The Birth and Life of Opera

     After watching The Birth and Life of Opera and then going to our past class and watching two more hours of Opera I felt as though I went into Opera overload. However, now that I have had more time to absorb what it is exactly that I have watched I now understand why each piece that we watched was so crucial to gaining a greater understanding of the development of Opera. As Opera progressed though out history, like most things, it changed gradually with the changing times. It was interesting watching the videos in class how Opera gradually took on new forms and styles. I gained a even better understanding of how Opera changed and had such an impact on the world from The Birth and Life of Opera. After Opera was born in Italy it quickly gained popularity and was soon packing arenas full of upwards of 10,000 people a night! It wasn't until the third real Opera, however, that came onto the scene that Opera began to really shine. Monteverdi was who was responsible for creating this impressive Opera filled with heart breaking love songs and dramatic scared music. Opera is truly an art form that the entire world can now appreciate thanks to Monteverdi's work bringing great Opera to the people.