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Since the origins of opera in late 16th century Italy, a central repertoire has developed, shepherded by major opera composers. The earliest major opera composer is generally considered to be Claudio Monteverdi, who wrote the first prominent opera, L'Orfeo, followed by two others. Throughout the later 17th century, his successor Francesco Cavalli and the Englishman Henry Purcell wrote numerous prominent operas. The early 18th century was dominated by the operas of George Frideric Handel, while other important works include Pepusch's The Beggar's Opera, Pergolesi's' La serva padrona, and various works by Jean Philippe Rameau. This list provides a guide to the most prominent operas, as determined by their presence on a majority of selected compiled lists, which date from between 1984 and 2000. The operas included cover all important genres, and include all operas regularly performed today, from seventeenth century works to late twentieth century operas. The brief accompanying notes offer an explanation as to why each opera has been considered important. 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.

1607 L'Orfeo (Claudio Monteverdi). Widely regarded as the first operatic masterwork. 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. 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. 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. 1649 Giasone (Cavalli). In Giasone Cavalli, for the first time, separated aria and recitative. Giasone was the most popular opera of the 17th century. 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. 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. 1692 The Fairy Queen (Purcell). A semi opera rather than a genuine opera, this is often thought to be Purcell's finest dramatic work.

1710 Agrippina (Handel). Handel's last opera that he composed in Italy was a great success, and established his reputation as a composer of Italian opera. 1711 Rinaldo (Handel). Handel's first opera for the London stage was also the first all Italian opera performed on the London stage. 1724 Giulio Cesare (Handel). Noted for the richness of its orchestration. 1724 Tamerlano (Handel). Described by Anthony Hicks, writing in Grove Music Online, as possessing a "taut dramatic power". 1725 Rodelinda (Handel). Rodelinda is often praised for the fullness of the melodic writing among Handel's output. 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. 1731 Acis and Galatea (Handel). Handel's only work for the theatre that is set to an English libretto. 1733 Orlando (Handel). An opera that is described by Anthony Hicks as "remarkable"
1735 Ariodante (Handel). Both this opera and Alcina enjoy high critical reputations today. 1735 Alcina (Handel). Both this work and Ariodante were part of Handel's first opera season at Covent Garden. 1735 Les Indes galantes (Rameau). In this work Rameau added emotional depth and power to the traditionally lighter form of opéra ballet. 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. 1738 Serse (Handel). Deviation from the usual model of opera seria, Serse contains many comic elements rare in Handel's other works. 1740 Alfred (Thomas Arne). An English opera of all times, famous for the patriotic song "Rule Britannia". 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. 1745 Platée (Rameau). Rameau's most famous comic opera. Originally a court entertainment, a 1754 revival proved extremely popular with French audiences. 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. 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. 1768 Bastien und Bastienne (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Mozart's one act Singspiel was set to a parody of Rousseau's Le devin du village. 1770 Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mozart). Composed when Mozart was 14, Mitridate was written for a demanding cast of star singers. 1777 Armide (Gluck). Gluck used a libretto originally set by Lully for this French work, his favourite among his own operas. 1779 Iphigénie en Tauride (Gluck). Gluck's "last and perhaps greatest masterpiece". 1781 Idomeneo (Mozart). Usually thought of as Mozart's first mature opera, Idomeneo was composed after a lengthy break from the stage. 1782 Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart). Often thought of as the first of Mozart's comic masterpieces, this work is frequently performed today. 1782 Il barbiere di Siviglia (Giovanni Paisiello). Paisiello's most famous comic opera, later eclipsed by Rossini's work of the same name. 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
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.

