The Creators

Opera is created by a composer who writes the music, and a librettist who writes the words. Most operas are composed in European languages—mainly Italian, German, French, Russian, and English.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

The Composer
The composer has a historically important role in Western culture. Both the nobility and the Church respected musicians, and thus provided for the care and livelihood of artists throughout the latter part of the 18th century. Although artists benefited from the personal security of the patronage system, most did not have the freedom to choose the subject or style of their compositions. It was not until the end of the 1700s that the patronage system declined. The rise of the consumer class allowed composers to write music that could be published and sold to the public. The result was an explosion of creativity, in both style and subject, throughout Europe.

The Librettist
The librettist creates or adapts a story so that it can be sung. The stories adapted for opera were usually taken from historical events, myths, or poems or plays. Composers often had favorite librettists with whom they worked regularly. Perhaps the most well-known librettist is Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) who collaborated with Mozart on three of his most popular operas: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte.

The Great Opera Composers
More information about some of the composers who defined and redefined the opera world...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte Mozart was a child prodigy who toured throughout Europe, performing and composing. When he was just 8 years old, his first compositions were published. Mozart served in a number of royal and papal courts, but was inclined to insist on freedom when composing. He was a prolific composer, completing more than 20 operas and countless chamber pieces, concertos and choral works.

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Lucie de Lammermoor, The Daughter of the Regiment Donizetti contributed to both serious opera and comic opera. He was trained as a singer and keyboardist, though his teachers noted Donizetti’s sharp ear but poor voice. He was a hard worker, composing over 30 operas before one, Anna Bolena, became famous. Donizetti achieved success in the Paris Opera house, eventually composing over 65 operas, though only a handful are performed today. After suffering from physical and mental paralysis, he died in 1848.

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) The Barber of Seville, Otello Born to musician parents, Rossini is most noted for transforming Italian opera from an aging style, as well as developing both French and German opera traditions. Rossini was a great lyric composer, always grateful for and attentive to the singer. In all, he composed 39 operas in 19 years, most meeting with great success. He battled with illness from the 1840s until his death in 1868.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) La traviata, Don Carlos, Nabucco, Rigoletto Verdi’s music education is largely described as “self-taught,” the result of private study with various composers, as opposed to formal study at the conservatory. In 1839, his first opera premiered at the most famous theatre in Italy, La Scala. He was immediately commissioned to compose three more operas, and he began a rigorous schedule of composing an opera every nine months. His pace eventually slowed, though the importance of his work did not falter. In all, Verdi composed twenty-seven operas; at the time of his death, he was regarded as a cultural institution.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) The Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde Wagner is responsible for revolutionizing opera in the 19th century. He was a scholar and composer with a strong literary background, and an appetite for political revolution. In fact, he fled to Switzerland in 1848, shunned by his native Germany. Wagner’s contribution to the opera world is dramatic—he was the first to describe his works as “music dramas,” focusing on drama through music. He wrote the words, he designed the set, he created musical idioms for characters, and he created an orchestra that could tell the story on its own. Wagner’s principle music drama is a cycle of four works called The Ring Cycle, which takes several days to perform.

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Carmen Bizet was a child piano prodigy, admitted to the Paris Conservatory at the age of 10. Though his short career is marked by many incomplete works, his crowning achievement is Carmen, one of the best known operas of all time. Bizet experimented in a musical movement termed exoticism, that is, a fascination with Asian and Spanish music and themes. Carmen is a result of this movement. The opera was shunned by Paris audiences for its risqué themes, but was quickly revered when Bizet died of a heart attack, three months following the premiere.

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot Puccini had an early music education and proceeded on to the Milan Conservatory. He fell in love with opera and decided to pursue a career in opera composition. He soon soared to success, playing with the musical movement of his time, verismo, or simply, realism. Elements of this style, which includes unrestrained emotion and drama, violence, and the lower class, are apparent in both La bohème and Tosca. Puccini is regarded as the greatest Italian composer of his time.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Salome, Elektra From his early years, the well-educated and financially stable Strauss absorbed the musical environment that surrounded him. He was deeply affected by Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and this influence is evident in Strauss’ own compositions. Strauss composed in both the raw, expressionist style of the early 20th century and the lighter, more Romantic style of his later operas. In all, he wrote 14 operas, and died peacefully in his home at the age of 85.

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