The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales

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opera and fairy tales

opera and fairy tales.
Opera is a sung dramatic work designed for theatrical performance. While opera's broad appeal is expressed mainly through music and drama, its complete theatrical experience frequently relies on costume, scenery, and movement: in France, a ballet sequence was long considered a crucial part in any opera's construction. After a 400‐year history, opera now has a long list of constituents, of which the foregoing are among the most significant. For at least half that time, fairy tales have provided a rich source of inspiration for composers when selecting subjects for their works.

Part of opera's continuing fascination lies in its ever‐changing complexity, reflecting contemporary tastes in music and drama, styles of singing, and scale of production. Opera has seldom been free from controversy. While one view maintains that it is an invaluable part of civilized society, another holds that it is an irrelevance—a diversion which...

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