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opera

Dramatic musical work in which singing takes the place of speech. In opera, the music accompanying the action is the main element, although dancing and spectacular staging may also play their parts. Opera originated in late 16th-century Florence when the musical declamation, lyrical monologues, and choruses of classical Greek drama, were reproduced in the style of that time.

Early development

One of the earliest opera composers was Jacopo Peri, whose Euridice influenced Claudio Monteverdi, the first great master of the operatic form. Initially solely a court entertainment, opera soon became popular, and in 1637 the first public opera house was opened in Venice. It spread to other Italian towns, to Paris (about 1645), and to Vienna and Germany, where it remained Italian at the courts but became partly German at Hamburg from about 1680.

In the later 17th century the aria, designed to show off the skill of the singer, became very important, overshadowing the dramatic element of the opera. Composers of this type of opera included Pier Cavalli, Pietro Antonio Cesti, and Alessandro Scarlatti. In France, opera was developed by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, and in England by Henry Purcell, but the Italian style retained its ascendancy, as exemplified by George Frideric Handel.

Comic opera (opera buffa) was developed in Italy by such composers as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, while in England The Beggar's Opera (1728) by John Gay started the vogue of the ballad opera, using popular tunes and spoken dialogue. Singspiel was the German equivalent (although its music was newly composed). A lessening of artificiality began with Christoph Willibald von Gluck, who insisted on the pre-eminence of the dramatic over the purely vocal element. Wolfgang Mozart learned much from Gluck in writing his serious operas, but also excelled in Italian opera buffa (comic opera). In works such as The Magic Flute (1791), he laid the foundations of a purely German-language opera, using the Singspiel as a basis. This line was continued by Ludwig van Beethoven in Fidelio (1805) and by the work of Carl Weber, who introduced the Romantic style for the first time in opera.

Developments into the 19th century

The Italian tradition, which placed the main stress on vocal display and melodic smoothness (bel canto), continued unbroken into the 19th century in the operas of Gioacchino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini. It is in the Romantic operas of Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer that the work of Richard Wagner has its roots. Dominating the operatic scene of his time, Wagner created, in his ‘music-dramas’, a new art form. He completely transformed the 19th-century idea of opera by ‘through-composing’ entire acts and providing formal clarity by the use of particular themes associated with each character. In Italy, the later work of Giuseppe Verdi contained a lot of Wagner's techniques, while still keeping the vocal clarity and good melodies of the Italian style. This tradition was continued by Giacomo Puccini. In French opera in the mid-19th century, represented by such composers as Léo Delibes, Charles Gounod, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Jules Massenet, the drama continued to be subservient to the music. Comic opera (opéra comique), as represented in the works of André Gréry and, later, Daniel Auber, became a popular genre in Paris. More serious artistic ideals were put into practice by Hector Berlioz in The Trojans (1856–58), but the value of his work was largely unrecognized in his own time.

George Bizet's Carmen began a trend towards realism in opera. His lead was followed in Italy by Pietro Mascagni, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, and Puccini. Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1902) was a reaction against the over-emphatic emotionalism of Wagnerian opera. National operatic styles were developed in Russia by Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Aleksander Borodin, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) by Bedřich Smetana and, later, Antonín Dvořák and, most importantly, Leoš Janáček. Several composers of light opera emerged, including Arthur Sullivan, Franz Lehár, Jacques Offenbach, and Johann Strauss.

20th-century opera

In the 20th century the Viennese school produced an outstanding opera in Alban Berg's Wozzeck (1925), and the Romanticism of Wagner was revived by Richard Strauss in Der Rosenkavalier. Other 20th-century composers of opera include George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and John Adams in the USA; Roberto Gerhard, Michael Tippett, Benjamin Britten, and Harrison Birtwistle in the UK; Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, and Hans Henze in Germany; Luigi Dallapiccola and Goffreddo Petrassi in Italy; and the Soviet composers Sergey Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. The operatic form has developed in many different directions, for example, towards oratorio in Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex (1925), and towards cabaret and music-theatre, as represented by the works of Kurt Weill.

