Spieloper

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Spieloper (Ger.). A 19th cent. comic opera with spoken dialogue, virtually the same as Singspiel. Examples are Lortzing's Der Wildschütz (1842), Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1849), and Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict (1862). Term has also been used, confusingly, to indicate an all-sung opera.