Editing Opera (section)

==Changing role of the orchestra==
Before the 1700s, Italian operas used a small [[string orchestra]], but it rarely played to accompany the singers. Opera solos during this period were accompanied by the [[basso continuo]] group, which consisted of the [[harpsichord]], "plucked instruments" such as [[lute]] and a bass instrument.<ref name="John Spitzer 2009 pp. 112-139">John Spitzer. (2009). Orchestra and voice in eighteenth-century Italian opera. In: Anthony R. DelDonna and Pierpaolo Polzonetti (eds.) [[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth-Century Opera]]. pp. 112–139. [Online]. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> The string orchestra typically only played when the singer was not singing, such as during a singer's "...entrances and exits, between vocal numbers, [or] for [accompanying] dancing". Another role for the orchestra during this period was playing an orchestral [[ritornello]] to mark the end of a singer's solo.<ref name="John Spitzer 2009 pp. 112-139"/> During the early 1700s, some composers began to use the string orchestra to mark certain aria or recitatives "...as special"; by 1720, most arias were accompanied by an orchestra. Opera composers such as [[Domenico Sarro]], [[Leonardo Vinci]], [[Giambattista Pergolesi]], [[Leonardo Leo]], and [[Johann Adolph Hasse]] added new instruments to the opera orchestra and gave the instruments new roles. They added wind instruments to the strings and used orchestral instruments to play instrumental solos, as a way to mark certain arias as special.<ref name="John Spitzer 2009 pp. 112-139"/>

[[File:Orchestra Pit in the Opera and Ballet Theater in Minsk 12 May 2014.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Opera orchestra, [[National Opera and Ballet of Belarus]] (2014)]]
The orchestra has also provided an instrumental [[overture]] before the singers come onstage since the 1600s. [[Jacopo Peri|Peri]]'s ''[[Euridice (Peri)|Euridice]]'' opens with a brief instrumental [[ritornello]], and [[Claudio Monteverdi|Monteverdi]]'s ''[[L'Orfeo]]'' (1607) opens with a [[toccata]], in this case a fanfare for muted [[trumpet]]s. The [[French overture]] as found in [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]]'s operas<ref>Waterman, George Gow, and James R. Anthony. 2001. "French Overture". ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.</ref> consist of a slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm", followed by a lively movement in [[fugato]] style. The overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose. This overture style was also used in English opera, most notably in [[Henry Purcell]]'s ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]''. [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas such as [[Giulio Cesare]].<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8fHja-D-FvsC|last = Burrows|first = Donald|date = 2012|page = 178|title = Handel|publisher = Oxford University Press|isbn = 978-0-19-973736-9|access-date = 7 September 2018|archive-date = 3 July 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230703160249/https://books.google.com/books?id=8fHja-D-FvsC|url-status = live}}</ref>

In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, and became established particularly through the operas of [[Alessandro Scarlatti]], and spread throughout Europe, supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century.<ref name="Fisher 2001">Fisher, Stephen C. 2001. "Italian Overture." ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.</ref> It uses three generally [[homophony|homophonic]] [[Movement (music)|movements]]: fast–slow–fast. The opening movement was normally in duple metre and in a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples was short, and could be in a contrasting key; the concluding movement was dance-like, most often with rhythms of the [[gigue]] or [[minuet]], and returned to the key of the opening section. As the form evolved, the first movement may incorporate fanfare-like elements and took on the pattern of so-called "sonatina form" ([[sonata form]] without a development section), and the slow section became more extended and lyrical.<ref name="Fisher 2001"/>

In Italian opera after about 1800, the "overture" became known as the ''sinfonia''.<ref name=FISH>Fisher, Stephen C. 1998. "Sinfonia". ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', four volumes, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]]. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. {{ISBN|0-333-73432-7}}</ref> Fisher also notes the term ''Sinfonia avanti l'opera'' (literally, the "symphony before the opera") was "an early term for a sinfonia used to begin an opera, that is, as an overture as opposed to one serving to begin a later section of the work".<ref name=FISH/> In 19th-century opera, in some operas, the overture, ''Vorspiel'', ''Einleitung'', Introduction, or whatever else it may be called, was the portion of the music which takes place before the curtain rises; a specific, rigid form was no longer required for the overture.

The role of the orchestra in accompanying the singers changed over the 19th century, as the Classical style transitioned to the Romantic era. In general, orchestras got bigger, new instruments were added, such as additional percussion instruments (e.g., bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, etc.). The [[orchestration]] of orchestra parts also developed over the 19th century. In Wagnerian operas, the forefronting of the orchestra went beyond the overture. In Wagnerian operas such as the ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring Cycle]]'', the orchestra often played the recurrent musical themes or [[leitmotif]]s, a role which gave a prominence to the orchestra which "...elevated its status to that of a [[prima donna]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Christopher John |date=2004 |title=Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=772 }}</ref> Wagner's operas were scored with unprecedented scope and complexity, adding more [[brass instrument]]s and huge ensemble sizes: indeed, his score to ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' calls for six [[harp]]s. In Wagner and the work of subsequent composers, such as Benjamin Britten, the orchestra "often communicates facts about the story that exceed the levels of awareness of the characters therein. As a result, critics began to regard the orchestra as performing a role analogous to that of a literary narrator."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Penner|first=Nina|title=Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780253049971|location=Bloomington, Indiana|page=89}}</ref>

As the role of the orchestra and other instrumental ensembles changed over the history of opera, so did the role of leading the musicians. In the Baroque era, the musicians were usually directed by the harpsichord player, although the French composer Lully is known to have conducted with a long staff. In the 1800s, during the Classical period, the first violinist, also known as the [[concertmaster]], would lead the orchestra while sitting. Over time, some directors began to stand up and use hand and arm gestures to lead the performers. Eventually this role of [[music director]] became termed the [[conducting|conductor]], and a podium was used to make it easier for all the musicians to see him or her. By the time Wagnerian operas were introduced, the complexity of the works and the huge orchestras used to play them gave the conductor an increasingly important role. Modern opera conductors have a challenging role: they have to direct both the orchestra in the [[orchestra pit]] and the singers on stage.