All About Opera

Opera is a musical genre that has many elements and resembles the form of a theatrical play. It is actually one of the most special and famous musical genres in the culture of the western countries. Etymologically the word opera comes from the Latin word opus which means work. To be precise it is the plural of this word. Opera is essentially a short story. It has a plot which unfolds through the assistance of a series of songs that are used to express it and there is always an orchestra on stage. The most distinct characteristic element of opera are the voices. These are divided into bass, baritone, tenor and countertenor for men and contralto, soprano and soprano for females. The most famous operas are Italian and German, but there are also operas in other languages such as French, English, Russian, etc. A tenor is one of the most famous types of voice in opera works. It is a male type of voice, i.e. it concerns male performers and specifically those who cover the highest notes. In Greek the tenor is also called oxophone, precisely because it requires a sharp sound for its interpretations. It is an intermediate voice between the baritone and the counter-tenor, a role often performed by either women or eunuchs. Later the very loud male voices were abolished and the tenors became the highest male voice of an opera.