1805 Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven). Beethoven's only opera was inspired by the composer's passion for political liberty. 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. 1812 La scala di seta (Gioachino Rossini). An early Rossini work, this opera is outright farsa comica. 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". 1817 La gazza ladra (Rossini). In this opera Rossini drew upon French rescue opera. 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. 1826 Le siège de Corinthe (Rossini). For this work Rossini heavily revised his earlier Maometto II, placing the action in a different setting. 1827 Il pirata (Vincenzo Bellini). Bellini's second professional production established his international reputation. 1828 Der Vampyr (Heinrich Marschner). Marschner was a key link between Weber and Wagner, as this Gothic opera shows. 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". 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. 1830 I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Bellini). Bellini's version of Romeo and Juliet. 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. 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. 1831 Robert le diable (Giacomo Meyerbeer). Meyerbeer's first Grand Opera for Paris caused a sensation with its ballet of dead nuns. 1832 L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti). This work was the most often performed opera in Italy between 1838 and 1848. 1840 Un giorno di regno (Verdi). Verdi's only comedy apart from his last opera, Falstaff. 1842 Der Wildschütz (Albert Lortzing). Lortzing's "comic masterpiece", intended to show a German work could rival Italian opera buffa and French opéra comique. 1842 Nabucco (Verdi). Verdi described this opera as the genuine beginning of his artistic career. 1842 Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen (Wagner). Wagner's contribution to the Grand Opera tradition. 1842 Ruslan and Lyudmila (Glinka). This episodic version of a Pushkin fairy tale was a major influence on later Russian composers. 1843 Der fliegende Holländer (Wagner). Wagner regarded this German Romantic opera as the true beginning of his career. 1843 Don Pasquale (Donizetti). Donizetti's "comic masterpiece" is one of the last great opera buffas. 1843 I Lombardi alla prima crociata (Verdi). Verdi's follow up to Nabucco was the first of his operas to be performed in America. 1843 The Bohemian Girl (Michael Balfe). One of the few notable 19th century English language operas apart from the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. 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". 1859 Un ballo in maschera (Verdi). This opera ran into trouble with the censors because it originally dealt with the assassination of a monarch. 1861 Bánk bán (Erkel). Erkel's third opera is considered the Hungarian "National opera". 1862 Béatrice et Bénédict (Berlioz). The last opera Berlioz wrote is the final fruit of his lifelong admiration for Shakespeare. 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. 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. 1864 La belle Hélène (Offenbach). Another operetta by Offenbach which pokes fun at Greek mythology. 1864 Mireille (Gounod). Gounod's work is based on the epic poem by Frédéric Mistral and makes use of Provençal folk tunes. 1865 L'Africaine (Giacomo Meyerbeer). Meyerbeer's last Grand Opera received a posthumous premiere. 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. 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. 1866 The Bartered Bride (Bedřich Smetana). Smetana's folk comedy is the most widely performed of all his operas. 1867 Don Carlos (Verdi). Verdi's French grand opera, after Schiller, is now one of his most highly regarded works. 1867 La jolie fille de Perth (Bizet). Bizet turned to a novel by Sir Walter Scott for this opéra comique. 1867 Roméo et Juliette (Gounod). Gounod's version of Shakespeare's tragedy is his second most famous work. 1868 Dalibor (Smetana). One of the most successful of Smetana's operas exploring themes from Czech history. 1868 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner). Wagner's only comedy among his mature operas concerns the clash between artistic tradition and innovation. 1868 Hamlet (Thomas). Thomas's opera takes many liberties with its Shakespearean source. 1868 La Périchole (Offenbach). Set in Peru, this operetta mixes comedy and sentimentality. 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. 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. 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. 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. 1874 Die Fledermaus (Johann Strauss II). Probably the most popular of all operettas. 1874 The Two Widows (Smetana). Another comedy by Smetana, the only one of his operas with a non Czech subject. 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.

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. 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. 1876 La Gioconda (Amilcare Ponchielli). Apart from Verdi's Aida, this is the only Italian grand opera to have stayed in international repertory. 1877 Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint Saëns). An opera with that was heavily influenced by those of Wagner. 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. 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. 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. 1881 Simon Boccanegra (Giuseppe Verdi). Verdi heavily revised this opera over twenty years after it was first performed. 1887 Otello (Verdi). The first of Verdi's late period masterpieces was set to a libretto by Arrigo Boito. 1891 L'amico Fritz (Mascagni). This work has been thought of as a late example of opera semiseria. 1892 Iolanta (Tchaikovsky). Tchaikovsky's last lyrical opera set to a libretto by his brother Modest. 1892 La Wally (Alfredo Catalani). Usually considered Catalani's masterpiece. 1892 Pagliacci (Ruggero Leoncavallo). One of the most famous verismo operas, usually paired with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. 1892 Werther (Massenet). Along with Manon, this is Massenet's most popular opera. 1893 Falstaff (Verdi). Verdi's final opera was set to another of Boito's libretti. 1893 Manon Lescaut (Giacomo Puccini). The success of this work established Puccini's reputation as a composer of contemporary music of the first rank.

