Wikipedia

List of prominent operas

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The operas listed cover all important genres, and include all operas regularly performed today, from seventeenth-century works by Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Purcell to late twentieth-century operas by Messiaen, Berio, Glass, Adams, Birtwistle, and Weir. The brief accompanying notes offer an explanation as to why each opera has been considered important. For an introduction to operatic history, see Opera. The organisation of the list is by year of first performance, or, if this was long after the composer's death, approximate date of composition.

This list provides a guide to the most important operas, as determined by their presence on a majority of selected compiled lists (dating from between 1984 and 2000) of significant operas: see the Lists consulted section for full details.

1600–1699

Claudio Monteverdi by Bernardo Strozzi, 1640
  • 1607 L'Orfeo (Claudio Monteverdi). Widely regarded as the first operatic masterwork.[1]
  • 1640 Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (Monteverdi). Monteverdi's first opera for Venice, based on Homer's Odyssey, displays the composer's mastery of portrayal of genuine individuals as opposed to stereotypes.[2]
  • 1642 L'incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi). Monteverdi's last opera, composed for a Venetian audience, is often performed today. Its Venetian context helps to explain the complete absence of the moralizing tone often associated with opera of this time.[2]
  • 1644 Ormindo (Francesco Cavalli). One of the first of Cavalli's operas to be revived in the 20th century, Ormindo is considered one of his more attractive works.[2]
  • 1649 Giasone (Cavalli). In Giasone Cavalli, for the first time, separated aria and recitative.[2] Giasone was the most popular opera of the 17th century.[3]
  • 1651 La Calisto (Cavalli). Ninth of the eleven operas that Cavalli wrote with Faustini is noted for its satire of the deities of classical mythology.[4]
  • 1683 Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell). Often considered to be the first genuine English-language operatic masterwork. Not first performed in 1689 at a girls' school, as is commonly believed, but at Charles II's court in 1683.[5]
  • 1692 The Fairy-Queen (Purcell). A semi-opera rather than a genuine opera, this is often thought to be Purcell's finest dramatic work.[5]

1700–1749

George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner, 1733
  • 1710 Agrippina (Handel). Handel's last opera that he composed in Italy was a great success,[6] and established his reputation as a composer of Italian opera.[7]
  • 1711 Rinaldo (Handel). Handel's first opera for the London stage was also the first all-Italian opera performed on the London stage.[7]
  • 1724 Giulio Cesare (Handel). Noted for the richness of its orchestration.[7]
  • 1724 Tamerlano (Handel). Described by Anthony Hicks, writing in Grove Music Online, as possessing a "taut dramatic power".[7]
  • 1725 Rodelinda (Handel). Rodelinda is often praised for the fullness of the melodic writing among Handel's output.[7]
  • 1728 The Beggar's Opera (Johann Christoph Pepusch). A satire of Italian opera seria based on a play by John Gay, the ballad opera format of The Beggar's Opera has proved popular even up to the current time.[8]
  • 1731 Acis and Galatea (Handel). Handel's only work for the theatre that is set to an English libretto.[9]
  • 1733 Orlando (Handel). An opera that is described by Anthony Hicks as "remarkable"[7] and by Orrey as one of Handel's "best works".[9]
  • 1733 La serva padrona (Giovanni Battista Pergolesi). Became a model for many of the opera buffas that followed it, including those of Mozart.[10]
  • 1733 Hippolyte et Aricie (Jean-Philippe Rameau). Rameau's first opera caused great controversy at its premiere.[11]
  • 1735 Ariodante (Handel). Both this opera and Alcina enjoy high critical reputations today.[7]
  • 1735 Alcina (Handel). Both this work and Ariodante were part of Handel's first opera season at Covent Garden.[7]
  • 1735 Les Indes galantes (Rameau). In this work Rameau added emotional depth and power to the traditionally lighter form of opéra-ballet.[11]
  • 1737 Castor et Pollux (Rameau). Initially only a moderate success, when it was revived in 1754 Castor et Pollux was regarded as Rameau's finest achievement.[11]
  • 1738 Serse (Handel). Deviation from the usual model of opera seria, Serse contains many comic elements rare in Handel's other works.[7]
  • 1744 Semele (Handel). Originally performed as an oratorio, Semele's dramatic qualities have often led to the work being performed on the opera stage in modern times.[12]
  • 1745 Platée (Rameau). Rameau's most famous comic opera. Originally a court entertainment, a 1754 revival proved extremely popular with French audiences.[11]

1750–1799

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart aged 21 in 1777
  • 1760 La buona figliuola (Niccolò Piccinni). Piccinni's work was initially immensely popular throughout Europe. By 1790 over 70 productions of the opera had been produced and it had been performed in all the major European cities.[13]
  • 1762 Orfeo ed Euridice (Christoph Willibald Gluck). Gluck's most popular opera. The first work in which the composer tried to reform the excesses of Italian opera seria.[14]
  • 1762 Artaxerxes (Thomas Arne). The first opera seria in English. After Metastasio's 1729 libretto Artaserse.
  • 1767 Alceste (Gluck). Gluck's second "reform" opera, nowadays usually given in its French revision of 1776.[15]
  • 1768 Bastien und Bastienne (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Mozart's one-act Singspiel was set to a parody of Rousseau's Le devin du village.[16]
  • 1770 Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mozart). Composed when Mozart was 14, Mitridate was written for a demanding cast of star singers.[16]
  • 1772 Lucio Silla (Mozart). from Mozart's teenage years, was not revived until 1929 after its initial run of 25 performances.[16]
  • 1774 Iphigénie en Aulide (Gluck). Gluck's first opera for Paris.[17]
  • 1775 La finta giardiniera (Mozart). Generally recognised as Mozart's first opera buffa of significance.[16]
  • 1775 Il re pastore (Mozart). Mozart's last opera of his adolescence was set to a libretto by Metastasio.[16]
  • 1777 Il mondo della luna (Joseph Haydn). Last of three that Haydn set to libretti by Carlo Goldoni.[18]
  • 1777 Armide (Gluck). Gluck used a libretto originally set by Lully for this French work, his favourite among his own operas.[19]
  • 1779 Iphigénie en Tauride (Gluck). Gluck's "last and perhaps greatest masterpiece".[20]
  • 1781 Idomeneo (Mozart). Usually thought of as Mozart's first mature opera, Idomeneo was composed after a lengthy break from the stage.[21]
  • 1782 Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart). Often thought of as the first of Mozart's comic masterpieces, this work is frequently performed today.[22]
  • 1782 Il barbiere di Siviglia (Giovanni Paisiello). Paisiello's most famous comic opera, later eclipsed by Rossini's work of the same name.[23]
  • 1786 Der Schauspieldirektor (Mozart). Another Singspiel with much spoken dialogue taken from plays of that time, the plot of Der Schauspieldirektor features two sopranos vying to become prima donna in a newly assembled company. Premiered together with Antonio Salieri's Prima la musica e poi le parole[16]
  • 1786 Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart). The first of the famous series of Mozart operas set to libretti by Lorenzo Da Ponte is now Mozart's most popular opera.[16]
  • 1787 Don Giovanni (Mozart). Second of the operas that Mozart set to Da Ponte's libretti, Don Giovanni has provided a puzzle for writers and philosophers ever since its composition.[16]
  • 1790 Così fan tutte (Mozart). Third and last of the operas that Mozart set to libretti by Da Ponte, Così fan tutte was scarcely performed throughout the 19th century, as the plot was considered to be immoral.[24]
  • 1791 La clemenza di Tito (Mozart). Mozart's last opera before his early death was extremely popular until 1830, after which the work's popularity and critical reputation began to decline; they did not return to their former levels until after the Second World War.[16]
  • 1791 Die Zauberflöte (Mozart). Has been described as "the apotheosis of the Singspiel", Die Zauberflöte was denigrated during the 19th century as confused and lacking in definition.[22]
  • 1792 Il matrimonio segreto (Domenico Cimarosa). Usually regarded as Cimarosa's best opera,[25] Leopold II enjoyed the three-hour-long premiere so much that, after dinner, he compelled the singers to repeat the opera later during that same day.[26]
  • 1797 Médée (Luigi Cherubini). Only French opera of the Revolutionary period to be regularly performed today. A famous showcase for sopranos such as Maria Callas.[27]