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opera - events

1607	Italy	The opera La favola d'Orfeo/The Legend of Orpheus by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi is first performed, in Mantua, Italy.
1627	Germany	The opera Dafne/Daphne by the German composer Heinrich Schütz is first performed, in Dresden, Germany. It is the first German opera. The score is lost in a fire in 1760.
1728	UK	The ballad opera The Beggar's Opera by the English poet and dramatist John Gay is first performed, in Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, England. The music is by the German composer Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is first performed in New York City in 1750.
1733	Italy	The opera buffa (comic opera) La serva padrona/The Servant as Mistress by the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi is first performed, in Naples, Italy.
1739	France	The opera Dardanus by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau is first performed, in Paris, France.
1762	Austria-HM	The opera Orfeo ed Euridice/Orpheus and Eurydice by the German composer Christoph Gluck is first performed, in Vienna, Austria. Incorporating elements of French opera, it is written with a simplicity and directness of emotional expression that make it a landmark in the development of opera; the first so-called ‘reform’ opera.
1779	France	The opera Iphigénia en Tauride/Iphigenia in Tauris by the German composer Christoph Gluck is first performed, in Paris, France. The success of this opera settles the heated debate between the supporters of Gluck's French style of opera and the supporters of Nicola Puccini's Italian style in favour of Gluck.
1805	Austria	The opera Fidelio, oder der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe/Fidelio, or the Triumph of Married Love by the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven is first performed, in Vienna, Austria.
1816	Italy, UK, USA	The opera Il barbiere di Siviglia/The Barber of Seville, by the Italian composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini, is first performed in Rome, Italy. It is first performed in Britain in 1818 (in London, England), and in the USA in 1819 (in New York City).
1823	Austrian Empire	Austrian composer Franz Schubert completes his opera Fierrabras (D 796). It is first performed in 1835, in Vienna, Austrian Empire. He also completes completes his incidental music (D 797) for the play Rosamunde, Fürstin von Cypern/Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus by Helmina von Chézy; his Piano Sonata No 12 (D 784); and his song cycle Die schöne Müllerin/The Fair Maid of the Mill (D 795).
1835	Italy, Naples	The opera Lucia di Lammermoor by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, is first performed, in Naples, Italy. It is based on a story by Walter Scott.
1842	Italy, UK, USA	The opera Nabucodonosor (later known as Nabucco) by the Italian composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi is first performed, in Milan, Italy. It is first performed in Great Britain in 1846 (in London, England), and in the USA in 1848 (in New York City).
1843	Germany, UK, USA	The opera Die fliegende Holländer/Flying Dutchman by the German composer Richard Wagner is first performed, in Dresden, Germany. It is first performed in Britain in 1870 (in London, England), and in the USA in 1876 (in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
1850	Germany, USA, UK	The opera Lohengrin by the German composer Richard Wagner is first performed, in Weimar, Germany. The wedding march becomes widely used at marriage services.
1851	Italy, UK, USA	The opera Rigoletto by the Italian composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi is first performed, in Venice, Italy. It is based on the play Le Roi s'amuse/The King Amuses Himself, published in 1832 by Victor Hugo. The opera is first performed in Britain in 1853 (in London, England), and in the USA in 1855 (in New York City).
1853	Italy, UK, USA	The opera Il trovatore/The Troubadour by the Italian composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi is first performed, in Rome, Italy. It is first performed in both Britain and the USA in 1855 (in London, England, and New York City). His opera La traviata/The Fallen Woman is also first performed, in Venice, Italy. It is based on the novel The Lady of the Camelias, published in 1848 by Alexandre Dumas fils. It is first performed in both Britain and the USA in 1856 (in London, England, and New York City).
1858	France	The comic opera Orphée aux enfers/Orpheus in the Underworld by the German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach is first performed, in Paris, France. It is an immediate success and popularizes the French dance the cancan.
1859	France	The opera Faust by the French composer Charles-François Gounod is first performed, in Paris, France. It is based on Goethe's verse drama Faust, published in 1808.
1863	France, UK, USA	The opera Les Pêcheurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers by the French composer Georges Bizet is first performed, in Paris, France. It is first performed in Britain in 1887 (in London, England), and in the USA in 1893 (in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
1865	Germany	The opera Tristan und Isolde/Tristan and Isolde by the German composer Richard Wagner is first performed, in Munich, Germany. Among its best-known parts is the Liebestod sung by Isolde.
1869	Germany, UK, USA	The opera Das Rheingold by the German composer Richard Wagner is first performed, in Munich, Germany. It is the first part of his Der Ring des Nibelungen/The Ring of the Nibelung cycle of operas.
1871	Egypt	The opera Aïda by the Italian composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi is first performed, in Cairo, Egypt (to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal).
1874	Austria-Hungary, USA, UK	The operetta Die Fledermaus/The Bat by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss is first performed, in Vienna, Austria. It is first performed in the USA the same year (in New York City), and in Britain in 1876 (in London, England).
1875	France, UK, USA	The opera Carmen by the French composer Georges Bizet is first performed, in Paris, France. It is based on a story by the French writer Prosper Mérimée, published in 1840. It is first performed in both Britain and the USA in 1878 (in London, England, and New York City).
1876	Germany	The operas Siegfried and Götterdämmerung/The Twilight of the Gods by the German composer Richard Wagner are first performed, in Bayreuth, Germany. They form the third part of his Der Ring des Nibelungen/The Ring of the Nibelung cycle of operas, which is now performed in its entirety.
1878	UK	The comic opera HMS Pinafore, or the Lass Who Loved a Sailor, by the English writer William Schwenk Gilbert and the English composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan, is first performed at the Opera Comique in London, England.
