1600–1699:

• 1607: l'orfeo by claudio monteverdi - this is widely regarded as the first operatic masterwork.
• 1640: il ritorno d'ulisse in patria by claudio 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 by claudio 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 by 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 by francesco 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 by francesco cavalli - the 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 by 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 by henry purcell - a semi-opera rather than a genuine opera, this is often thought to be purcell's finest dramatic work.

1700–1749:

• 1710: agrippina by georg friedrich händel - händel's last opera that he composed in italy was a great success,[6] and established his reputation as a composer of italian opera.
• 1711: rinaldo by georg friedrich händel - händel's first opera for the london stage was also the first all-italian opera performed on the london stage.
• 1724: giulio cesare by georg friedrich händel - this händel opera is noted for the richness of its orchestration.
• 1724: tamerlano georg friedrich händel - this work is described by anthony hicks, writing in grove music online, as possessing a "taut dramatic power".
• 1725: rodelinda by georg friedrich händel - rodelinda is often praised for the fullness of the melodic writing among händel's output.
• 1728: the beggar's opera by 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 by georg friedrich händel - this is händel's only work for the theatre that is set to an english libretto.
• 1733: orlando by georg friedrich händel - an opera that is described by anthony hicks as "remarkable" and by orrey as one of handel's "best works".
• 1733: la serva padrona by giovanni battista pergolesi - la serva padrona became a model for many of the opera buffas that followed it, including those of mozart.
• 1733: hippolyte et aricie by jean-philippe rameau - rameau's first opera caused great controversy at its premiere.
• 1735: ariodante by georg friedrich händel - both this opera and alcina enjoy high critical reputations today.
• 1735: alcina by georg friedrich händel - both this work and ariodante were part of händel's first opera season at covent garden.
• 1735: les indes galantes by jean-philippe rameau - in this work rameau added emotional depth and power to the traditionally lighter form of opera-ballet.
• 1737: castor et pollux by jean-philippe rameau - initially only a moderate success, when it was revived in 1754 castor et pollux was regarded as rameau's finest achievement.
• 1738: serse by georg friedrich händel - a deviation from the usual model of opera seria, serse contains many comic elements rare in handel's other works.
• 1744: semele by georg friedrich händel - 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 by jean-philippe rameau - rameau's most famous comic opera. originally a court entertainment, a 1754 revival proved extremely popular with french audiences.

1750–1799:

• 1760: la buona figliuola by 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.
• 1762: orfeo ed euridice by christoph willibald gluck - gluck's most popular opera. the first work in which the composer tried to reform the excesses of italian opera seria.
• 1767: alceste by christoph willibald von gluck - gluck's second "reform" opera, nowadays usually given in its french revision of 1776.
• 1768: bastien und bastienne by 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 by wolfgang amadeus mozart - composed when mozart was 14, mitridate was written for a demanding cast of star singers and is over 6 hours long in production.
• 1772: lucio silla by wolfgang amadeus mozart - this opera from mozart's teenage years was not revived until 1929 after its initial run of 25 performances.
• 1774: iphigénie en aulide by christoph willibald von gluck - gluck's first opera for paris.
• 1775: la finta giardiniera by wolfgang amadeus mozart - this work is generally recognised as mozart's first opera buffa of significance.
• 1775: il re pastore by wolfgang amadeus mozart - mozart's last opera of his adolescence was set to a libretto by metastasio
• 1777: il mondo della luna by joseph haydn - this opera was the last of three that haydn set to libretti by carlo goldoni.
• 1777: armide by christoph willibald von gluck - gluck used a libretto originally set by lully for this french work, his favourite among his own operas.
• 1779: iphigénie en tauride by christoph willibald von gluck - gluck's "last and perhaps greatest masterpiece".
• 1781: idomeneo by wolfgang amadeus 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 wolfgang amadeus mozart - often thought of as the first of mozart's comic masterpieces, this work is frequently performed today.
• 1782: il barbiere di siviglia by giovanni paisiello - paisiello's most famous comic opera, later eclipsed by rossini's work of the same name.
• 1786: der schauspieldirektor by wolfgang amadeus 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.
• 1786: le nozze di figaro by wolfgang amadeus mozart - the first of the famous series of mozart operas set to libretti by lorenzo da ponte is now mozart's most popular opera.
• 1787: don giovanni by wolfgang amadeus mozart - the 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.
• 1790: così fan tutte by wolfgang amadeus mozart - the 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.
• 1791: la clemenza di tito by wolfgang amadeus 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.
• 1791: die zauberflöte by wolfgang amadeus mozart - a work that has been described as "the apotheosis of the singspiel", die zauberflöte was denigrated during the 19th century as confused and lacking in definition.
• 1792: il matrimonio segreto by domenico cimarosa - usually regarded as cimarosa's best opera, 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.
• 1797: médée by luigi cherubini - the only french opera of the revolutionary period to be regularly performed today. a famous showcase for sopranos such as maria callas.

