Italian opera of the early 1700s developed into 2 basic types: opera seria, or serious opera, & this, comic opera
... Neapolitan and then Italian comic opera grew into an 
independent form and... [DOC] [TLE] opera: Early Opera - Infoplease [PAR] Early Opera Florentine Beginnings Although musical drama, such as The Play of 
Daniel ... had previously existed, it was in the year 1600 that opera came into 
being.