The main form of secular vocal music during the Classicism was opera. This genre, that appeared in the Renaissance, underwent a change eliminating the excesses of the Baroque and taking new plots and characters closer to the bourgeois audience.The main components of opera remained the same (stage performance, overture, arias, chorus, recitatives, interludes).
There were two different kinds of opera: opera seria and opera buffa.
4.1.1. Opera seria
It comes from the Renaissance's opera seria. The composer Gluck laid the foundations of the new opera seria in 1762. This reformation simplifies the musical part and makes storylines more plausible.
4.1.2. Opera buffa
This genre was closer to the audience who could identify themselves with the characters and the plots. This is the reason why opera buffa was the favorite opera genre of the Classicism.
The main composer was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), and among his most famous operas, we can name The Magic Flute or The Marriage of Figaro.