1800–1832:

• 1805: fidelio by ludwig van beethoven - beethoven's only opera was inspired by the composer's passion for political liberty.
• 1807: la vestale by 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 by gioachino rossini - an early rossini work, this opera is outright farsa comica.
• 1813: l'italiana in algeri by gioachino 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".
• 1813: tancredi by gioachino 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".
• 1814: il turco in italia by gioachino rossini - this opera stands out among rossini's output for its frequent ensembles and absence of aria.
• 1816: il barbiere di siviglia by gioachino rossini - this work has become rossini's most popular opera buffa.
• 1816: otello by gioachino 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".
• 1817: la cenerentola by giaochino rossini - rossini's comedy was composed in just over three weeks.
• 1817: la gazza ladra by gioachino rossini - in this opera rossini drew upon french rescue opera.
• 1818: mosè in egitto by gioachino rossini - this work was originally conceived of as a sacred drama suitable for performance during lent.
• 1819: la donna del lago by gioachino rossini - another romantic-era opera inspired by the works of sir walter scott.
• 1821: der freischütz by carl maria von weber - weber's masterpiece was the first great german romantic opera.
• 1823: euryanthe by carl maria von weber - despite its weak libretto, euryanthe had a great influence on later german operas, including wagner's lohengrin.
• 1823: semiramide by gioachino rossini - this is the last opera that rossini composed in italy.
• 1825: la dame blanche by 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 by gioachino rossini - for this work rossini heavily revised his earlier maometto ii, placing the action in a different setting.
• 1826: oberon by carl mari von weber - weber's last opera before his early death.
• 1827: il pirata by vincenzo bellini - bellini's second professional production established his international reputation.
• 1828: der vampyr by heinrich marschner - marschner was a key link between weber and wagner, as this gothic opera shows.
• 1828: le comte ory by gioachino 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".
• 1829: la straniera by vincenzo bellini - la straniera is rare among bel canto operas in that it offers remarkably few opportunities for vocal ostentation.
• 1829: william tell by gioachino 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.
• 1830: anna bolena by gaetano donizetti - this was donizetti's first success on the international scene and helped greatly to establish his reputation.
• 1830: fra diavolo by daniel auber - one of the most popular opéra comiques of the 19th century, auber's tale of a neapolitan bandit even inspired a film by laurel and hardy.
• 1830: i capuleti e i montecchi by vincenzo bellini - bellini's version of romeo and juliet.
• 1831: la sonnambula - vincenzo 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 by vincenzo bellini - bellini's most well-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 by giacomo meyerbeer - meyerbeer's first grand opera for paris caused a sensation with its ballet of dead nuns.
• 1832: l'elisir d'amore by gaetano donizetti - this work was the most often performed opera in italy between 1838 and 1848.

1833–1849:

• 1833: beatrice di tenda by vincenzo bellini - bellini's tragedy is notable for its extensive use of the chorus.
• 1833: hans heiling by heinrich marschner - another important gothic horror opera from marschner.
• 1833: lucrezia borgia by gaetano donizetti - one of donizetti's most popular scores.
• 1834: maria stuarda by gaetano 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.
• 1835: das liebesverbot by richard wagner - an early work by wagner loosely based on shakespeare's measure for measure. the composer later disowned it.
• 1835: i puritani by vincenzo bellini - bellini's drama, set during the english civil war, is one of his finest achievements.
• 1835: la juive by fromental halévy - this grand opera rivalled the works of meyerbeer in popularity. the tenor aria "rachel quand du seigneur" is particularly famous.
• 1835: lucia di lammermoor by gaetano donizetti - donizetti's most famous serious opera, notable for lucia's mad scene.
• 1836: a life for the tsar by mikhail glinka - glinka established the tradition of russian opera with this historical work and the later ruslan and lyudmila.
• 1836: les huguenots by giacomo meyerbeer - perhaps the most famous of all french grand operas, widely regarded as meyerbeer's masterpiece.
• 1837: roberto devereux by gaetano donizetti - donizetti wrote this work as a distraction from the grief he felt at the death of his wife.
• 1838: benvenuto cellini by hector berlioz - berlioz's first opera is a virtuoso score which is still highly difficult to perform.
• 1839: oberto by giuseppe verdi - verdi's first opera is a sensational melodrama.
• 1840: la favorite by gaetano donizetti - a grand opera in the french tradition.
• 1840: la fille du régiment by gaetano donizetti - donizetti's venture into french opéra comique.
• 1840: un giorno di regno by giuseppe verdi - verdi's only comedy apart from his last opera, falstaff.
• 1842: der wildschütz by albert lortzing - lortzing's "comic masterpiece", intended to show a german work could rival italian opera buffa and french opéra comique.
• 1842: nabucco by giuseppe verdi - verdi described this opera as the genuine beginning of his artistic career.
• 1842: rienzi by richard wagner - wagner's contribution to the grand opera tradition.
• 1842: ruslan and lyudmila by mikhail glinka - this episodic version of a pushkin fairy tale was a major influence on later russian composers.
• 1843: der fliegende hollander by richard wagner - wagner regarded this german romantic opera as the true beginning of his career.
• 1843: don pasquale by gaetano donizetti - donizetti's "comic masterpiece" is one of the last great opera buffas.
• 1843: i lombardi alla prima crociata by giuseppe verdi - verdi's follow-up to nabucco was the first of his operas to be performed in america.
• 1843: the bohemian girl by michael balfe - one of the few notable 19th century english-language operas apart from the works of gilbert and sullivan.
• 1844: ernani by giuseppe verdi - one of the most dramatically effective of verdi's early works.
• 1845: tannhäuser by richard wagner - wagner's "most medieval work" depicts the conflict between pagan love and christian virtue.
• 1846: attila by giuseppe verdi - verdi was troubled by ill health during the writing of this piece, which was only a moderate success at the premiere.
• 1846: the damnation of faust by hector 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".
• 1847: macbeth by giuseppe verdi - verdi's first venture into shakespeare.
• 1847: martha by friedrich von flotow - flotow unashamedly aimed at satisfying popular taste in this comic and sentimental work set in the england of queen anne.
• 1849: the merry wives of windsor by otto nicolai - nicolai's only german opera has been his most lasting success.
• 1849: le prophète by giacomo meyerbeer - a grand opera about the life of the religious fanatic, john of leiden.
• 1849: luisa miller by giuseppe verdi - fans of verdi think that this setting of schiller's "bourgeois tragedy" has been underrated.

1850–1875:

