Theland, I think it's worth remembering just how much has been handed down to us over the last three or four hundred years.
Victorian Music Hall was a direct descendant.
Music Hall lead to all the great 20th century Musicals... Rodgers & Hammerstein etc etc .
It's simply the notion of telling a story, first and foremost.
Recitative interspersed with arias being the origin of patter between popular songs.
"Guys & Dolls" is on over Christmas. A classic "opera" if ever there was one. Opera comes in all sizes. Personally, I can't "get" Wagner.
Friends keep plugging away at me, hoping for redemption, but I struggle.
Mozart; Rossini; Gluck, are my favourites. Not every clip put up on this thread is to my liking, but that's the way it should be. It's a huge subject. In fact, as huge as life itself. You take your pick.
I'm going to take a punt here, and suggest you read up on Wikipedia about Gluck's "Orfeo y Eurydice". Check the story, then go to good old Youtube and put up "The Dance of the Blessed Spirits". The version danced by Pina Bausch's great Tanztheatre.
I promise you, you'll love the story.