Opera is theater. The idea of acting out a story with music and movement is as old as humankind. The Greeks paved the way with their theatrical presentations, and by the time of the Italian Renaissance all the ingredients for opera were taking shape. Around 1600 Claudio Monteverdi composed the great opera, "Orfeo." From this promising springboard opera spread throughout Italy, then all of Europe and beyond. This book traces the development of opera from these early beginnings through the twentieth century to our own time, and considers where opera's future may be.