(b) The bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplifiedby the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Pacini, Mercadante and many others. Literally"beautiful singing,"bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the samename. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control.Examples of famous operas in the bel canto style include Rossini's II barbiere di Siviglia and LaCenerentola, as well as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.         Following the bel canto era, a more direet, forceful style was rapidly popularized by GiuseppeVerdi, begimning with his biblical opera Nabucco. Verdi's operas resonated with the growingspirit of Italian nationalism in the post-Napoleonic era, and he quickly became an icon of thepatriotic movement (although his own polities were perhaps not quite so radical). In the early1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: Rigoletto, I rovatore and La traviata. Buthe continued to develop his style, composing perhaps the greatest F'rench Grand Opera, DonCarlos, and ending his career with two Shakespeare-inspired works, Orello and Falstaff, whichreveal how far Italian opera had grown in sophistication since the early 19th century.         After Verdi, the sentimental "realistic" melodrama of verismo appeared in Italy. This was astyle introduced by Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliaccithat came virtually to dominate the world's opera stages with such popular works as GiacomoPuccini's La boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot. Later Italian composers, such asBerio and Nono, have experimented with modernism.
【題組】55. What is this passage mainly about?
(A)How realism was influenced by Verdi.
(B) The influence of Verdi on operas
(C) How Puccini followed the footsteps of Verdi
(D) The brief history of operas since the 19th century.)