald Gluck in Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) weakened the rigid form.
Opera seria should be distinguished from opera buffa, which shows comic everyday subjects, and from opera semiseria, which mixes the two.
Performance practice
When you sing opera seria, you need agility for coloratura and taste for the ornamentation of the da capo section. Pay attention to clear articulation in the recitative, which carries the action.