1850-1900’s Leoni 

The Romantic Period 1820-1910 While music and art from the Classical period was based on reason, order and rules, music and other art from the Romantic period was based on emotion, adventure and imagination. The Romantic period was a time of political revolution and new ways of looking at the world. Instead of working for wealthy bosses, composers were for the first time able to work for themselves. They composed music to express what they were thinking and feeling- unlike during earlier days, when they were only allowed to compose exactly what their employer wanted. During the Romantic period, there was a new appreciation of the artist as an individual- someone who had feelings which were expressed through their creations.

The romantic period continued… Many individual styles of Romantic music existed and were often dependent on where the composers called their home. Opera was very popular, as were technically difficult pieces that allowed performers to excite their audiences by showing off their performing abilities. Composers wrote music that represented their countries- including the history, politics, and challenges of those countries. This music is called "Nationalistic," and sometimes included folk song melodies and historical references of the country. The continued growth of the orchestra was also a trademark of the Romantic period. New instruments, or ones that had been modified in some way, allowed composers to write music for entirely new sounds and for new instrument combinations.

1850- The French opera house is built Designed by architect James Gallier, the Greek Revival-style structure on the corner of Toulouse and Bourbon streets opened in 1850 in a city that had been one of the earliest homes of grand opera in North America.

1865- The first variety theatre Former circus clown Tony Pastor opens the first variety theater in New York.

1868-Burlesque to the USA Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes bring burlesque to the United States. It was a misunderstood genre as most people think that "burlesque" means female strippers walking a runway to a bump and grind beat. But that only fits the form in its declining years. At its best, burlesque was a rich source of music and comedy that kept America, audiences laughing from 1840 through the 1960s. 

1871-Thespis was first performed The first collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, Thespis, is performed at London's Gaiety Theatre. The Gods on Mount Olympus are old and tired, so decide to take a vacation to earth while a group of travelling actors take their place. Most of the music for this opera has been lost, so it is played today only in reconstructions using either other Sullivan music, or original music. 

1876-Wagner’s ring The first complete production of Wagner's Ring, a titanic cycle of four musical dramas, opens the first Bayreuth Festival.

1879- A dolls house Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, a revolutionary play that centers on the repression of women, deeply offends conservatives and thrills a newly awakened European conscience when it premieres at the Copenhagen's Royal Theatre.

1881 The first modern cabaret, Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat), opens in Paris. London's Savoy Theatre opens and is the first to be lit by electricity. Vaudeville debuts at Tony Pastor's New 14th Street Theater in New York.

1883-Metropolitan opera house The Metropolitan Opera House opens in New York with Gounod's Faust. He was a French composer of church music and operas. Charles Gounod was first urged to write for the theater by the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot-Garcia (the lover of Russian writer Ivan Turgenev!).

1900- Floradora Floradora opens at Broadway's Casino Theatre. It introduces the Floradora sextet, a predecessor to the chorus line. It was one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The show was originally opened in London where it ran for 455 performances