An art form recognised for over 400 years, opera has been delighting audiences
since 1607 and in our guide to the history of opera, we’ll show you; how opera
has evolved, discuss the people who have developed it as an art form, and why
it’s still relevant today.
From the very first opera performance in Italy in 1607, to the origins of some
of the world’s most recognisable music, and modern day experimental
productions, we’ll share a timeline of how opera has changed over the last 400
years.
Keep reading to learn about some of opera’s most famous composers, what
influenced them – think everything from politics to myths and legends – and
who is changing the face of modern opera today.
## 1607: One of the first ever operas is written and performed in Venice
###
Title page of Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo; Published in Venice in 1609
Opera’s rich history begins with the first performance of Monteverdi’s
_L’Orfeo, which_ is given as a carnival entertainment in Mantua’s Ducal
Palace.
Claudio Monteverdi is the first universally acknowledged ‘great’ [opera
composer](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/composers/), whose other two
surviving operas; _Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria_ (1640) and _L’incoronazione
di Poppea_ (1643). were composed and publicly performed in Venice when opera
moved away from court entertainment to public theatres.
## 1689: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is first performed in London
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/jOIAi2XwuWo?feature=oembed)
Video
The first performance of Henry Purcell’s _Dido and Aeneas is_ presented in a
girls’ boarding school in London.
While this is his only true opera, Purcell wrote several ‘semi-operas’ (spoken
dramas with extensive musical contributions), which include _King
Arthur_(1691) and _The Fairy Queen_(1692).
## 1710: Handel visits London for the first time
###
The Chandos Portrait of George Friedrich Händel; circa 1720
George Handel makes his first visit to London and composes and performs
_Rinaldo –_ his first opera for the London stage – the following year. He
settles in the city, and develops the public’s growing taste for the Italian
_opera seria[genre](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/explore-
more/a-beginners-guide-to-opera-genres/)._
From 1720 – 1740, he wrote and staged more than 30 operas based on classical
or historical subjects, which employed the finest singers of the day.
When the public’s enthusiasm for [Italian opera](https://www.eno.org/discover-
opera/explore-more/the-beginners-guide-to-italian-opera/) waned in the 1740’s,
Handel developed English-language oratorio (a large musical composition for
solo voices, chorus and orchestra).
## 1733: French baroque composer, Rameau, launches his career in opera
###
Oil on canvas portrait of French composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau’s _Hippolyte et Aricie_ launches the French baroque
composer’s late-flowering career in opera, with 30 works and culminating in
_Les Boréades_ (1763).
## 1769: The reformation of opera seria
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/XkMWdxsgL18?feature=oembed)
Video
In the preface to his _Alceste_ , [Christoph
Gluck](https://www.eno.org/composers/christoph-willibald-gluck/) outlines his
vision for reforming _opera seria_ , with the intention of revitalising its
dramatic potential.
The effects of Gluck’s reforms can be discerned in works such as [_Orfeo ed
Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice)_](https://www.eno.org/operas/orpheus-and-
eurydice/)(1762), _Iphigénie en Aulide_ (1774) and _Iphigénie en
Tauride_(1779).
## 1814: Beethoven’s Fidelio is premiered in Vienna
The final version of Ludwig van Beethoven’s _Fidelio_ premieres in Vienna.
Influenced by Post-Revolutionary France’s penchant for ‘rescue’ opera,
_Fidelio_ exerted its influence on figures such as Weber, Berlioz and
[Wagner](https://www.eno.org/composers/richard-wagner/).
## 1851: Verdi is established as the leading Italian opera composer of the
time
###
‘Women abandon us’ from Verdi’s Rigoletto
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/-UAgETVR-lE?feature=oembed)
Video
[_Rigoletto_](https://www.eno.org/operas/rigoletto/), Giuseppe Verdi’s opera
derived from Victor Hugo, is premiered in Venice. It is followed by _Il
trovatore_ and [_La traviata_](https://www.eno.org/operas/la-traviata/)(both
1853).
These works establish [Verdi](https://www.eno.org/composers/giuseppe-verdi/)
as the leading Italian opera composer of the second half of the 19th century –
a position he consolidated in _Un ballo in maschera_(1859), _Don Carlos_
(1867) and [_Aida_](https://www.eno.org/operas/aida/) (1871).
