This article examines the process of dynamic building and subsiding in verismo opera. Departing from groundswell originally drawn from Julian Budden’s analysis of bel canto opera, I propose a new dynamic paradigm, the climax archetype—consisting of initiation, intensification, highpoint, and abatement—and its operational parameters. To appropriately respond to diverse dynamic structures, variants of climax archetype—climax-stage fusion, high region, highpoint frustration, highpoint absence, climax succession, and climax nesting—are also suggested. These analytical paradigms are applied to works by Puccini, Giordano, Mascagni, and Zandonai, to clarify the mechanism of dynamic rise and fall in conjunction with the dramatic action.