1800–1832

Gioachino Rossini, 1820 (International Museum and Library of Music, Bologna)
  • 1805 Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven). Beethoven's only opera was inspired by the composer's passion for political liberty.[28]
  • 1807 La vestale (Gaspare Spontini). Spontini's opera about a vestal virgin in love was a great influence on Berlioz and a forerunner of French grand opera.[29]
  • 1812 La scala di seta (Gioachino Rossini). An early Rossini work, this opera is outright farsa comica.[30]
  • 1813 L'italiana in Algeri (Rossini). This opera is described by Richard Osborne, writing in Grove Music Online, as "Rossini's first buffo masterpiece in the fully fledged two-act form".[30]
  • 1813 Tancredi (Rossini). This melodramma eroico was described by poet Giuseppe Carpani thus: "It is cantilena and always cantilena: beautiful cantilena, new cantilena, magic cantilena, rare cantilena".[30]
  • 1814 Il turco in Italia (Rossini). This opera stands out among Rossini's output for its frequent ensembles and absence of aria.[30]
  • 1816 Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini). This work has become Rossini's most popular opera buffa.[30]
  • 1816 Otello (Rossini). The composer Giacomo Meyerbeer described the third act of Otello thus: "The third act of Otello established its reputation so firmly that a thousand errors could not shake it".[30]
  • 1817 La Cenerentola (Rossini). Rossini's comedy was composed in just over three weeks.[30]
  • 1817 La gazza ladra (Rossini). In this opera Rossini drew upon French rescue opera.[30]
  • 1818 Mosè in Egitto (Rossini). This work was originally conceived of as a sacred drama suitable for performance during Lent.[30]
  • 1819 La donna del lago (Rossini). Another Romantic-era opera inspired by the works of Sir Walter Scott.[30]
  • 1821 Der Freischütz (Carl Maria von Weber). Weber's masterpiece was the first great German Romantic opera.[31]
  • 1823 Euryanthe (von Weber). Despite its weak libretto, Euryanthe had a great influence on later German operas, including Wagner's Lohengrin.[32]
  • 1823 Semiramide (Rossini). This is the last opera that Rossini composed in Italy.[30]
  • 1825 La dame blanche (François-Adrien Boieldieu). Boieldieu's most successful opéra comique was one of many 19th century works inspired by the novels of Sir Walter Scott.[33]
  • 1826 Le siège de Corinthe (Rossini). For this work Rossini heavily revised his earlier Maometto II, placing the action in a different setting.[30]
  • 1826 Oberon (von Weber). Weber's last opera before his early death.[34]
  • 1827 Il pirata (Vincenzo Bellini). Bellini's second professional production established his international reputation.[35]
  • 1828 Der Vampyr (Heinrich Marschner). Marschner was a key link between Weber and Wagner, as this Gothic opera shows.[36]
  • 1828 Le comte Ory (Rossini). Rossini's opera has enjoyed a high critical reputation throughout the years: 19th-century critic Henry Chorley said that "there is not a bad melody, there is not an ugly bar in Le comte Ory", and Richard Osborne, writing in Grove Music Online, calls details that the work is one of the "wittiest, most stylish and most urbane of all comic operas".[30]
  • 1829 La straniera (Bellini). La straniera is rare among bel canto operas in that it offers remarkably few opportunities for vocal ostentation.[35]
  • 1829 Guillaume Tell (Rossini). Rossini's last opera before his retirement is a tale of liberty set in the Swiss Alps. It helped to establish the genre of French Grand Opera.[37]
  • 1830 Anna Bolena (Gaetano Donizetti). This was Donizetti's first success on the international scene and helped greatly to establish his reputation.[38]
  • 1830 Fra Diavolo (Daniel Auber). One of the most popular opéra comiques of the 19th century, Auber's tale loosely based on an important Neapolitan rebel leader even inspired a film by Laurel and Hardy.[39]
  • 1830 I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini). Bellini's version of Romeo and Juliet.[40]
  • 1831 La sonnambula (Bellini). The concertato "D'un pensiero e d'un accento" from the finale of Act 1 of this work was later parodied by Arthur Sullivan in Trial by Jury.[41]
  • 1831 Norma (Bellini). Bellini's best-known opera, paradigm of Romantic operas. The final act of this work is often noted for the originality of its orchestration.[42]
  • 1831 Robert le diable (Giacomo Meyerbeer). Meyerbeer's first Grand Opera for Paris caused a sensation with its ballet of dead nuns.[43]
  • 1832 L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti). This work was the most often performed opera in Italy between 1838 and 1848.[38]

1833–1849

Gaetano Donizetti
  • 1833 Beatrice di Tenda (Vincenzo Bellini). Bellini's tragedy is notable for its extensive use of the chorus.[44]
  • 1833 Hans Heiling (Heinrich Marschner). Another important Gothic horror opera from Marschner.[45]
  • 1833 Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti). One of Donizetti's most popular scores.[46]
  • 1834 Maria Stuarda (Donizetti). This work was dismissed as a failure in the 19th century, but since its revival in 1958 it has made frequent appearances on stage.[47]
  • 1835 Das Liebesverbot (Richard Wagner). An early work by Wagner loosely based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. The composer later disowned it.[48]
  • 1835 I puritani (Bellini). Bellini's drama, set during the English Civil War, is one of his finest achievements.[49]
  • 1835 La Juive (Fromental Halévy). This grand opera rivalled the works of Meyerbeer in popularity. The tenor aria "Rachel quand du seigneur" is particularly famous.[50]
  • 1835 Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti). Donizetti's most famous tragic opera, notable for Lucia's mad scene.[51]
  • 1836 A Life for the Tsar (Mikhail Glinka). Glinka established the tradition of Russian opera with this historical work and the later Ruslan and Lyudmila.[52]
  • 1836 Les Huguenots (Giacomo Meyerbeer). Perhaps the most famous of all French grand operas, widely regarded as Meyerbeer's masterpiece.[53]
  • 1837 Roberto Devereux (Donizetti). Donizetti wrote this work as a distraction from the grief he felt at the death of his wife.[54]
  • 1838 Benvenuto Cellini (Hector Berlioz). Berlioz's first opera is a virtuoso score which is still highly difficult to perform.[55]
  • 1839 Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (Giuseppe Verdi). Verdi's first opera is a sensational melodrama.[56]
  • 1840 La favorite (Donizetti). A grand opera in the French tradition.[57]
  • 1840 La fille du régiment (Donizetti). Donizetti's venture into French opéra comique.[57]
  • 1840 Bátori Mária (Erkel). Erkel's first opera was also the first true opera written in Hungarian and is based on the story of Ines de Castro in Camões' Os Lusiadas, the Portuguese national epic.[58]
  • 1840 Un giorno di regno (Verdi). Verdi's only comedy apart from his last opera, Falstaff.[56]
  • 1842 Der Wildschütz (Albert Lortzing). Lortzing's "comic masterpiece", intended to show a German work could rival Italian opera buffa and French opéra comique.[59]
  • 1842 Nabucco (Verdi). Verdi described this opera as the genuine beginning of his artistic career.[60]
  • 1842 Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen (Wagner). Wagner's contribution to the Grand Opera tradition.[61]
  • 1842 Ruslan and Lyudmila (Glinka). This episodic version of a Pushkin fairy tale was a major influence on later Russian composers.[62]
  • 1843 Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner). Wagner regarded this German Romantic opera as the true beginning of his career.[63]
  • 1843 Don Pasquale (Donizetti). Donizetti's "comic masterpiece" is one of the last great opera buffas.[64]
  • 1843 I Lombardi alla prima crociata (Verdi). Verdi's follow-up to Nabucco was the first of his operas to be performed in America.[65]
  • 1843 The Bohemian Girl (Michael Balfe). One of the few notable 19th-century English-language operas apart from the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.[66]
  • 1844 Hunyadi László (Erkel). Erkel's second opera is generally considered his best, but is second in popularity to his later opera Bánk Bán which is considered the Hungarian "National Opera".[58]
  • 1844 Ernani (Verdi). One of the most dramatically effective of Verdi's early works.[67]
  • 1845 Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (Wagner). Wagner's "most medieval work" depicts the conflict between pagan love and Christian virtue.[68]
  • 1846 Attila (Verdi). Verdi was troubled by ill health during the writing of this piece, which was only a moderate success at the premiere.[69]
  • 1846 La damnation de Faust (Berlioz). Frustrated at his lack of opera commissions, Berlioz composed this "dramatic legend" for concert performance. In recent years, it has been successfully staged as an opera, though the critic David Cairns describes it as "cinematic".[70]
  • 1847 Macbeth (Verdi). Verdi's first venture into Shakespeare.[69]
  • 1847 Martha (Friedrich von Flotow). Flotow unashamedly aimed at satisfying popular taste in this comic and sentimental work set in the England of Queen Anne.[71]
  • 1849 Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Otto Nicolai). Nicolai's only German opera has been his most lasting success.[72]
  • 1849 Le prophète (Meyerbeer). A grand opera about the life of the religious fanatic, John of Leiden.[73]
  • 1849 Luisa Miller (Verdi). Fans of Verdi think that this setting of Schiller's "bourgeois tragedy" has been underrated.[74]