## 1858: Berlioz completes his most ambitious work
###
Hector Berlioz casually poses for photographer, Pierre Petit, in 1863
Hector Berlioz completes his five-act epic, _Les Troyens_ , based on Virgil’s
_Aeneid_. Influenced by Gluck and Beethoven, as well as Meyerbeer’s grand
French operas, _Les Troyens_ is Berlioz’s most ambitious work.
## 1865: Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is premiered
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/ajXTklhL6Xg?feature=oembed)
Video
The premiere of Richard Wagner’s [_Tristan and
Isolde_](https://www.eno.org/operas/tristan-and-isolde/) is given in Munich.
Based on the ancient legend of Celtic origins, _Tristan_ remains a highpoint
of Wagner’s output, and is not only a key moment in the history of opera, but
also the development of Western art music.
Its musical language is distinguished by an extension of the classical tonal
system that had far-reaching consequences, influencing figures such as
Schoenberg, [Berg](https://www.eno.org/composers/alban-berg/) and [Richard
Strauss](https://www.eno.org/composers/richard-strauss/) in the early 20th
century.
## 1875: Bizet’s Carmen is performed for the first time in Paris
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJVBCIOTlFs?feature=oembed)
Video
[Georges Bizet’s](https://www.eno.org/composers/georges-bizet/) _Carmen_
receives its first performance at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
Though it failed to bring Bizet immediate acclaim,
[_Carmen_](https://www.eno.org/operas/carmen/) is now one of the most
enduringly [popular operas of all time](https://www.eno.org/discover-
opera/explore-more/beginners-guide-to-famous-operas/). Its searing depiction
of passion, obsession and jealousy, together with its colourful evocation of
Spain, has never lost its hold on audiences.
## 1876: Wagner’s Ring Cycle has its first complete performance
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/2PSo5ygerMc?feature=oembed)
Video
The first complete performance of Wagner’s _Der Ring des Nibelungen_ (commonly
known as _The Ring Cycle:_ an epic 16-hour tetralogy of [_Das
Rheingold_](https://www.eno.org/operas/the-rhinegold/), [_Die
Walküre_](https://www.eno.org/operas/the-valkyrie/), _Siegfried_ and
_Götterdämmerung)_ takes place at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
The theatre was specially constructed to present his music dramas and promote
his dramaturgical ideas.
The annual Bayreuth Festival in Germany is still devoted to Wagner’s output
and continues to be held each summer.
## 1882: Wagner’s Parsifal is premiered in Bayreuth, Germany
###
Excerpt from Wagner’s Parsifal – Act 2: “I saw the child”
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/hVxFsbTBUQI?feature=oembed)
Wagner’s _Parsifal_ , described as a ‘sacred stage festival play’, is
premiered at Bayreuth, Germany.
Learn more about Wagner and his revolutionary approach to music in our
[beginner’s guide. ](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/operas/the-beginners-
guide-to-wagner/)
## 1887: Verdi’s Otello, inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedy, is premiered
###
ENO’s production of Verdi’s Otello
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/9amWYVr0Omc?feature=oembed)
Video
Verdi’s _Otello_ , after Shakespeare’s tragedy, is premiered at La Scala,
Milan.
Verdi and his librettist, Arrigo Boito, follow _Otello_ with a final
Shakespeare-inspired work in 1893 – _Falstaff_ , based on _The Merry Wives of
Windsor_.
## 1896: Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème receives its first performance
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/Empa0iX-9Cs?feature=oembed)
Video
[_La bohème_](https://www.eno.org/operas/la-boheme/) by
[Puccini](https://www.eno.org/composers/giacomo-puccini/) – the most
successful composer of Italian opera in the generation after Verdi – receives
its first performance.
Puccini followed _Bohème_ ’s success with a string of operas that remain
popular to this day: [_Tosca_](https://www.eno.org/operas/tosca/) (1900);
[_Madama Butterfly_](https://www.eno.org/operas/madam-butterfly/) (1904); and
_Turandot_ (1924).
## 1902: Debussy’s only completed opera is first performed in Paris
###
Claude Debussy in around 1908
Claude Debussy’s setting of Maeterlinck’s symbolist play, _Pelléas et
Mélisande_ , is premiered in Paris. Debussy’s only completed opera, _Pelléas_
displays a strong debt to Wagnerian elements.
