The usually accepted date for the beginning of opera is 1600.
Since the era of the ancient Greeks, stage plays have
been set to music, the best example to mention is the dramas of Sophocles and Aeschylus, their plays were accompanied with lyres and flutes. The famously produced
Euridice by the Florentine composer Jacopo Peri was part of the marriage celebration of King Henry IV of France to the Italian aristocrat Maria de Medici and it considered to be the first opera. After that, a group of Italian musicians, poets and noblemen revived the musical story that had been used in the Greek tragedy. The so called Camerata, took plots for their operas from Greek and Roman history and mythology, writing dramas or librettos for music and called it
opera in musica or musical works. From that point the word "opera" has been used.
During the baroque period, the center of opera spread throughout Italy, although it was played in Florence before that. Late 1600''s, operas were being written and performed in England, France and Germany. But the Italian operas still considered the ideal and many non Italian composers continued to use Italian librettos.
Operas continued to grow up, de-emphasized dramatic aspects, included new orchestral effects and even introduced
ballet, under the guise of opera.
Through meeting singers'' demands, composers wrote many operas that were nothing more than a succession of brilliant tricks for the voice.
Arias, recitatives and duets evolved. The aria is a long solo where we can find characters express their thoughts and feelings and could be similar to a song. The recitative is also a solo and it is a recitation set to music, the purpose is to continue the story line. The duet, may serve the function of either an aria or a recitative and it is considered to be written for two voices.