1850–1875

Richard Wagner
  • 1850 Genoveva (Robert Schumann). Schumann's only excursion into opera was a relative failure, though the work has had its admirers from Franz Liszt to Nikolaus Harnoncourt.[75]
  • 1850 Lohengrin (Richard Wagner). The last of Wagner's "middle period" works.[76]
  • 1850 Stiffelio (Giuseppe Verdi). Verdi's tale of adultery among members of a German Protestant sect fell foul of the censors.[77]
  • 1851 Rigoletto (Verdi). The first – and most innovative – of three middle period Verdi operas which have become staples of the repertoire.[78]
  • 1853 Il trovatore (Verdi). This Romantic melodrama is one of Verdi's most tuneful scores.[79]
  • 1853 La traviata (Verdi). The role of Violetta, the "fallen woman" of the title, is one of the most famous vehicles for the soprano voice.[80]
  • 1855 Les vêpres siciliennes (Verdi). Verdi's opera displays the strong influence of Meyerbeer.[81]
  • 1858 Der Barbier von Bagdad (Peter Cornelius). An oriental comedy drawing on the tradition of German Romantic opera.[82]
  • 1858 Orphée aux Enfers (Jacques Offenbach). Offenbach's first full-length operetta, this cynical and satirical piece is still immensely popular today.[83]
  • 1858 Les Troyens (Hector Berlioz). Berlioz's greatest opera and the culmination of the French Classical tradition.[70]
  • 1859 Faust (Charles Gounod). Of all the musical settings of the Faust legend, Gounod's has been the most popular with audiences, especially in the Victorian era.[84]
  • 1859 Un ballo in maschera (Verdi). This opera ran into trouble with the censors because it originally dealt with the assassination of a monarch.[85]
  • 1861 Bánk bán (Erkel). Erkel's third opera is considered the Hungarian "National opera".[86]
  • 1862 Béatrice et Bénédict (Berlioz). The last opera Berlioz wrote is the final fruit of his lifelong admiration for Shakespeare.[87]
  • 1862 La forza del destino (Verdi). This tragedy was commissioned by the Imperial Theatre, Saint Petersburg, and Verdi may have been influenced by the Russian tradition in the writing of his work.[88]
  • 1863 Les pêcheurs de perles (Georges Bizet). Though a relative failure at its premiere, this is Bizet's second most performed opera today and is particularly famous for its tenor/baritone duet.[89]
  • 1864 La belle Hélène (Offenbach). Another operetta by Offenbach which pokes fun at Greek mythology.[90]
  • 1864 Mireille (Gounod). Gounod's work is based on the epic poem by Frédéric Mistral and makes use of Provençal folk tunes.[91]
  • 1865 L'Africaine (Giacomo Meyerbeer). Meyerbeer's last Grand Opera received a posthumous premiere.[92]
  • 1865 Tristan und Isolde (Wagner). This romantic tragedy is Wagner's most radical work and one of the most revolutionary pieces in music history. The "Tristan chord" began the breakdown of traditional tonality.[93]
  • 1866 Mignon (Ambroise Thomas). A lyrical work inspired by Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, this was Thomas's most successful opera along with Hamlet.[94]
  • 1866 The Bartered Bride (Bedřich Smetana). Smetana's folk comedy is the most widely performed of all his operas.[95]
  • 1867 Don Carlos (Verdi). Verdi's French grand opera, after Schiller, is now one of his most highly regarded works.[96]
  • 1867 La jolie fille de Perth (Bizet). Bizet turned to a novel by Sir Walter Scott for this opéra comique.[97]
  • 1867 Roméo et Juliette (Gounod). Gounod's version of Shakespeare's tragedy is his second most famous work.[98]
  • 1868 Dalibor (Smetana). One of the most successful of Smetana's operas exploring themes from Czech history.[99]
  • 1868 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner). Wagner's only comedy among his mature operas concerns the clash between artistic tradition and innovation.[100]
  • 1868 Hamlet (Thomas). Thomas's opera takes many liberties with its Shakespearean source.[101]
  • 1868 La Périchole (Offenbach). Set in Peru, this operetta mixes comedy and sentimentality.[102]
  • 1868 Mefistofele (Arrigo Boito). Though most famous as a librettist for Verdi, Boito was also a composer and he spent many years working on this musical version of the Faust myth.[103]
  • 1869 Das Rheingold (Wagner). The "preliminary evening" to Wagner's epic Ring cycle tells how the ring was forged and the curse laid upon it.[104]
  • 1870 Die Walküre (Wagner). The second part of the Ring tells the story of the mortals Siegmund and Sieglinde and of how the valkyrie Brünnhilde disobeys her father Wotan, king of the gods.[105]
  • 1871 Aida (Verdi). Features one of the greatest tenor arias of all time, Celeste Aida.
  • 1874 Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgsky). Mussorgsky's great historical drama shows Russia's descent into anarchy in the early 17th century.[106]
  • 1874 Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II). Probably the most popular of all operettas.[107]
  • 1874 The Two Widows (Smetana). Another comedy by Smetana, the only one of his operas with a non-Czech subject.[108]
  • 1875 Carmen (Bizet). Probably the most famous of all French operas. Critics at the premiere were shocked by Bizet's blend of romanticism and realism.[109]