## 1904: Jenůfa, Janáček’s most notable opera, is premiered
###
ENO’s production of Jenůfa
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/bHUQwErHWSI?feature=oembed)
[Leos Janáček’s](https://www.eno.org/composers/leos-janacek/)
[_Jenůfa_](https://www.eno.org/operas/jenufa/), the first of the composer’s
most admired operas.
Why not delve into the story of this celebrated opera with our [introductory
guide to _Jenůfa._](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/operas/introduction-to-
jenufa/)
## 1905: Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal begin their opera
collaboration
###
ENO’s production of Strauss’s Salome
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/hLSTuT-LQGA?feature=oembed)
Video
Richard Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, initiate their
close collaboration with [_Salome_](https://www.eno.org/operas/salome/)(after
Oscar Wilde’s play), which they follow with _Elektra_ (1909, after Sophocles’
tragedy).
Both works achieve scandalous notoriety because of their subject matter and
their lush, often extremely dissonant, post-Wagnerian musical language.
Want to know more about the Greek legend which inspired Strauss’s _Elektra_?
Read more about [operas based on myths and
legends](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/operas-based-myths-legends/).
## 1911: Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s most frequently performed opera, Der
Rosenkavalier, is premiered
###
ENO’s production of Der Rosenkavalier
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/RfXj90B8GgQ?feature=oembed)
Video
_Der Rosenkavalier_ , Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s third collaboration, is
premiered in Dresden. It remains Strauss’s most frequently performed opera.
## 1921: Janáček’s final decade of composing operas
###
ENO’s production of The Makropulos Case
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/KeygUo8O_hw?feature=oembed)
Video
The premiere of Janáček’s _K_ _áťa_ _Kabanová_ heralds the important sequence
of operas from the composer’s final decade: [_The Cunning Little
Vixen_](https://www.eno.org/operas/the-cunning-little-vixen/) (1924); _The
Makropulos Case_ (1926); _From the House of the Dead_ (1928).
## 1925: Berg’s Wozzeck is first performed in Berlin
###
Wozzeck director, Carrie Cracknell, on directing her first opera
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/agTFBAYrcvk?feature=oembed)
Video
[Alban Berg’s](https://www.eno.org/composers/alban-berg/) _Wozzeck_ (1914–22),
based on Büchner’s play, is premiered in Berlin.
The opera’s unique dramatic and musical design proves influential on many
later composers, including Shostakovich and
[Britten](https://www.eno.org/composers/benjamin-britten/).
## 1936: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is banned from the Soviet Union
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/CfL0TSvAwXU?feature=oembed)
Video
On the orders of Stalin, criticism in _Pravda_ effectively banishes Dmitri
Shostakovich’s _Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk_ (successfully premiered in 1934)
within the Soviet Union, and the composer withdraws the work.
It was not until 1963 that the opera was heard again, in a revised version
entitled, _Katerina Ismailova_.
Want to know more about this controversial opera? Read up on the [operas that
shook society](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/operas-that-shook-society/).
## 1945: Sadler’s Wells Opera (later ENO) premieres Britten’s Peter Grimes
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/n4Z0vGKtuq0?feature=oembed)
Video
Less than a month after VE Day, Sadler’s Wells Opera (the forerunner of ENO)
gives the premiere of Benjamin Britten’s _[Peter
Grimes](https://www.eno.org/operas/peter-grimes/)._ The opera is an overnight
sensation and launches Britten on his international career as the most
significant opera composer of the middle of the 20th century.
He would go on to compose a further 15 operas, including _Billy Budd_(1951),
[_The Turn of the Screw_](https://www.eno.org/whats-on/the-turn-of-the-
screw/)(1954), [_A Midsummer Night’s Dream_](https://www.eno.org/whats-
on/a-midsummer-nights-dream/) (1960) and _Death in Venice_(1973).
The success of _Grimes_ paved the way for a flourishing of opera in Britain,
with new stage works from other contemporary British composers such as Walton
and [Tippett.](https://www.eno.org/composers/michael-tippett/)
## 1951: The Venice premiere of The Rake’s Progress
###
William Hogarth’s oil on canvas painting, _The Rakes Progress_ , can be found
in London’s Sir John Soane’s Museum
Igor Stravinksy’s neoclassical _The Rake’s Progress_ , to a libretto by W. H.
Auden and Chester Kallman based on Hogarth’s paintings, is premiered in
Venice.
