opera
/ˈɑp.ə.ɹə/ noun A1- A theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance; usually, one sung-through, based on classical music and seen as more artistic and formalized than other forms of musical theater.
- The score for such a work.
- The genre of such works, the art of composing operas.
- A building designed for the performance of such works; an opera house.
- A company dedicated to performing such works.
- Any showy, melodramatic or unrealistic production resembling an opera.
Plural operas
From the library
Owing to the very judicious plan of dividing the two acts of the opera with a ballet, the pauses between the performances are very short, the singers in the opera having time to repose themselves and change their costume, when necessary, while the dancers are executing their pirouettes and exhibiting their graceful steps.
An opera hat was pushed to the back of his head, and an evening dress shirt-front gleamed out through his open overcoat.
The opera of Parisina was announced for representation, and the principal actors were Coselli, Moriani, and La Specchia.
Albert had never been able to endure the Italian theatres, with their orchestras from which it is impossible to see, and the absence of balconies, or open boxes; all these defects pressed hard on a man who had had his stall at the Bouffes, and had shared a lower box at the Opera.
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