1876–1899

Giuseppe Verdi by Giovanni Boldini, 1886
  • 1876 Siegfried (Richard Wagner). The third part of the Ring sees the hero Siegfried slay the dragon Fafner, win the ring and free Brunhilde from her enchantment.[110]
  • 1876 Götterdämmerung (Wagner). In the final part of the Ring, the curse takes effect leading to the deaths of Siegfried and Brünnhilde and the destruction of the gods themselves.[111]
  • 1876 La Gioconda (Amilcare Ponchielli). Apart from Verdi's Aida, this is the only Italian grand opera to have stayed in international repertory.[41]
  • 1877 L'étoile (Emmanuel Chabrier). This comic piece has been described as "a cross between Carmen and Gilbert and Sullivan, with plenty of Offenbach thrown in".[112]
  • 1877 Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint-Saëns). An opera with that was heavily influenced by those of Wagner.[113]
  • 1879 Eugene Onegin (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky). Tchaikovsky's most popular opera, based on the verse novel by Alexander Pushkin. The composer strongly identified with the heroine Tatyana.[114]
  • 1881 Hérodiade (Jules Massenet). An opera telling the Biblical story of Salome, Massenet's work was eclipsed by Richard Strauss's treatment of the same subject.[115]
  • 1881 Les contes d'Hoffmann (Jacques Offenbach). Offenbach's attempt at writing a more serious work remained unfinished at his death. Nevertheless, this is his most widely performed opera today.[102]
  • 1881 Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi). Verdi heavily revised this opera over twenty years after it was first performed.[60]
  • 1882 Parsifal (Wagner). Wagner's last opera is a "festival play" about the legend of the Holy Grail.[116]
  • 1882 The Snow Maiden (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov). One of Rimsky-Korsakov's most lyrical works.[117]
  • 1883 Lakmé (Léo Delibes). This opéra comique set in the British Raj in India is famous for its "Flower Duet" and "Bell Song".[118]
  • 1884 Le Villi (Puccini). An early operatic work by Puccini with plenty of opportunity for dance.[119]
  • 1884 Manon (Massenet). Massenet's most enduringly popular work along with Werther.[120]
  • 1885 Der Zigeunerbaron (Johann Strauss II). Strauss's operetta was intended to soothe tensions between Austrians and Hungarians in the Habsburg empire.[121]
  • 1886 Khovanshchina (Modest Mussorgsky). Mussorgsky's second great epic of Russian history was left unfinished at his death.[122]
  • 1887 Le roi malgré lui (Chabrier). Ravel claimed he would rather have written this comic opera than Wagner's Ring cycle, though the plot is notoriously confused.[123]
  • 1887 Otello (Verdi). The first of Verdi's late-period masterpieces was set to a libretto by Arrigo Boito.[60]
  • 1888 Le roi d'Ys (Édouard Lalo). A Breton folk tale with music heavily influenced by Wagner.[124]
  • 1890 Cavalleria rusticana (Pietro Mascagni). A perennial favourite with audiences around the world, this one-acter is usually performed alongside Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.[125]
  • 1890 Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin). Borodin spent 17 years working on this opera off and on, yet never managed to finish it. Most famous for its "Polovtsian dances".[126]
  • 1890 The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky). In a letter to his brother and librettist the composer said that "the opera is a masterpiece".[127]
  • 1891 L'amico Fritz (Mascagni). This work has been thought of as a late example of opera semiseria.[128]
  • 1892 Iolanta (Tchaikovsky). Tchaikovsky's last lyrical opera set to a libretto by his brother Modest.[129]
  • 1892 La Wally (Alfredo Catalani). Usually considered Catalani's masterpiece.[130]
  • 1892 Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo). One of the most famous verismo operas, usually paired with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.[131]
  • 1892 Werther (Massenet). Along with Manon, this is Massenet's most popular opera.[132]
  • 1893 Falstaff (Verdi). Verdi's final opera was set to another of Boito's libretti.[60]
  • 1893 Hänsel und Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck). The well-known fairy tale received a full Wagnerian operatic adaptation at Humperdinck's hands.[133]
  • 1893 Manon Lescaut (Giacomo Puccini). The success of this work established Puccini's reputation as a composer of contemporary music of the first rank.[41]
  • 1894 Thaïs (Massenet). The opera that contains the famous Méditation interlude.[132]
  • 1896 Andrea Chénier (Umberto Giordano). Set to a libretto by Luigi Illica, this verismo drama is Giordano's most popular opera.[41]
  • 1896 La bohème (Puccini). Debussy is alleged to have said that no one had detailed Paris at that time better than had Puccini in La Boheme.[41]
  • 1897 Königskinder (Humperdinck). Originally a melodrama that blended song and spoken dialogue, the composer adapted the work into an opera proper in 1907.
  • 1898 Fedora (Giordano). Giordano's second most popular opera.[41]
  • 1898 Sadko (Rimsky-Korsakov). The Viking Trader's song from this opera has become extremely popular in Russia.[127]
  • 1899 Cendrillon (Massenet). An immediate success at the time of the premiere, the opera enjoyed 50 performances in 1899 alone.[132]
  • 1899 The Devil and Kate (Antonín Dvořák). The lack of a love interest makes the plot of this work almost unique among Czech comic operas.[134]

