scena

American  

[shey-nuh] / ˈʃeɪ nə /

noun

1. an extended operatic vocal solo, usually including an aria and a recitative.

---

scena British  

/ ˈʃeɪnə /

noun

1. a scene in an opera, usually longer than a single aria

2. a dramatic vocal piece written in operatic style

---

Etymology

Origin of scena

1810–20; < Italian: literally, scene

Example Sentences

Each scena could stand alone, but each benefits from the other, and from the shared thread of commanding performances.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2015

Photograph: Jean-Baptiste Millot Véronique Gens has recorded Les Nuits d'Eté before, in 2001 for Virgin Classics, as part of an all-Berlioz disc alongside the early scena, La Mort de Cléopatre.

From The Guardian • Jun. 20, 2012

Some of them are obscene in one literal sense of that word--from ob scena, Latin for offstage--the sights to be kept from the view of the audience.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gaude, plaude Magdalena, Tumb� Christus exiit; Tristis est per acta scena, Victor mortis rediit; Quem deflebis morientem, Nunc arride resurgentem: Alleluia resonet!

From Chronicles of the Schonberg-Cotta Family by Charles, Elizabeth Rundle

"They had not sent the grand scena from Medea, after all, but a wrong piece!"

From Stories of Comedy by Johnson, Rossiter