Operatic pop or
popera is a subgenre of
pop music that is performed in an
operatic singing style or a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop. According to music historians, operatic pop songs became most prevalent with the rise of
Tin Pan Alley musicians during the early 1900s. One influence was the large influx of Italian immigrants to the United States who popularized singers such as
Enrico Caruso and inspired the creation of "novelty songs" using Italian dialect. The songs often used operatic repertory "to make a satirical or topical point". Popularized by American
Vaudeville, musical comedies, jazz and operettas, examples include
Irving Berlin's
That Opera Rag,
Billy Murray's
My Cousin Caruso and
Louis Armstrong's riffs on
Rigoletto and
Pagliacci. The subgenre subsequently dwindled after the 1920s but revived during the
rock music era with albums such as
The Who's
Tommy and
Queen's
A Night at The Opera.