opera: Media
music
Videos
Maria Callas is regarded as the world's greatest coloratura soprano—if not the greatest...
Video: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Images
Title page of Jacopo Peri's opera L'Euridice, 1600. Set to a libretto by...
The Newberry Library, Pio Resse Collection, 1889 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Idomeneo, 2006.
Hans Klaus Techt—EPA/REX/Shutterstock.com
Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro.
Reg Wilson/Shutterstock.com
Gioachino Rossini, photograph by Étienne Carjat, c. 1868.
George Eastman House Collection
Performance of Gioachino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, 2011.
© Igor Bulgarin/Shutterstock.com
Vincenzo Bellini, portrait by an unknown artist; in La Scala Theatre Museum, Milan.
Courtesy of the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan
Richard Wagner, painting by Franz von Lenbach, 1882.
De Agostini Editore/age fotostock
Death scene from Georges Bizet's Carmen; from an 1880 production featuring...
Lafosse/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Poster for Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, 1906; 300 cm × 135 cm.
© Fine Art Images—Heritage Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Audio
Claudio Monteverdi: La favola d'Orfeo
An example of early operatic recitative, “Tu sei morta, mia vita, ed io respire,”...
Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna
“Dove, dov'è la fede,” from Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna (1608;...
Claudio Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea
“Adagiati, Poppea,” from Act II of Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione...
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Excerpt of “Thanks to These Lonesome Vales” from Dido and Aeneas by Henry...
George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare
Excerpt of “V'adoro, pupille, saette d'amore” (“I Adore You, Eyes, Lightning Bolts...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste, “Divinités du Styx”
Alceste's aria “Divinités du Styx” in Act I of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Alceste;...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, “Chiamo il mio ben così”
Orfeo's aria “Chiamo il mio ben così” in Act I of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide, Agamemnon's aria, “O Diana, dea spietata”
Agamemnon's aria (sung in Italian), “O Diana, dea spietata,” in Act I of Christoph...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio)
Excerpt of “Martern aller Arten” (“Torments of all Kinds”) from Die Entführung...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni
The aria “Madamina, il catalogo e questo” (“My dear lady, this is a list”); from...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Così fan tutte
The recitativo “Sorella, cosa dici?” (“Sister, what do you say?”), from Act II, scene...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Così fan tutte
The aria “Donne mie la fate a tanti a tanti” (“Dear ladies, you treat so many thus”),...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Excerpt of the Queen of the Night's aria “Der Hölle Rache” (“The Wrath of Hell”)...
Gioachino Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
Donna Fiorilla and Selim duet, “Perché una fiamma insolita,” in Act I of Gioachino...
Gioachino Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
Rosina's cavatina “Una voce poco fa” in Act I of Gioachino Rossini's Il barbiere...
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell
Overture from Gioachino Rossini's William Tell; from a 1952 recording by...
Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, “Casta diva”
Norma's cavatina, “Casta diva,” in Act I of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma; from...
Jacques Offenbach: Barbe-Bleue
Excerpt of “Je suis Barbe-Bleue” (“I Am Bluebeard”) from Jacques Offenbach's Barbe-Bleue...
Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz, Hunters' chorus, “Was gleicht wohl auf Erden dem Jägervergnügen?”
Hunters' chorus, “Was gleicht wohl auf Erden dem Jägervergnügen?” in Act III of Carl...
Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto, “La donna è mobile”
Duc de Mantoue's aria “La donna è mobile” in Act III, scene 2, of Giuseppe Verdi's...
Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata
Historical recording (1919) of Amelita Galli-Curci singing “Sempre libera” (“Always...
Giuseppe Verdi: Aida, “Ritorna vincitor!”
Aida's aria “Ritorna vincitor!” in Act I, scene 1, of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida;...
Giuseppe Verdi: Otello, “Fuoco di gioia”
Chorus of the Cypriots, “Fuoco di gioia,” in Act I, scene 1, of Giuseppe Verdi's...
Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff, “Sul fil d'un soffio etesio”
Nannetta's aria (as the Fairy Queen) “Sul fil d'un soffio etesio,” in Act III, scene...
Richard Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman), Senta's ballad, “Johohoe! Johohohoe! Hohohoe! Johoe! Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an”
Senta's ballad, “Johohoe! Johohohoe! Hohohoe! Johoe! Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere...
Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser, overture
Overture from Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser; from a 1953 recording by the...
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
The Prelude to Act I of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1857–59; first...
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, “Einsam wachend in der Nacht”
Brangäne's “Einsam wachend in der Nacht,” in Act II of Richard Wagner's Tristan...
Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold (“The Rhine Gold”), “Weia! Waga! Woge du Welle”
Rhine maidens motive, “Weia! Waga! Woge du Welle,” in scene 1 of Richard Wagner's...
Richard Wagner: Parsifal, “Nun achte wohl; und lass mich seh'n”
Gurnemanz: “Nun achte wohl; und lass mich seh'n” in Act I of Richard Wagner's Parsifal;...
audio of singer Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar singing “Chanson bohème” from Georges Bizet's Carmen, recorded...
Gustave Charpentier: Louise
Historical recording (1926) of Mary Garden singing “Depuis le jour” (“Since the Day”)...
Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
“Ah! Je respire enfin!” in Act III, scene 3, of Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande,...
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
Historical recording (1908) of Emma Eames singing “Vissi d'arte” from Giacomo Puccini's...
Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Prologue (“Long Live Tsar Boris Feodorovich”) from Modest Mussorgsky's Boris...
recording of an excerpt from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Excerpt of “Ljubvi vse vozrasti pokorny” ("Everyone Knows Love on Earth") from Pyotr...
Arnold Schoenberg: Die glückliche Hand
“Ja, o ja! Das Bluhen, o Sehnsucht,” from Scene 2 of Arnold Schoenberg's Die...
Arnold Schoenberg: Die glückliche Hand
“Musstest du's wieder erleben,” from Scene 4 of Arnold Schoenberg's Die glückliche...
VIEW MORE in these related Britannica articles:
