CHAPTER I. WHAT IS OPERA? PAGE What is Opera?—Derivation of term—A musical work—An artificial product—Its justification—Emotional effect of music—Hybrid opera—Modern taste demands one medium of expression—A definition—Music an accessory to opera, but an important one 1 CHAPTER II. DIFFERENT SCHOOLS CORRESPONDING WITH THE GROWTH OF MUSICAL ART. The centuries see little change in the elements of the drama—Growth of opera concurrent with the progress of the art of music—Points of difference between early operas (Monteverde, etc.) and those of Scarlatti and later writers—Birth of the aria—England and France of the same date—Opera buffa—Musical empiricism—Gluck—His followers—Varying subjects treated—Italian opera—Abuses by the singers—Wagner and modern opera 7 CHAPTER III. THE REFORMERS OF OPERA: MONTEVERDE, GLUCK, AND WAGNER. Reforms, and the reasons thereof—Monteverde’s influence—Musical innovations—The stage discards music of the ecclesiastical order—The beauty of Scarlatti’s arias—Their weakness—Gluck—Gluck’s explanation of his reforms—Triumph of his methods—Another retrogression— Rossini—Wagner—The leit-motif—Influence on subsequent composers—Will further reforms become necessary, and what shape will they take? 18 CHAPTER IV. THE BEGINNINGS OF OPERA. Early commencement of opera—The Bardi enthusiasts—What they achieved—Peri and Caccini—A logical commencement—Its imperfections 32 CHAPTER V. EARLY ITALIAN, FRENCH, GERMAN, AND ENGLISH OPERA. Monteverde—Scarlatti—Cambert—Lully—Keiser—Purcell—Handel in London—Handel’s rival, Buononcini—Handel’s operas now obsolete by reason of their lack of dramatic truth 39 CHAPTER VI. THE OPERAS OF GLUCK AND THE GREAT COMPOSERS. Gluck and his masterpieces—Mozart—Beethoven—Weber and romantic opera—_Der Freischütz_—Other operas—Schubert—Opera writing a distinct form of composition—The small influence of the really great composers upon opera 48 CHAPTER VII. SOME LESSER STARS IN THE OPERATIC FIRMAMENT. (_a_) THE ITALIAN SCHOOL (CIMAROSA TO VERDI).