1900–1920

Richard Strauss

1921–1944

Giacomo Puccini

From 1945

Igor Stravinsky
Benjamin Britten

Significant firsts in opera history

Operas not included in the above list, but which were important milestones in operatic history.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ John Whenham, writing in Grove
  2. ^ a b c d Ellen Rosand, writing in Grove
  3. ^ Viking p. 191
  4. ^ Martha Novak Clinkscale, writing in Grove
  5. ^ a b c Curtis Price, writing in Grove
  6. ^ Viking p. 418: "According to John Mainwaring, Handel's first biographer, 'The theatre at almost every pause resounded with shouts of "Viva il caro Sassone". They were thunderstruck by the sublimity of his style: for never had they known till then all the powers of harmony and modulation so closely arrayed and forcibly combined' ".
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Anthony Hicks, writing in Grove
  8. ^ Robert D. Hume, writing in Grove
  9. ^ a b Orrey p. 64
  10. ^ Orrey pp. 90–91
  11. ^ a b c d Graham Sadler, writing in Grove
  12. ^ Stanley Sadie, writing in Grove
  13. ^ Mary Hunter, writing in Grove
  14. ^ Viking pp. 375–76
  15. ^ Viking pp. 378–79
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i Julian Rushton, writing in Grove
  17. ^ Viking p. 381
  18. ^ Caryl Clark, writing in Grove
  19. ^ Viking p. 393
  20. ^ Viking p. 370
  21. ^ Orrey p. 110
  22. ^ a b Orrey p. 113
  23. ^ Viking p. 752
  24. ^ Orrey p. 107
  25. ^ Orrey p. 114
  26. ^ Gordana Lazarevich, writing in Grove
  27. ^ Viking pp. 210–11
  28. ^ Viking p. 59
  29. ^ Viking pp. 1002–04
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Richard Osborne, writing in Grove
  31. ^ Viking pp. 1212–14
  32. ^ Viking pp. 1214–15
  33. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 136
  34. ^ Clive Brown, writing in Grove
  35. ^ a b Simon Maguire, writing in Grove
  36. ^ A. Dean Palmer, writing in Grove
  37. ^ Viking pp. 884, 917–18
  38. ^ a b William Ashbrook, writing in Grove
  39. ^ Viking p. 38
  40. ^ Viking p. 66
  41. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Julian Budden, writing in Grove
  42. ^ Orrey p. 132
  43. ^ Viking pp. 659–60
  44. ^ Viking p. 70
  45. ^ Viking p. 609
  46. ^ Viking p. 277
  47. ^ Viking p. 278
  48. ^ Viking p. 1176
  49. ^ Viking p. 71
  50. ^ Viking p. 412
  51. ^ Viking p. 280
  52. ^ Oxford Illustrated pp. 246 ff.
  53. ^ Viking p. 660
  54. ^ Viking p. 282
  55. ^ Viking p. 92
  56. ^ a b Viking p. 1125
  57. ^ a b Viking p. 285
  58. ^ a b The New Penguin Opera Guide, p. 265
  59. ^ Viking p. 584
  60. ^ a b c d Roger Parker, writing in Grove
  61. ^ Viking p. 1177
  62. ^ Viking p. 368
  63. ^ Viking p. 1179
  64. ^ Viking p. 288
  65. ^ Viking p. 1127
  66. ^ Viking p. 48
  67. ^ Viking p. 1128
  68. ^ Viking p. 1181
  69. ^ a b Viking p. 1132
  70. ^ a b Viking p. 94
  71. ^ Viking p. 328
  72. ^ Viking p. 726
  73. ^ Viking p. 661
  74. ^ Viking p. 1138
  75. ^ Viking p. 968
  76. ^ Viking pp. 1184–86
  77. ^ Viking p. 1139
  78. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 192
  79. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 193
  80. ^ Viking p. 1143
  81. ^ Viking p. 1144
  82. ^ Viking p. 228
  83. ^ Viking p. 735
  84. ^ Penguin Guide to Opera on CD, p. 114
  85. ^ Viking p. 1147
  86. ^ The New Penguin Opera Guide, p. 266
  87. ^ Viking p. 97
  88. ^ Viking p. 1149
  89. ^ Viking p. 115
  90. ^ Viking p. 736
  91. ^ Viking p. 397
  92. ^ Viking p. 664
  93. ^ Viking p. 1196
  94. ^ Viking p. 1098
  95. ^ Viking p. 988
  96. ^ Viking p. 1152
  97. ^ Viking p. 116
  98. ^ Viking p. 398
  99. ^ Viking p. 990
  100. ^ Viking p. 1198
  101. ^ Viking p. 1099
  102. ^ a b Viking p. 738
  103. ^ Viking p. 131
  104. ^ Viking p. 1188
  105. ^ Viking p. 1190
  106. ^ Viking p. 718
  107. ^ Viking p. 1020
  108. ^ Viking p. 992
  109. ^ Viking p. 118
  110. ^ Viking p. 1191
