Kalmus Opera Library

While it scandalized Parisian audiences at its premiere by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 3rd, 1875, Georges Bizet's (1838-1875) Carmen became, a mere decade later, one of the most popular and fr...

While it scandalized Parisian audiences at its premiere by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on March 3rd, 1875, Georges Bizet's (1838-1875) Carmen became, a mere decade later, one of the most popular and fr...

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) composed his popular two-act opera buffa L'elisir d'amore hastily over six weeks in 1832 for a premiere that took place on May 12 of that year at the Teatro della Canobbi...

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) composed his popular two-act opera buffa L'elisir d'amore hastily over six weeks in 1832 for a premiere that took place on May 12 of that year at the Teatro della Canobbi...

Don Pasquale, regarded as one of the crowning gems of comic opera, had its first performance on January 3, 1843 by the Theatre-Italien at the Salle Ventadour in Paris. Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) co...

Don Pasquale, regarded as one of the crowning gems of comic opera, had its first performance on January 3, 1843 by the Theatre-Italien at the Salle Ventadour in Paris. Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) co...

Umberto Giordano (1867-1948) wrote the four-act verismo opera Andrea Chénier in 1896, and it remains his best-known work. It premiered on March 28, 1896, at La Scala in Milan. Loosely based on the lif...

WERTHER, an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet (1842-1912), found its inspiration in a novel by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, which in turn based its story on the actual suicide of a young m...

WERTHER, an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet (1842-1912), found its inspiration in a novel by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, which in turn based its story on the actual suicide of a young m...

Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli's (1834-1886) 4-act opera La Gioconda was first performed by La Scala in Milan on April 8, 1876, and was an immediate success, acting as a bridge between the Verdi...

LA BOHÈME, eine der beliebtesten und kommerziell erfolgreichsten Opern, basiert auf dem Roman Szenen aus dem böhmischen Leben von Henri Murger aus dem Jahr 1851. Mit einem Libretto von Luigi Illica un...

LA BOHÈME, eine der beliebtesten und kommerziell erfolgreichsten Opern, basiert auf dem Roman Szenen aus dem böhmischen Leben von Henri Murger aus dem Jahr 1851. Mit einem Libretto von Luigi Illica un...

The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) was written by Giocchino Rossini (1792-1868) in 1816. The two-act comic opera is considered one of the greatest opera buffas ever written, and it remain...

The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) was written by Giocchino Rossini (1792-1868) in 1816. The two-act comic opera is considered one of the greatest opera buffas ever written, and it remain...

Da er zuvor den Prix de Rome für Komposition gewonnen hatte, erhielt George Bizet (1838-1875) die Möglichkeit, seine Oper LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (DIE PERLENFISCHER) als Auftragswerk zu schreiben. Mit...

Da er zuvor den Prix de Rome für Komposition gewonnen hatte, erhielt George Bizet (1838-1875) die Möglichkeit, seine Oper LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (DIE PERLENFISCHER) als Auftragswerk zu schreiben. Mit...

Because he had formerly won the Prix de Rome prize in composition, George Bizet (1838-1875) had the opportunity to write his opera Les pecheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) on commission. With a libr...

Because he had formerly won the Prix de Rome prize in composition, George Bizet (1838-1875) had the opportunity to write his opera Les pecheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) on commission. With a libr...

Based on the 1832 play LE ROI S'AMUSE by Victor Hugo, Guiseppe Verdi's (1812-1901) RIGOLETTO was the composer's sixteenth entry into the genre and is widely considered one of the first operatic master...

Based on the 1832 play LE ROI S'AMUSE by Victor Hugo, Guiseppe Verdi's (1812-1901) RIGOLETTO was the composer's sixteenth entry into the genre and is widely considered one of the first operatic master...

LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (DIE MÄRCHEN VON HOFFMANN) entstand zwischen 1876 und 1880 und ist das letzte Werk, das Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) komponierte. Er starb vier Monate vor der Premiere, eine Bef...

LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (DIE MÄRCHEN VON HOFFMANN) entstand zwischen 1876 und 1880 und ist das letzte Werk, das Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) komponierte. Er starb vier Monate vor der Premiere, eine Bef...

The creation of the opera Il Trovatore by Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was complicated by a variety of circumstances. The original play by Garcia Gutierrez needed simplifying, and the traditional notion...

The creation of the opera Il Trovatore by Guiseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was complicated by a variety of circumstances. The original play by Garcia Gutierrez needed simplifying, and the traditional notion...

Finished in 1848 and premiered in 1950 in Weimar, Germany, Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) LOHENGRIN tells a story of a tragic medieval German romance in the Knight of the Swan tradition. Elsa, a princes...