## 1976: Philip Glass debuts his first opera, Einstein on the Beach
###
ENO’s production of Glass’s Akhnaten
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/vkA3JzeGu38?feature=oembed)
Video
American minimalist, [Philip Glass](https://www.eno.org/composers/philip-
glass/)‘s _Einstein on the Beach_ , receives its first performance. Lasting
five hours without any intervals, it is the first of Glass’s ‘portrait’
trilogy of operas – the others being [_Satyagraha_](https://www.eno.org/whats-
on/satyagraha/) (1980) and [_Akhnaten_](https://www.eno.org/operas/akhnaten/)
(1984).
Discover more about one of the most influential musicians of the 21st century
with our [beginner’s guide to Philip Glass.](https://www.eno.org/discover-
opera/the-beginners-guide-to-philip-glass/)
## 1986: Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus is debuted by the ENO
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/3yvm3h06Q7Y?feature=oembed)
Video
The premiere of [Harrison
Birtwistle’s](https://www.eno.org/composers/harrison-birtwistle/) [_The Mask
of Orpheus_](https://www.eno.org/operas/the-mask-of-orpheus/) is given by ENO.
Subsequent significant large-scale stage works include _Gawain_ (1990) and
_The Minotaur_ (2008).
## 1987: The first ever performance of Adams’s Nixon in China
###
Excerpt from the final dress rehearsal of John Adams’ Nixon in China at the
Met Opera
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/P-vK4IV4giw?feature=oembed)
Video
The first performance of John Adams’s _Nixon in China_ takes place in Houston.
The opera has established itself as a contemporary classic.
Adams’s subsequent stage works include: _The Death of Klinghoffer_ (1991),
_Doctor Atomic_(2005), _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_ (2013) and
_Girls of the Golden West_ (2017).
Find out more about the event which inspired Adams’s opera and more [operas
based on real people and events](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/operas-
based-on-real-people-and-events/).
## 1995: British composer, Thomas Adès, premieres Powder Her Face
###
‘Overture’ from Adès Powder Her Face
Thomas Adès’s _Powder Her Face_ is premiered at the Cheltenham Festival. It
has become one of the most successful of all contemporary chamber operas.
Adès followed this with two more operas: _The Tempest_(2004) and _The
Exterminating Angel_ (2016).
## 2017: San Francisco Opera commissions Adams’s Girls of the Golden West
###
A woman with three men panning for gold during the California Gold Rush in
1850
Composer, John Adams, and librettist, Peter Sellars’s _Girls of the Golden_
_West_ is commissioned by the San Francisco Opera. Inspired by the 1852
letters of Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe – who lived in a mining settlement
during the Californian gold rush – the opera is premiered in San Francisco in
November 2017.
## 2020: Marina Abramović’s Opera Project, 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, premieres
in Munich
###
ENO’s production of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nl0PnFmuRms?feature=oembed)
Video
World-renowned performance artist [Marina
Abramović](https://www.eno.org/artists/marina-abramovic/) premieres her homage
to Soprano [Maria Callas](https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/the-beginners-
guide-to-maria-callas/) at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper on 1 September 2020.
Recreating seven of Maria Callas’ most well-known arias from composers such as
Bizet, Puccini and Verdi, these arias are performed in front of a series of
films which feature Marina Abramović and film-icon [Willem
Dafoe](https://www.eno.org/artists/willem-dafoe/).
The ENO co-produced the UK premiere of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas in November
2023 and you can find out more on our [Discover Opera
page](https://www.eno.org/operas/7-deaths-of-maria-callas/).
## 2023: ENO premieres Jeanine Tesori’s Blue
###
ENO’s production of Blue
[YouTube Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_djpcVtcKA?feature=oembed)
Video
2023 saw the UK premiere of new, contemporary opera,
[Blue](https://www.eno.org/operas/blue/), composed by Tony Award-winner,
[Jeanine Tesori](https://www.eno.org/composers/jeanine-tesori/) with the
libretto written by [Tazewell Thompson.](https://www.eno.org/collections/an-
interview-with-tazewell-thompson/)
First performed in 2019 at the Glimmerglass Festival in New York, this opera
tells the story of a black middle-class family left reeling after the death of
their teenage son after he is shot by a while police officer.
Read more about this emotional opera, including it’s musical theatre
influences in our [introductory guide to Blue.](https://www.eno.org/discover-
opera/operas/an-introduction-to-blue/)
Related Content: Opera in London; Related Content: History of ENO; Related Content: The beginner’s guide to opera