<P> Though opera patronage has decreased in the last century in favor of other arts and media (such as musicals, cinema, radio, television and recordings), mass media and the advent of recording have supported the popularity of many famous singers including Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Amelita Galli - Curci, Kirsten Flagstad, Juan Arvizu, Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mario Del Monaco, Risë Stevens, Alfredo Kraus, Franco Corelli, Montserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Nellie Melba, Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli, Jussi Björling, Feodor Chaliapin, and "The Three Tenors" (Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and José Carreras). </P> <P> Before the 1700s, Italian operas used a small string orchestra, but it rarely played to accompany the singers . Opera solos during this period were accompanied by the basso continuo group, which consisted of the harpsichord, "plucked instruments" such as lute and a bass instrument . The string orchestra typically only played when the singer was not singing, such as during a singer's "...entrances and exits, between vocal numbers, (or) for (accompanying) dancing". Another role for the orchestra during this period was playing an orchestral ritornello to mark the end of a singer's solo . During the early 1700s, some composers began to use the string orchestra to mark certain aria or recitatives "...as special"; by 1720, most arias were accompanied by orchestra . Opera composers such as Domenico Sarro, Leonardo Vinci, Giambattista Pergolesi, Leonardo Leo, and Johann Adolf Hasse added new instruments to the opera orchestra and gave the instruments new roles . They added wind instruments to the strings and used orchestral instruments to play instrumental solos, as a way to mark certain arias as special . </P> <P> The orchestra has also provided an instrumental overture before the singers come onstage since the 1600s . Peri's Euridice opens with a brief instrumental ritornello, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for muted trumpets . The French overture as found in Jean - Baptiste Lully's operas consist of a slow introduction in a marked "dotted rhythm", followed by a lively movement in fugato style . The overture was frequently followed by a series of dance tunes before the curtain rose . This overture style was also used in English opera, most notably in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas . Handel also uses the French overture form in some of his Italian operas such as Giulio Cesare . </P> <P> In Italy, a distinct form called "overture" arose in the 1680s, and became established particularly through the operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, and spread throughout Europe, supplanting the French form as the standard operatic overture by the mid-18th century . It uses three generally homophonic movements: fast--slow--fast . The opening movement was normally in duple metre and in a major key; the slow movement in earlier examples was short, and could be in a contrasting key; the concluding movement was dance - like, most often with rhythms of the gigue or minuet, and returned to the key of the opening section . As the form evolved, the first movement may incorporate fanfare - like elements and took on the pattern of so - called "sonatina form" (sonata form without a development section), and the slow section became more extended and lyrical . </P>

Which descriptions are part of the definition of french overture