1879	UK	The comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, by the English writer William Schwenk Gilbert and the English composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan, is first performed, in Paignton, Devon, England.
1881	France	The opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann/The Tales of Hoffmann, by the German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach, is first performed, in Paris, France.
1882	Germany, USA	The opera Parsifal by the German composer Richard Wagner is first performed, in Bayreuth, Germany. Wagner did not want the opera performed anywhere but at Bayreuth, but illegal performances were given, one of the first being in the USA in 1903, in New York City.
1885	England	The comic opera The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu by the English writer William Schwenk Gilbert and the English composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan is first performed, at the Savoy Theatre in London, England.
1888	UK	The comic opera The Yeoman of the Guard, or The Merryman and His Maid by the English writer William Schwenk Gilbert and the English composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan is first performed, in London, England.
1892	Italy	The opera I pagliacci/The Clowns by the Italian composer Ruggiero Leoncavallo is first performed, in Milan, Italy.
1896	Italy	The opera La Bohème/The Bohemian Girl by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini is first performed, in Turin, Italy.
1900	Italy	The opera Tosca by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini is first performed, in Rome, Italy.
1904		The opera Madame Butterfly, by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, is first performed in Milan, Italy. It premieres in London, England, in 1905, and in New York City in 1907.
1905		The opera Salome, by the German composer Richard Strauss, is first performed in Dresden, Germany.
1911		The opera Der Rosenkavalier/The Cavalier of the Rose, by the German composer Richard Strauss, is first performed in Dresden, Germany. It premieres in both London, England, and New York City in 1913.
1925	Monaco	The opera L'Enfant et les sortilèges/The Spellbound Child, a ‘lyrical fantasy’ by the French composer Maurice Ravel, is first performed, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The story is by the French writer Colette, the choreography by the Russian choreographer George Balanchine.
1925	Germany	The opera Wozzeck by the Austrian composer Alban Berg is first performed, in Berlin, Germany. It is based on the play Woyzeck, published in 1836 by the German writer Georg Büchner.
1926	Italy	The opera Turandot by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini is first performed, in Milan, Italy. Puccini died during its composition, and it was completed by Franco Alfano.
1928	Germany	The opera Die Dreigroschenoper/The Threepenny Opera by the German composer Kurt Weill is first performed, in Berlin, Germany. It is a modern interpretation of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728, with material by the German writer Bertolt Brecht.
1932		The Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg completes the first two acts of his opera Moses und Aaron/Moses and Aaron. The third act is often spoken (as Schoenberg said it should be) though it is sometimes set to music from the first two acts.
1935		The opera Porgy and Bess by the US composer George Gershwin is first performed, in New York City and Boston, Massachusetts.
1937	Austria, Switzerland	The opera Lulu by the Austrian composer Alban Berg is first performed, in Zürich, Switzerland. It was left unfinished at his death in 1935. The first complete performance, with the last act completed by the Austrian composer Friedrich Cerha, will be given in Paris, France, in 1979.
1938	Germany, Switzerland	The opera Mathis der Maler/Matthias the Painter by the German composer Paul Hindemith is first performed, in Zürich, Switzerland.
1945	England	The opera Peter Grimes by the English composer Benjamin Britten is first performed, at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, England.
1947	England	The comic opera Albert Herring by the English composer Benjamin Britten is first performed, at Glyndebourne, England. Britten also completes A Charm of Lullabies for voice and piano.
1951	UK	The opera Billy Budd by the English composer Benjamin Britten is first performed, at Covent Garden in London, England. It is based on a novella by the US writer Herman Melville.
1951	Italy	The opera The Rake's Progress by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is first performed, in Venice, Italy. Inspired by engravings by the English artist William Hogarth, the text is by the English-born US writer W(ystan) H(ugh) Auden.
1952	Germany	The opera Boulevard Solitude by the German composer Hans Werner Henze is first performed, in Hannover, West Germany.
1957	Italy	The opera Les Dialogues des Carmélites/The Carmelites' Dialogue, by the French composer Francis Poulenc, is first performed, in Milan, Italy. It is based on a play by the French writer Georges Bernanos.
1973	UK	The opera Death in Venice by the English composer Benjamin Britten is first performed, at Aldeburgh in England. It is based on the novella Death in Venice by the German writer Thomas Mann.
1976	France	The opera Einstein on the Beach by the US composer Philip Glass is first performed, in Avignon, France. The text is by Robert Wilson.
1977	UK	The opera Mary Queen of Scots by the Scottish composer Thea Musgrave is first performed, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is based on the play Moray by Amalia Elguera.
1977	England, Scotland	The opera The Martyrdom of St Magnus by the English composer Peter Maxwell Davies is first performed, in Orkney, Scotland. The text is from Magnus by the Scottish poet George Mackay Brown.
1980	Belgium, Scotland	The opera Where the Wild Things Are by the Scottish composer Oliver Knussen is first performed, in Brussels, Belgium. A revised version will follow in 1984 in London, England.
1980	Germany	The German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen completes his opera Donnerstag aus Licht/Thursday from Light. This is the first part of a seven-opera cycle.
1983	France	The French composer Olivier Messiaen completes his opera Saint François d'Assise/St Francis of Assissi.
1983	Germany	The opera Akhnaten by the US composer Philip Glass is first performed, in Stuttgart, Germany.
1990	Germany	The opera Das verratene Meer/The Revealed Sea by the German composer Hans Werner Henze is first performed, in Berlin, Germany. Based on a novel by the Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima, it was completed in 1989.