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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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The Making of Music

Factual: History

Music: Classical

Making of Music

A series chronicling the influences that affected the course of classical music

A series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music

The Making of Music: Series 1

The Making of Music: Series 1: Episode 10: The Birth of Opera

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Episode 10

Episode 10: The Birth of Opera

Series 1

The Birth of Opera

BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Making of Music, Series 1, The Birth of Opera

The idea of telling a story in music proved immediately successful across Italy.

Opera was invented in Florence around 1600, and theatres sprang up all over Italy. Classical music history with James Naughtie.

James Naughtie discovers how history has shaped the development of classical music. Opera was invented by a group of Italian intellectuals called the Camerata in Florence around 1600. They stumbled across something extraordinary - why not tell a story in music? It took off and soon theatres were springing up all over Italy - forty in Venice alone.

Reader Benedict Cumberbatch
Produced by Rosie Boulton, Sara Conkey and Lucy Lunt.
BBC Birmingham.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Series chronicling the influences that affected the course of classical music

Series chronicling the historical influences that affected the course of classical music

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The Making of Music

Series 1

Episode 10: The Birth of Opera

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