• 1850: genoveva by 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.
• 1850: lohengrin by richard wagner - the last of wagner's "middle period" works.
• 1850: stiffelio by giuseppe verdi - verdi's tale of adultery among members of an american protestant sect fell foul of the censors.
• 1851: rigoletto by giuseppe verdi - the first – and most innovative- of three middle period verdi operas which have become staples of the repertoire.
• 1853: il trovatore by giuseppe verdi - this romantic melodrama is one of verdi's most tuneful scores.
• 1853: la traviata by giuseppe verdi - the role of violetta, the "fallen woman" of the title, is one of the most famous vehicles for the soprano voice.
• 1855: les vêpres siciliennes by giuseppe verdi - verdi's opera displays the strong influence of meyerbeer.
• 1858: der barbier von bagdad by peter cornelius - an oriental comedy drawing on the tradition of german romantic opera.
• 1858: orpheus in the underworld by jacques offenbach - the world's first operetta, this cynical and satirical piece is still immensely popular today.
• 1858: les troyens by hector berlioz - berlioz's greatest opera and the culmination of the french classical tradition.
• 1859: la damnation de faust by 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.
• 1859: un ballo in maschera by giuseppe verdi - by the time he came to write un ballo in maschera, verdi was rich enough not to have to work for a living. this opera ran into trouble with the censors because it originally dealt with the assassination of a monarch.
• 1862: béatrice et bénédict by hector berlioz - the last opera berlioz wrote is the fruit of his lifelong admiration for shakespeare.
• 1862: la forza del destino by giuseppe 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 by 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 by jacques offenbach - another operetta by offenbach which pokes fun at greek mythology.
• 1864: mireille by charles gounod - gounod's work is based on the epic poem by frédéric mistral and makes use of provençal folk tunes.
• 1865: l'africaine by giacomo meyerbeer - meyerbeer's last grand opera received a posthumous premiere.
• 1865: tristan und isolde by richard 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 by 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 by bedřich smetana - smetana's folk comedy is the most widely performed of all his operas.
• 1867: don carlos by giuseppe verdi - verdi's take on french grand opera is now one of his most highly regarded works.
• 1867: la jolie fille de perth by georges bizet - bizet turned to a novel by sir walter scott for this opéra comique.
• 1867: roméo et juliette by charles gounod - gounod's version of shakespeare's tragedy is his second most famous work.
• 1868: dalibor by bedřich smetana - one of the most successful of smetana's operas exploring themes from czech history.
• 1868: die meistersinger von nürnberg by richard wagner - wagner's only comedy among his mature operas concerns the clash between artistic tradition and innovation.
• 1868: hamlet by ambroise thomas - thomas's opera takes many liberties with its shakespearean source.
• 1868: la périchole by jacques offenbach - set in peru, this operetta mixes comedy and sentimentality.
• 1868: mefistofele by 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 by richard 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 by richard 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 by giuseppe verdi - features one of the greatest tenor arias of all time, celeste aida.
• 1874: boris godunov by modest mussorgsky - mussorgsky's great historical drama shows russia's descent into anarchy in the early 17th century.
• 1874: die fledermaus by johann strauss ii - probably the most popular of all operettas.
• 1874: the two widows by bedřich smetana - another comedy by smetana, the only one of his operas with a non-czech subject.
• 1875: carmen by georges bizet - probably the most famous of all french operas. critics at the premiere were shocked by bizet's blend of romanticism and realism.

1876–1899:

