Robert Goodall on Opera

 Howard Goodall’s documentary taught me a lot about how historically significant opera was. It was considered a way of life and originated in Italy. Goodall describes opera as a “fusing of music with universal stories and ideas,” which is a perfect way to describe it. It involves passionate singing without a microphone while also telling a meaningful story about society. Opera first came to be when there were two main groups of intellectuals that would get together to discuss the arts. One of the groups decided on creating the first ever opera show, Daphne. The show was a success and after this, all musical composers made their goal to create an opera performance. This is a very difficult task because it's hard for composers to transition between singing and speaking. Goodall mentions how most opera composers are much better at singing than speaking, and singing delivers the overall message of the show much more passionately.