grand opera

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French grand opéra.

Noun[edit]

grand opera (plural grand operas)

  1. A genre of 19th-century opera characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events.
    • 1949 September 4, H. R. Trevor-Roper, “Hitler Reappraised, Ten Years After”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      Clearly, Hitler saw his historical function as a Wagnerian grand opera. Vast cosmic changes required an accompaniment of slaughter on a colossal scale.

Further reading[edit]