  111. ^ Viking p. 1192
  112. ^ Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs, p. 53
  113. ^ Hugh Macdonald, writing in Grove
  114. ^ Viking p. 1087
  115. ^ Viking p. 624
  116. ^ Viking p. 1201
  117. ^ Viking p. 866
  118. ^ Viking p. 252
  119. ^ Viking p. 807
  120. ^ Viking p. 625
  121. ^ Viking p. 1022
  122. ^ Viking p. 720
  123. ^ Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs, p. 54
  124. ^ Oxford Illustrated pp. 164–65
  125. ^ Viking p. 618
  126. ^ Viking p. 134
  127. ^ a b c Richard Taruskin, writing in Grove
  128. ^ Peter Ross, writing in Grove
  129. ^ Viking p. 1094
  130. ^ Michele Girardi, writing in Grove
  131. ^ Viking p. 564
  132. ^ a b c Rodney Milnes, writing in Grove
  133. ^ Ian Denley, in The New Grove
  134. ^ Jan Smaczny, writing in Grove
  135. ^ Viking p. 203
  136. ^ a b Oxford Illustrated p. 269
  137. ^ Oxford Illustrated pp. 281–87
  138. ^ Viking p. 728
  139. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 304
  140. ^ Viking p. 559
  141. ^ Viking p. 1026
  142. ^ Viking p. 729
  143. ^ Viking p. 256
  144. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 285
  145. ^ Viking p. 871
  146. ^ Viking p. 502
  147. ^ Viking p. 1028
  148. ^ Viking p. 1241
  149. ^ Viking p. 872
  150. ^ Viking p. 635
  151. ^ Viking p. 1029
  152. ^ Viking p. 849
  153. ^ Viking p. 1031
  154. ^ Peter Franklin, writing in Grove
  155. ^ Viking p. 314
  156. ^ Viking p. 137
  157. ^ Viking p. 1045
  158. ^ Viking p. 485
  159. ^ Viking p. 168
  160. ^ Viking p. 1251
  161. ^ Viking p. 773
  162. ^ Oxford Illustrated pp. 286–87
  163. ^ a b c David Murray, writing in Grove
  164. ^ Christopher Palmer, writing in Grove
  165. ^ Viking p. 505
  166. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 306
  167. ^ Viking p. 1252
  168. ^ Viking p. 953
  169. ^ a b Michael Kennedy, writing in Grove
  170. ^ Viking p. 506
  171. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 297
  172. ^ Harman A & Mellers W. Man and His Music: The Story of Musical Experience in the West. Barrie and Rockliff, London, 1962, p. 950.
  173. ^ Orrey p. 218.
  174. ^ Viking p. 477
  175. ^ Tibor Tallián, writing in Grove
  176. ^ Viking p. 1076
  177. ^ a b John Tyrrell, writing in Grove
  178. ^ Oxford Illustrated, pp. 310–11
  179. ^ Viking p. 542
  180. ^ a b Stephen Hinton, writing in Grove
  181. ^ Viking p. 980
  182. ^ Orrey p. 220
  183. ^ Laurel E. Fay, writing in Grove
  184. ^ Viking p. 1039
  185. ^ Richard Crawford, writing in Grove
  186. ^ Orrey p. 219
  187. ^ Viking p. 1120
  188. ^ Viking p. 1041
  189. ^ Viking p. 613
  190. ^ Viking p. 480
  191. ^ Viking p. 143
  192. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 316
  193. ^ Viking p. 1115
  194. ^ Viking p. 144
  195. ^ Viking p. 803
  196. ^ Viking p. 802
  197. ^ a b c Bruce Archibald, writing in Grove
  198. ^ a b c d e f Arnold Whittal, writing in Grove
  199. ^ Viking p. 307
  200. ^ Viking p. 793
  201. ^ Anthony Sellors, writing in Grove
  202. ^ Viking p. 649
  203. ^ Viking p. 1050
  204. ^ Viking p. 462
  205. ^ Viking p. 152
  206. ^ Viking p. 1208
  207. ^ a b c Geraint Lewis, writing in Grove
  208. ^ Jon Alan Conrad, writing in Grove
  209. ^ Viking p. 794
  210. ^ a b Barbara B. Heyman, writing in Grove
  211. ^ Viking p. 795
  212. ^ a b c d e f g h Andrew Clements, writing in Grove
  213. ^ a b Orrey, p. 234
  214. ^ a b Adrian Thomas, writing in Grove
  215. ^ Viking p. 159
  216. ^ Viking p. 243
  217. ^ a b Paul Griffiths, writing in Grove
  218. ^ Viking p. 854
  219. ^ David Osmond-Smith, writing in Grove
  220. ^ Tim Page, writing in Grove
  221. ^ Viking p. 108
  222. ^ Viking p. 1232
  223. ^ Viking p. 18
  224. ^ a b Oxford Illustrated p. 8
  225. ^ Viking p. 174
  226. ^ Oxford Illustrated p. 31
  227. ^ Viking p. 180
  228. ^ Stein (1999), paragraph six
  229. ^ Russell: "Manuel de Zumaya", Grove Music Online