1900 Louise (Gustave Charpentier). An attempt to provide a French equivalent for Italian verismo, Louise is set in a working class district of Paris. 1900 Tosca (Giacomo Puccini). Tosca is the most Wagnerian of Puccini's operas, with its frequent use of leitmotif. 1913 La vida breve (Manuel de Falla). A passionate Spanish drama influenced by verismo. 1914 The Immortal Hour (Rutland Boughton). Boughton's Celtic fairy tale opera enjoyed great popularity in Britain between the world wars. 1914 The Nightingale (Igor Stravinsky). Stravinsky's style changed radically during the composition of this short opera, moving away from the influence of his teacher Rimsky Korsakov towards the spiky modernism of the Rite of Spring. 1916 Sāvitri (Gustav Holst). Holst's interest in Hinduism led him to set this episode from the Mahabharata. 1917 Arlecchino (Ferruccio Busoni). Busoni drew on the tradition of Italian commedia dell'arte for this one act piece. 1917 Eine florentinische Tragödie (Alexander von Zemlinsky). Zemlinsky's "decadent" one acter is based on a short play by Oscar Wilde. 1917 La rondine (Puccini). Not an initial success, Puccini heavily revised the opera twice. 1920 Die tote Stadt (Erich Wolfgang Korngold). Korngold's best known work for the stage. 1920 The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century (Janáček). A comic fantasy set on the moon and in 15th century Bohemia.

1921 Káťa Kabanová (Leoš Janáček). The first of the great operas of Janáček's late maturity, based on an Ostrovsky play about religious fanaticism and forbidden love in provincial Russia. 1921 The Love for Three Oranges (Sergei Prokofiev). A comic opera based on a fairy tale by Carlo Gozzi. 1922 Der Zwerg (Alexander von Zemlinsky). Another short Zemlinsky opera inspired by a work by Oscar Wilde. The composer personally identified with the dwarf of the title. 1924 Erwartung (Arnold Schoenberg). An intense atonal monodrama. 1924 Hugh the Drover (Ralph Vaughan Williams). A ballad opera, much of which is based on folksongs. 1924 Intermezzo (Richard Strauss). A light operetta style work based on an incident from the composer's own marriage. 1925 Wozzeck (Alban Berg). One of the key operas of the 20th century. Based on a strikingly unheroic plot, Berg's work blends atonal techniques with more traditional ones. 1926 Cardillac (Paul Hindemith). An opera in Hindemith's neo classical style about a psychopathic jeweller. 1926 Háry János (Zoltán Kodály). Kodálys singspiel incorporated many Hungarian folksongs and dances. 1926 King Roger (Karol Szymanowski). One of the most important Polish operas, this piece is full of Oriental harmonies. 1926 The Makropulos Affair (Janáček). The first performance of The Makropulos Affair was the last that Janáček survived to see among his operas. 1926 Turandot (Giacomo Puccini). Puccini's last opera was left unfinished at his death. 1929 The Nose (Dmitri Shostakovich). Gogol's strange short story provided the plot for this grotesque satire. 1930 Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Weill). The composition of this opera was problematic, due to tension between the composer and his librettist, Bertolt Brecht. 1935 Ero s onoga svijeta (usually translated as Ero the Joker) by Jakov Gotovac. Although he composed many operas, none of the others achieved the enormous success of Ero, in Croatia and abroad. This comic opera based on a Croatian folk tale and brilliant libretto written by Milan Begović was praised by many, among whom Richard Strauss and Wilhelm Furtwängler. Inspired by the folklore of Dalmatian hinterland, to the point where the boundary between the folklore and "classical music" ceases to exist, it is considered to be the best and most performed Croatian opera of all time. 1935 Die schweigsame Frau (Strauss). A comic opera based on a play by Ben Jonson. 1935 Porgy and Bess (George Gershwin). Initially a financial failure, a 1941 production that replaced the work's recitatives with spoken dialogue was a success. 1937 Lulu (Berg). Berg's second opera was unfinished at his death, but a completion by Friedrich Cerha was successfully performed in 1979. 1937 Riders to the Sea (Vaughan Williams). Often rated as Vaughan Williams's finest opera, this short, fatalistic tragedy is set on the Aran Isles in the west of Ireland. 1938 Daphne (Strauss). A mythological opera with lyrical, pastoral music. 1938 Julietta (Bohuslav Martinů). This dreamlike work set in a town where people have lost their memory is "Martinu's operatic masterpiece". 1938 Mathis der Maler (Hindemith). Hindemith's most highly regarded opera is a parable about an artist surviving in a time of crisis, reflecting the composer's own experience under the Nazis. 1941 Paul Bunyan (Benjamin Britten). Britten's first venture into opera was a light piece about an American folk hero with a libretto by W. H. Auden. 1942 Capriccio (Strauss). Strauss's final opera is a conversation piece about the genre itself. 1943 Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Viktor Ullmann). Written in the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt and not performed until 1975. The composer and his librettist were murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp.