• 1876: siegfried by 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 by richard 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 by amilcare ponchielli - apart from verdi's aida, this is the only italian grand opera to have stayed in international repertory.
• 1877: l'étoile by emmanuel chabrier - this comic piece has been described as "a cross between carmen and gilbert and sullivan, with plenty of offenbach thrown in".
• 1877: samson et dalila by camille saint-saëns - an opera with that was heavily influenced by those of wagner.
• 1879: eugene onegin by 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 by 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 by 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 by giuseppe verdi - verdi heavily revised this opera over twenty years after it was first performed.
• 1882: parsifal by richard wagner - wagner's last opera is a "festival play" about the legend of the holy grail.
• 1882: the snow maiden by nikolai rimsky-korsakov - one of rimsky-korsakov's most lyrical works.
• 1883: lakmé by léo delibes - this opéra comique set in the british raj in india is famous for its "flower duet" and "bell song".
• 1884: le villi by giacomo puccini - an early operatic work by puccini with plenty of opportunity for dance.
• 1884: manon by jules massenet - massenet's most enduringly popular work along with werther.
• 1885: the gypsy baron by johann strauss ii - strauss's operetta was intended to soothe tensions between austrians and hungarians in the habsburg empire.
• 1886: khovanshchina by modest mussorgsky - mussorgsky's second great epic of russian history was left unfinished at his death.
• 1887: le roi malgré lui by emmanuel chabrier - ravel claimed he would rather have written this comic opera than wagner's ring cycle, though the plot is notoriously confused.
• 1887: otello by giuseppe verdi - the first of verdi's late-period masterpieces was set to an unusually fine libretto by arrigo boito.
• 1888: le roi d'ys by édouard lalo - a breton folk tale with music heavily influenced by wagner.
• 1890: cavalleria rusticana by pietro mascagni - a perennial favourite with audiences around the world, this one-acter is usually performed alongside leoncavallo's pagliacci.
• 1890: prince igor by 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".
• 1890: the queen of spades by pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky - in a letter to his brother and librettist the composer said that "the opera is a masterpiece".
• 1891: l'amico fritz by pietro mascagni - this work has been thought of as a late example of opera semiseria.
• 1892: iolanta by pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky - tchaikovksy's last, lyrical opera set to a libretto by his brother modest.
• 1892: la wally by alfredo catalani - usually thought of as catalani's masterpiece.
• 1892: pagliacci by ruggiero leoncavallo - one of the most famous verismo operas, usually paired with mascagni's cavalleria rusticana.
• 1892: werther by jules massenet - along with manon, this is massenet's most popular opera.[131]
• 1893: falstaff by giuseppe verdi - verdi's final opera was set to another of boito's fine libretti.
• 1893: hänsel und gretel by engelbert humperdinck - the well-known fairy-tale received a full wagnerian operatic adaptation at humperdinck's hands.
• 1893: manon lescaut by giacomo puccini - the success of this work established puccini's reputation as a composer of contemporary music of the first rank.
• 1894: thaïs by jules massenet - the opera that contains the famous méditation interlude.
• 1896: andrea chénier by umberto giordano - set to a libretto by luigi illica, this verismo drama is giordano's most popular opera.
• 1896: la bohème by giacomo puccini - debussy is alleged to have said, as a result of la bohème, that no one had detailed paris at that time better than had puccini.
• 1897: königskinder by engelbert humperdinck - originally a melodrama that blended song and spoken dialogue, the composer adapted the work into an opera proper in 1907.
• 1898: fedora by umberto giordano - giordano's second most popular opera.
• 1898: sadko by nikolai rimsky-korsakov - the viking trader's song from this opera has become extremely popular in russia.
• 1899: cendrillon by jules massenet - an immediate success at the time of the premiere, the opera enjoyed 50 performances in 1899 alone.
• 1899: the devil and kate by antonín dvořák - the lack of a love interest makes the plot of this work almost unique among czech comic operas.

1900–1920:

• 1900: louise by gustave charpentier - an attempt to provide a french equivalent for italian verismo, louise is set in a working-class district of paris.
• 1900: tosca by giacomo puccini - tosca is the most wagnerian of puccini's operas, with its frequent use of leitmotif.
• 1901: rusalka by antonín dvořák - dvořák's most successful opera with international audiences, based on a folk tale about a water sprite.
• 1902: adriana lecouvreur by francesco cilea - unique among cilea's operas in that it has remained in the international repertory up to the present time.
• 1902: pelléas et mélisande by claude debussy - debussy's elusive symbolist drama is one of the most significant operas of the 20th century.
• 1902: saul og david by carl nielsen - this biblical tragedy was the first of nielsen's two operas.
• 1904: jenůfa by leoš janáček - janáček's first great success, a naturalistic depiction of czech peasant life.
• 1904: madama butterfly by giacomo puccini - the first performance of puccini's now-popular opera was a disaster involving accusations of plagiarism.
• 1905: the merry widow by franz lehár - one of the most famous viennese operettas.
• 1905: salome by richard strauss - a scandalous success at its premiere, strauss's "decadent" opera set to oscar wilde's play is still immensely popular with today's audiences.
• 1906: maskarade by carl nielsen - nielsen's high-spirited comedy looks back to the world of the marriage of figaro and has become a classic in the composer's native denmark.
• 1907: a village romeo and juliet by frederick delius - a tragedy of unhappy love set in switzerland; the most famous music is the interlude "the walk to the paradise garden".
• 1907: ariane et barbe-bleue by paul dukas - dukas's only surviving opera, based like debussy's pelléas, on a symbolist drama by maeterlinck.
• 1907: the legend of the invisible city of kitezh and the maiden fevroniya by nikolai rimsky-korsakov - a mystical retelling of an old national legend. sometimes called the russian parsifal.
• 1907: destiny by leoš janáček - an important transitional work in janáček's career as the composer began to look beyond the traditional themes of czech opera.
• 1909: elektra by richard strauss - this dark tragedy took strauss's music to the borders of atonality. it was the composer's first setting of a libretto by his long-term collaborator hugo von hofmannsthal.
• 1909: il segreto di susanna by ermanno wolf-ferrari - a comic intermezzo. susanna's secret is that she smokes.
• 1909: the golden cockerel by nikolai rimsky-korsakov - often considered rimsky's greatest work, this satire on military incompetence got the composer into trouble with the censors after russia's defeat in the russo-japanese war.
• 1910: don quichotte by jules massenet - massenet's last great success is a gentle comedy inspired by cervantes's don quixote.
• 1910: la fanciulla del west by giacomo puccini - described by puccini as his best work.
• 1911: der rosenkavalier by richard strauss - strauss and hofmannsthal's most popular work, this comedy is set in 18th century vienna.
• 1911: l'heure espagnole by maurice ravel - ravel's first opera is a bedroom farce set in spain.
• 1912: ariadne auf naxos by richard strauss - a mixture of comedy and tragedy with an opera within an opera.
• 1912: der ferne klang by franz schreker - the success of this work established schreker's reputation as an opera composer.
• 1913: la vida breve by manuel de falla - a passionate spanish drama influenced by verismo.
• 1914: the immortal hour by rutland boughton - boughton's celtic fairy tale opera enjoyed great popularity in britain between the world wars.
• 1914: the nightingale by 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 the rite of spring.
• 1916: savitri by gustav holst - holst's interest in hinduism led him to set this episode from the mahabharata.
• 1917: arlecchino by ferruccio busoni - busoni drew on the tradition of italian commedia dell'arte for this one-act piece
• 1917: eine florentinische tragödie by alexander von zemlinsky - zemlinsky's "decadent" one-acter is based on a short play by oscar wilde.
• 1917: la rondine by giacomo puccini - not an initial success, puccini heavily revised the opera twice.
• 1917: palestrina by hans pfitzner - a wagnerian drama exploring the clash between innovation and tradition in music.
• 1918: bluebeard's castle by béla bartók - bartók's only opera, this intense psychological drama is one of his most important works.
• 1918: gianni schicchi by giacomo puccini - one act in structure, puccini's work is based on an extract from dante's inferno.
• 1918: il tabarro by giacomo puccini - the first of the operas that make up il trittico – along with gianni schicchi and suor angelica.
• 1918: suor angelica by giacomo puccini - described by the composer as his favourite among the three operas that comprise il trittico.
• 1919: die frau ohne schatten by richard strauss - the third full collaboration between strauss and the librettist hofmannsthal gestated for six years before completion, and another two years passed before the first performance.
• 1920: die tote stadt by erich wolfgang korngold - korngold's most well-renowned work for the stage.
• 1920: the excursions of mr. brouček to the moon and to the 15th century by leoš janáček - a comic fantasy set on the moon and in 15th century bohemia.

1921–1944:

