Answer:
Dissatisfaction arose in some quarters with the excesses of Italian opera seria—especially its predictable use of recitative and aria and its catering to solo coloratura (an elaborately embellished vocal melody) and other ornamental features that impeded the action. Consequently, some Italian composers began to move the genre in the direction of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s powerful and more integrated tragédies lyriques. Tommaso Traetta and Niccolò Jommelli, who worked at courts where French taste prevailed, often used orchestrally accompanied recitative (a technique known as recitativo accompagnato) to smooth the transitions between secco (“dry”) recitative and da capo aria. They also gave greater importance to ensembles and choruses, which had long been absent in opera seria.
