Opera terms glossary: forms, genres, voices, technique and theater roles

Rehearsals, program notes and audition lists use the same core vocabulary. This glossary groups it by what each term describes: forms, genres, voices, technique, the orchestra and the people in the house. For the texts behind these terms, start in the libretti section.

Solo forms

Aria

Aria: a number for one voice within an opera, in effect a solo song¹. In an aria the action stops and the character expresses feelings³. Arias do not drive the plot forward; they are moments of reflection⁵. A famous example is Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot⁵. Several named shapes sit around it.

• Da capo aria: an aria form built from three sections³.
• Arioso: a solo vocal piece, usually from an opera or oratorio, whose style lies between recitative and aria².
• Cavatina: originally a brief, simple song with no second strain and no repeat of the melody⁷.
• Cabaletta: the livelier section that comes after the songlike cantabile⁸. It is a two-part form that composers favored for arias in Italian bel canto opera, until about the 1860s⁸.
• Tempo di mezzo: the middle section of a double aria, common in Italian bel canto operas⁹.
• Scena: a sequence within an aria¹⁰.

Recitative sits at the speech end of this scale¹. Arioso falls between recitative and aria². The cavatina is the short, simple form, and the cabaletta follows the cantabile with more animation^7,8.

Cadenza

Cadenza: a passage, usually near the end of a number, where the singer improvises a few measures of showy vocal music¹. Fioritura is florid ornamentation of a melodic line, written by the composer or improvised in performance⁹. Ornamentation means decorative notes that enhance a melodic line, often on its repeat⁶.

Recitative and ensembles

Recitative

Recitative: vocal music that follows the rhythms and pitches of ordinary speech¹. It comes in two kinds. Recitativo secco, the dry recitative, is syllabic, has only continuo accompaniment and moves the action forward¹. Recitativo accompagnato, the accompanied recitative, is more emotional and has the full orchestra¹. Continuo accompanies secco recitative and is written for a harpsichord or other keyboard instrument together with a bass instrument¹.

Ensembles, chorus and finale

• Ensemble: a number sung by more than one member of the cast⁵.
• Duet: a song for two voices⁵.
• Chorus: a body of singers with several people on each part, like a choir⁵.
• Unison: singing or playing together at the same time⁶.
• Act: a division of the story’s sections, like acts in a play⁶.
• Finale: the closing part of an opera or of one of its acts⁵.
• Finale concertato: a kind of finale found in the penultimate acts of operas¹¹.

Genres and styles

Opera buffa

Opera buffa: light-hearted opera that began in the 18th century¹. Dramma giocoso is a sub-category of opera buffa that arose in the mid-18th century¹. Opera seria is the serious counterpart, with weighty or historical subjects and usually a tragic ending⁴.

Other genres

• Opera: a dramatic work in one or more acts, set to music for singers and instrumentalists⁶.
• Opéra comique: a French work with spoken dialogue, the counterpart of German Singspiel and English ballad opera³.
• Singspiel: German-language music drama of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with spoken dialogue alternating with musical ensembles⁵.
• Ballad opera: opera that combines spoken dialogue, dance and popular songs built on the airs of old ballads³. Opéra comique, Singspiel and ballad opera all mix sung numbers with spoken dialogue^3,5.
• Operetta: light opera that is shorter and funnier than the regular kind⁴.
• Zarzuela: Spanish popular theater that blends dialogue and music in skits and dramas⁶.
• Musical comedy: a theatrical work descended from operetta, with music, songs and dances³. Musical theatre is a genre in which singing and dancing are essential⁶.
• Oratorio: a work for chorus, orchestra and soloists, usually on a religious, serious or philosophical text⁶.
• Grand opera: mainly the 19th-century operas, such as those by Verdi and Meyerbeer⁵.
• Bel canto: a lyrical singing style with a full, rich, broad tone and smooth phrasing⁶.
• Verismo: a late-1800s style that put ordinary, everyday characters in melodramatic situations⁶.
• Gesamtkunstwerk: Wagner’s term for a total work of art⁶.

Voices and voice types

• Soprano: the highest and most common female voice¹.
• Mezzo-soprano: the middle female voice¹.
• Contralto: the lowest female voice¹.
• Countertenor: a male voice that matches the female contralto and mezzo-soprano voices⁵.
• Tenor: the highest natural adult male voice¹.
• Baritone: the middle male voice, between bass and tenor¹.
• Bass: the lowest male voice¹.
• Castrato: a male singer castrated in boyhood to keep a soprano or alto voice⁶.
• Trouser role: a young male character, generally, sung by a woman dressed as a man⁴.
• Falsetto: a light, heady voice common in men⁶.
• Heldentenor: a powerful tenor voice for heroic roles⁶.
• Spinto: a lyric soprano who can lean toward a heavier, dramatic quality, as in lyrico spinto⁶.

