What is Opera?

Opera is Western Classical Music. It combines dramatic acting, singing, and sometimes dancing. Opera began at the end of the 16th century. It began in Italy. 


Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote Phantom of the Opera and in 1986 he premiered the musical. The 1911 Gaston Leroux novel was the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera.

Opera is a play to be sung by one or more persons with instrumental accompaniment and acted in costume. Therefore 'opera music' is the accompaniment.