Sources

  • Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 19 January 2007), subscription access. (Various entries on operas, composers and genres)
  • Orrey, Leslie; Milnes, Rodney (1987). Opera: A Concise History. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500202173.
  • Parker, Roger, ed. (1994). The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816282-7.
  • Russell,Craig H., "Manuel de Zumaya", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 18, 2008), (subscription access)
  • Stein, Louise K. (1999), La púrpura de la Rosa (Introduction to the critical edition of the score and libretto), Ediciones Iberautor Promociones culturales S.R.L. / Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 1999, ISBN 84-8048-292-3 (reprinted with permission of the publisher on Mundoclasico.com). Accessed 5 September 2008.
  • The Viking Opera Guide (1993). ISBN 0-670-81292-7 Contributions are by noted specialists in their fields.

Lists consulted

This list was compiled by consulting nine lists of great operas, created by recognized authorities in the field of opera, and selecting all of the operas which appeared on at least five of these (i.e. all operas on a majority of the lists). The lists used were:

  1. "A–Z of Opera by Keith Anderson, Naxos, 2000".
  2. "The Standard Repertoire of Grand Opera 1607–1969", a list included in Norman Davies's Europe: a History (OUP, 1996; paperback edition Pimlico, 1997). ISBN 0-7126-6633-8.
  3. Operas appearing in the chronology by Mary Ann Smart in The Oxford Illustrated History of Opera (OUP, 1994). ISBN 0-19-816282-0.
  4. Operas with entries in The New Kobbe's Opera Book, ed. Lord Harewood (Putnam, 9th ed., 1997). ISBN 0-370-10020-4
  5. Table of Contents of The Rough Guide to Opera. by Matthew Boyden. (2002 edition). ISBN 1-85828-749-9.
  6. Operas with entries in The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera ed. Paul Gruber (Thames and Hudson, 1993). ISBN 0-393-03444-5 and/or Metropolitan Opera Stories of the Great Operas ed. John W Freeman (Norton, 1984). ISBN 0-393-01888-1
  7. List of operas and their composers in Who's Who in British Opera ed. Nicky Adam (Scolar Press, 1993). ISBN 0-85967-894-6
  8. Entries for individual operas in Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-869164-8.
  9. Entries for individual operas in Who's Who in Opera: a guide to opera characters by Joyce Bourne (Oxford University Press, 1998). ISBN 0-19-210023-8

Operas included in all 9 lists

Further reading

  • Boyden, Matthew; et al. (1997). Jonathan Buckley (ed.). Opera, the Rough Guide. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-1-85828-138-4.
  • Czajkowski, Paul; Edward Greenfield; Ivan March; Robert Layton (ed.), The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and DVDs 2005–2006: The Key Classical Recordings on CD, DVD and SACD. ISBN 0-14-102262-0
  • Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropedia Volume 24, 15th edition. "Opera" in "Musical forms and genres". ISBN 0-85229-434-4
  • Grout, Donald Jay and Claude V. Palisca (1996). A History of Western Music, 5th edition. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-96904-5
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