• 1921: káťa kabanová by 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 by sergei prokofiev - a comic opera based on a fairy tale by carlo gozzi.
• 1922: der zwerg by 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 by arnold schoenberg - an intense atonal monodrama.
• 1924: hugh the drover by ralph vaughan williams - a ballad opera, much of which is based on folksongs.
• 1924: intermezzo by richard strauss - a light operetta-style work based on an incident from the composer's own marriage.
• 1924: the cunning little vixen by leoš janáček - one of the composer's most popular works, the story is based on a cartoon strip about animals in the czech countryside.
• 1925: doktor faust by ferruccio busoni - busoni intended this opera to be the climax of his career, but it was left unfinished at his death.
• 1925: l'enfant et les sortilèges by maurice ravel - originally conceived of as a fairy ballet, the plot of the opera is that of children's fairy-tale.
• 1925: wozzeck by 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 by paul hindemith - an opera in hindemith's neo-classical style about a psychopathic jeweller.
• 1926: háry jános by zoltán kodály - kodálys singspiel incorporated many hungarian folksongs and dances.
• 1926: king roger by karol szymanowski - one of the most important polish operas, this piece is full of oriental harmonies.
• 1926: the makropulos affair by leoš janáček - the first performance of the makropulos affair was the last that janáček survived to see among his operas.
• 1926: turandot by giacomo puccini - puccini's last opera was left unfinished at his death.
• 1927: oedipus rex by igor stravinsky - set to a latin libretto by jean cocteau, this highly stylised piece fuses opera and oratorio.
• 1927: jonny spielt auf by ernst krenek - a "jazz opera" which enjoyed tremendous success in its day.
• 1928: the threepenny opera by kurt weill - a modern adaptation of gay and pepusch's the beggar's opera.
• 1929: the nose by dmitri shostakovich - gogol's strange short story provided the plot for this grotesque satire.
• 1930: rise and fall of the city of mahagonny by kurt weill - the composition of this opera was problematic, due to tension between the composer and his librettist, bertolt brecht.
• 1930: from the house of the dead by leoš janáček - janáček's last opera inspired by dostoyevsky's account of life in a russian prison camp.
• 1932: moses und aron by arnold schoenberg - left unfinished at his death, schoenberg's opera frequently employs serialist techniques.
• 1933: arabella by richard strauss - this opera was the last that strauss set to a libretto by hugo von hofmannsthal.
• 1934: lady macbeth of the mtsensk district by dmitri shostakovich - an attack on the music and subject matter of the opera in the soviet union's government journal pravda meant that this work was shostakovich's last opera.
• 1935: die schweigsame frau by richard strauss - a comic opera based on a play by ben jonson.
• 1935: porgy and bess by george gershwin - initially a financial failure, a 1941 production that replaced the work's recitatives with spoken dialogue was a success.
• 1937: lulu by alban 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 by ralph 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 by richard strauss - a mythological opera with lyrical, pastoral music.
• 1938: julietta by bohuslav martinů - this dreamlike work set in a town where people have lost their memory is "martinu's operatic masterpiece".
• 1938: mathis der maler by paul 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 by 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 by richard strauss - strauss's final opera is a conversation piece about the genre itself.
• 1943: der kaiser von atlantis by viktor ullmann - written in the nazi concentration camp theresienstadt and not performed until 1975. the composer and his librettist died in auschwitz concentration camp.

from 1945:

