Opera began in the Italian city of Florence around the year 1600. A group of musicians and poets had the idea of bringing ancient Greek storytelling back, but with the words sung to music instead of spoken. The new style spread quickly. Soon every big Italian city had its own opera house - a special theatre just for these singing-stories.
Some of the most famous opera composers - the people who write the music - were Italian. Giuseppe Verdi wrote operas about kings, prisoners and circus performers. Giacomo Puccini wrote about people falling in love in Paris and tiny Japanese gardens. Their tunes are still played today, sometimes in films you might know, even if you've never been to an opera house.
Opera singers train their voices for years to be loud enough to fill a huge hall without using a microphone. There are different kinds of voices: high voices are called sopranos and tenors, lower voices are called altos and basses. A great opera singer can make a glass shake just by holding one note.
Italians love opera so much that some operas are even performed outdoors, in giant ancient Roman stadiums like the one in Verona. Thousands of people sit on stone steps under the stars and listen to the singers - no microphones needed.