Fach classifies singers, primarily opera singers, by the range, weight and color of their voices¹². The Fach system page lays out the categories.

Range and register

• Range: the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch of an instrument or a singer⁶.
• Tessitura: the span of pitches a singer can cover easily, without extremes³. It is also the most comfortable pitch range, used to identify the most prominent range within a piece of music⁹. Range is the full distance; tessitura is the comfortable part of it^6,3,9.
• Passaggio: the transition area between vocal registers in classical singing¹³.
• Diction: the style of enunciation in singing⁶. The IPA for singers page covers the symbols used to notate it.

Singing technique

Coloratura

Coloratura: richly embellished vocal music with many fast notes, runs, trills and wide melodic leaps on each syllable⁴. The word comes from the Italian for colouring⁵. It usually shows a character’s high emotional state and the singer’s vocal ability⁴, and it is usually written for and performed by sopranos⁴. Trill is very rapid alternation between two adjacent pitches, used as a virtuosic vocal effect¹.

Line, color and dynamics

• Legato: smooth, connected singing and playing⁶. Staccato is the opposite: short, clipped and rapid⁶.
• Portamento: sliding continuously from one pitch to the next instead of jumping between two notes⁴.
• Messa di voce: a controlled swell, crescendo then diminuendo, on one long held note, especially in Baroque music and the bel canto period⁹.
• Mezza voce: a composer’s marking that a passage should be sung more quietly⁴.
• Sotto voce: in an undertone, quietly⁹.
• Vibrato: a gentle vibration from slight variations of pitch in a singing voice¹.
• Dynamics: how loud or quiet the music is, another word for volume⁶. Forte means loudly⁶ and piano means softly and quietly⁶.
• Warm up: preparing to sing by practicing gently through the full vocal range⁶.

Overture, orchestra and score

Obbligato

Obbligato: a solo instrumental section during a vocal number⁴.

Instrumental numbers and the score

• Overture: the number that opens the opera, often introducing its main themes³.
• Prelude: an introductory piece, most commonly an orchestral opening to an act of an opera⁶.
• Interlude: a short instrumental passage or self-contained piece, often covering a change of scene⁵.
• Intermezzo: a short composition usually offered between the acts of a longer operatic work⁶.
• Ritornello: a theme that returns between different musical sections, with or without variations³.
• Barcarolle: a Venetian gondoliers’ song with a rhythm that imitates the rocking of boats³.
• Leitmotif: a short, recurring musical phrase tied to a character, theme, idea or emotion in an opera⁴.
• Score: the musical notation of a piece, printed on large sheets of paper⁵.
• Repertoire: the operas that a company or performer is prepared to perform⁶.

Text, theater and rehearsal

• Libretto: literally little book, the text sung in an opera or oratorio¹. See how to read a libretto for its layout.
• Synopsis: the story of an opera³.
• Surtitles: a caption projected on a screen above the stage that shows the text being sung⁶.
• Pit: the part of a theater where the orchestra plays, typically in front of the stage and on a lower level⁶.
• Proscenium: the part of the stage between the curtain and the orchestra pit⁶.
• Sitzprobe: a German term for a seated rehearsal⁶.

The people in a production

• Prima donna: the leading lady, who sings the principal role in the opera³. In a company, she is the leading female singer⁹.
• Diva: literally goddess, an important female opera star¹.
• Comprimario: a small supporting role in an opera¹⁴.
• Répétiteur: the person who coaches singers and plays piano for music and production rehearsals¹⁵.
• Conductor: the person who directs the live performance from the front of the stage with the orchestra⁶.
• Director: the person who supervises the singers and the general production⁶.
• Impresario: the person who runs an opera company⁴.
• Choreographer: the person who creates and plans the dance movements for dances in the opera⁶.

At the performance

Brava is for female performers, bravo for male performers and bravi for the whole ensemble⁶. Encore is a repeat performance at the end of a concert, called for by the audience⁶. Toi toi toi is what people say before an opera performance instead of good luck⁶.

Periods

• Baroque: a style of European music of the 17th and 18th centuries, marked by ornate detail⁶.
• Classical: music of the European tradition from approximately 1730 to 1820⁶.
• Romantic: an era of Western classical music dating from 1780 to 1910⁶.

Definitions draw on glossaries from Glyndebourne, San Francisco Opera, OperaVision, English National Opera and Scottish Opera.