1945 Peter Grimes (Benjamin Britten). A landmark in the history of British opera, this work marked Britten's arrival on the international music scene. 1945 War and Peace (Sergei Prokofiev). Prokofiev returned to the tradition of Russian historical opera for this epic work based on Leo Tolstoy's novel. 1946 Betrothal in a Monastery (Prokofiev). A romantic comedy with music drawing on the opera buffa style of Rossini. 1946 The Medium (Gian Carlo Menotti). Considered by many to be Menotti's finest work. 1946 The Rape of Lucretia (Britten). Britten's first chamber opera. 1947 Albert Herring (Britten). Britten's comic opera is heavily based upon use of the ensemble. 1950 The Consul (Menotti). This opera contains some of Menotti's most dissonant music. 1956 Candide (Leonard Bernstein). Operetta, based on Voltaire. The soprano aria "Glitter and Be Gay" is a parody of Romantic era jewel songs. 1957 Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc). Poulenc's major opera is set in a convent during the French Revolution. 1958 Vanessa (Samuel Barber). Vanessa won its composer a Pulitzer Prize in 1958. 1959 La voix humaine (Poulenc). A short opera with a single character: a despairing woman on the telephone to her lover. 1960 A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten). Set to a libretto adapted from the Shakespeare play by himself and his partner Peter Pears, Britten's work is rare in operatic history in that it features a countertenor in the male lead role. 1962 King Priam (Tippett). Tippett's second opera, set to another of his own "recondite" libretti, was inspired by Homer's Iliad. 1969 The Devils of Loudun (Krzysztof Penderecki). Penderecki's first opera is also his most popular. 1978 Le Grand Macabre (György Ligeti). First performed at Stockholm in 1978, Ligeti heavily revised the opera in 1996. 1978 Lear (Aribert Reimann). An Expressionist opera based on Shakespeare's tragedy. The title role was specifically written for the famous baritone Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. 1980 The Lighthouse (Davies). Davies's second chamber opera was set to his own libretto. 1984 Akhnaten (Philip Glass). Unlike his first opera Einstein on the Beach, the writing and style are more conventional and lyrical and much of the music of Akhnaten is some of the most dissonant that Glass has composed. 1986 The Mask of Orpheus (Birtwistle). Birtwistle's most ambitious opera examines the myth of Orpheus from several different angles. 1987 A Night at the Chinese Opera (Judith Weir). This piece is based on a Chinese play of the Yuan dynasty, The Orphan of Zhao. 1987 Nixon in China (John Adams). Musically minimalist in style, this opera recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 meeting with Mao Zedong. 1991 Gawain (Birtwistle). Birtwistle's opera is based on the medieval English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 1701 La púrpura de la rosa (Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, born in Spain 1644). Earliest known opera composed in the Americas. 1711 Partenope (Manuel de Zumaya). The first opera written by an American born composer and the earliest known full opera produced in North America. 1755 Tsefal i Prokris (Francesco Araja). First Russian opera.