• 1945: peter grimes by 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 by 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 by sergei prokofiev - a romantic comedy with music drawing on the opera buffa style of rossini.
• 1946: the medium by gian carlo menotti - considered by many to be menotti's finest work.
• 1946: the rape of lucretia by benjamin britten - britten's first chamber opera.
• 1947: albert herring by benjamin britten - britten's comic opera is heavily based upon use of the ensemble.
• 1947: dantons tod by gottfried von einem - einem's opera is a compressed setting of georg büchner's play about the "reign of terror" during the french revolution.
• 1947: les mamelles de tirésias by francis poulenc - poulenc's first opera is a short surrealist comedy based on the play by guillaume apollinaire.
• 1947: the telephone, or l'amour à trois by gian carlo menotti - an opera buffa just 22 minutes in length.
• 1949: il prigioniero by luigi dallapiccola - much of the music for this opera is based on three 12-note tone rows, which represent the themes of prayer, hope and freedom that dominate the opera.
• 1950: the consul by gian carlo menotti - this opera contains some of menotti's most dissonant music.
• 1951: amahl and the night visitors by gian carlo menotti - this christmas story was the first opera specifically written for television.
• 1951: billy budd by benjamin britten - the plot for britten's large-scale opera was based on a story by herman melville.
• 1951: the pilgrim's progress by ralph vaughan williams - set to his own libretto, vaughan williams's work was inspired by john bunyan's famous allegory of the same name.
• 1951: the rake's progress by igor stravinsky - stravinsky's most important operatic work looks back to mozart musically and has a libretto by w. h. auden inspired by the engravings of william hogarth.
• 1952: boulevard solitude by hans werner henze - henze's first full-length opera is an updating of the story of manon lescaut, also the source for important operas by massenet and puccini.
• 1953: gloriana by benjamin britten - composed for the coronation of queen elizabeth ii, this opera looks back to the relationship between her namesake elizabeth i and the earl of essex.
• 1954: the fiery angel by sergei prokofiev - prokofiev never saw what is often regarded as his most avant-garde composition performed on the operatic stage.
• 1954: the turn of the screw by benjamin britten - a chamber opera based on the ghost story by henry james. it is remarkable for its tightly laid out key scheme and active orchestral role.
• 1954: troilus and cressida by william walton - walton's opera about the trojan war was initially a failure.
• 1955: the midsummer marriage by michael tippett - tippett's first full-scale opera was set to his own libretto.
• 1956: candide by leonard bernstein - based on voltaire, the soprano aria "glitter and be gay" is a parody of romantic-era jewel songs.
• 1957: dialogues of the carmelites by francis poulenc - poulenc's major opera is set in a convent during the french revolution.
• 1958: vanessa by samuel barber - vanessa won its composer a pulitzer prize in 1958.
• 1959: la voix humaine by francis poulenc - a short opera with a single character: a despairing woman on the telephone to her lover.
• 1960: a midsummer night's dream by benjamin 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.
• 1961: elegy for young lovers by hans werner henze - henze asked his librettists, w. h. auden and chester kallman, for a scenario that would inspire him to compose "tender, beautiful noises".
• 1962: king priam by michael tippett - tippett's second opera, set to another of his own "recondite" libretti,[212] was inspired by homer's iliad.
• 1964: curlew river by benjamin britten - a modern liturgical "church opera" intended for performance in an ecclesiastical setting.
• 1965: der junge lord by hans werner henze - the last composition produced during henze's dwelling in italy is considered to be the most italianate of his dramatic works.
• 1965: die soldaten by bernd alois zimmermann - the first version of the opera was rejected by cologne opera as impossible for them to stage: zimmermann was required to reduce the orchestral forces required and to cut some of the technical demands previously required.
• 1966: antony and cleopatra by samuel barber - the first version of the opera was set to a libretto consisting entirely of the words of shakespeare and deemed a failure. later it was revised by menotti and became a success.
• 1966: the bassarids by hans werner henze - henze's opera is set to a libretto by auden and kallman, who required that the composer listen to götterdämmerung before starting to compose the music.
• 1967: the bear by william walton - the libretto for walton's extravaganza was based on chekov.
• 1968: punch and judy by harrison birtwistle - birtwistle's first opera was commissioned by the english opera group.
• 1968: the prodigal son by benjamin britten - the third of britten's parables for church performance.
• 1969: the devils of loudun by krzysztof penderecki - penderecki's first opera is also his most popular.
• 1970: the knot garden by michael tippett - tippett created his own modern scenario for the libretto of this work, his third opera.
• 1971: owen wingrave by benjamin britten - britten's anti-war opera was written especially for bbc television.
• 1972: taverner by peter maxwell davies - davies was one of the most significant figures to emerge in british music the 1960s. this opera is based on a legend about the 16th century composer john taverner.
• 1973: death in venice by benjamin britten - britten's last opera was first performed three years before his death.
• 1978: le grand macabre by györgy ligeti - first performed at stockholm in 1978, ligeti heavily revised the opera in 1996.
• 1978: lear by 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 by peter maxwell davies - davies's second chamber opera was set to his own libretto.
• 1983: saint françois d'assise by olivier messiaen - 120 orchestral players are required for this opera, as well as a sizable chorus.
• 1984: un re in ascolto by luciano berio - this opera was set to a libretto assembled by the composer from three different texts by three different authors: friedrich einsiedel, w. h. auden and friedrich wilhelm gotter.
• 1984: akhnaten by 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 by harrison birtwistle - birtwistle's most ambitious opera examines the myth of orpheus from several different angles.
• 1987: a night at the chinese opera by judith weir - this piece is based on a chinese play of the yuan dynasty.
• 1987: nixon in china by john adams - musically minimalist in style, this "news opera" recounts richard nixon's 1972 meeting with mao zedong.
• 1991: gawain by harrison birtwistle - birtwistle's opera is based on the medieval english poem sir gawain and the green knight.

operas not included in the above list, but which were important milestones in operatic history:

• 1598: dafne by jacopo peri - the first opera, performed in florence (music now lost).
• 1600: euridice by jacopo peri - the earliest opera whose music survives.
• 1625: la liberazione di ruggiero by francesca caccini - first opera by a woman.
• 1627: dafne by heinrich schütz - first german opera. music now lost.
• 1671: pomone by robert cambert - often regarded as the first french opera.
• 1701: la púrpura de la rosa by tomás de torrejón y velasco - earliest known opera composed in the americas.
• 1711: partenope by manuel de zumaya - the first opera written by an american-born composer and the earliest known full opera produced in north america.