Opera (Bookshelf)

Opera is a form of musical and dramatic work in which singers convey the drama. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. An opera performance incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes incorporates dance. The performance is usually given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble.

—Excerpted from Opera on Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

Opera Librettos

• Amadigi di Gaula  (Italian)

by Haym, Nicola Francesco, 1678-1729

• The Beggar's Opera : to which is prefixed the Musick to each Song  (English)

by Gay, John, 1685-1732

• The Beggar's Opera  (English)

by Gay, John, 1685-1732

• La Bohème  (English)

by Giacosa, Giuseppe and Illica, Luigi

• The Castle of Andalusia: A Comic Opera, in Three Acts  (English)

by O'Keeffe, John, 1747-1833

• The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan  (English)

by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir, 1836-1911; and Sullivan, Arthur, Sir, 1842-1900

• Le Comte Ory: Opéra en deux actes  (French)

by Scribe, Eugène, 1791-1861; and Delestre-Poirson, C.-G. (Charles-Gaspard), 1790-1859

• The Duenna: A Comic Opera  (English)

by Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816

• L'Endimione  (Italian)

by Metastasio

• La Esmeralda  (French)

by Victor Hugo

• Faust: A Lyric Drama in Five Acts  (English)

by Gounod, Charles, 1818-1893; etc.

• Der Fliegende Hollaender  (German libretto only)

by Richard Wagner

• Der Fliegende Hollaender / The Flying Dutchman  (German and English)

by Richard Wagner

• Fontainbleau; a comic opera. In three acts  (English)

by O'Keeffe, John, 1747-1833

• Hänsel and Gretel: A Fairy Opera in Three Acts  (English)

by Humperdinck, Engelbert, 1854-1921; and Wette, Adelheid, 1858-1916

• Martha; or, The Fair at Richmond  (English)

by Flotow, Friedrich von, 1812-1883; and Friedrich, W., 1820?-1879

• La Muette de Portici: Opéra en cinq actes  (French)

by Scribe, Eugène, 1791-1861; and Delavigne, Germain, 1790-1868

• The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie  (English)

by Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883

• Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods  (English)

by Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883

• Il sogno di Scipione  (Italian)

by Metastasio

• The Tales of Hoffmann / Les contes d'Hoffmann  (French and English)

by Jacques Offenbach

• Tristan and Isolda : Opera in Three Acts  (English)

by Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883

• Zanetto and Cavalleria Rusticana  (English, Italian)

by Mascagni, Pietro; Menasci, Guido; and Targioni-Tozzetti, Giovanni

Opera Excerpts (Recordings)

• Ah! Fors' é Lui (from La Traviata)  (Italian) (Music recording)

by Verdi, Giuseppe, 1813-1901; Bori, Lucrezia (soprano) [Performer]

• La Gioconda (excerpt)  (Italian) (Music recording)

by Ponchielli, Amilcare, 1834-1886; Boito, Arrigo, 1842-1918; Benedetti, Preste [Performer]; Koraleck, Paola [Performer]

• Heart Bowed Down (from The Bohemian Girl, arranged for clarinet)   (Music recording)

by Balfe, M. W. (Michael William), 1808-1870; Tuson, William [Performer]

• Höchstes Vertrauen (from Lohengrin)  (German) (Music recording)

by Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883; Knote, Heinrich [Performer]

• M'appari (from Martha)  (Italian) (Music recording)

by Flotow, Friedrich von, 1812-1883; Friedrich, W., 1820-1879; Bonci, Alessandro, 1870-1940 [Performer]

• Ride of the Valkyries (from Die Walküre)  (Music recording)

by Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883; performed by the American Symphony Orchestra

• Sei Forse L'Angelo Fedele (from Eugene Onegin)  (Italian) (Music recording)

by Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893; Muzio, Claudia (soprano) [Performer]

• William Tell Overture, Pt. 2  (Music recording)

by Rossini, Gioacchino, 1792-1868; Sodero's Band [Performer]

Opera Plot Summaries, etc.

• A Book of Operas : Their Histories, Their Plots, and Their Music  (English)

by Krehbiel, Henry Edward, 1854-1923

• A Second Book of Operas  (English)

by Krehbiel, Henry Edward, 1854-1923

• Operas Every Child Should Know : Descriptions of the Text and Music of Some of the Most Famous Masterpieces  (English)

by Bacon, Mary Schell Hoke, 1870-1934

• The Standard Operaglass : Detailed Plots of One Hundred and Fifty-one Celebrated Operas  (English)

by Annesley, Charles, pseud.

• The Standard Operas (12th edition) : Their Plots, Their Music, and Their Composers  (English)

by Upton, George P. (George Putnam), 1834-1919

• Opera Stories from Wagner  (English)

by Akin, Florence, 1878-

• Stories of the Wagner Opera  (English)

Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline), 1859-1929

• Parsifal : A Mystical Drama by Richard Wagner Retold in the Spirit of the Bayreuth Interpretation  (English)

by Huckel, Oliver, 1864-1940

• Parsifal : Story and Analysis of Wagner's Great Opera  (English)

by Haweis, H. R. (Hugh Reginald), 1839-1901

• The Valkyries  (English)

Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic), 1867-1940

• Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande : A Guide to the Opera with Musical Examples from the Score  (English)

by Gilman, Lawrence

Opera History and Commentary

• Aspects of Modern Opera: Estimates and Inquiries  (English)

by Gilman, Lawrence, 1878-1939

• Chapters of Opera : Being historical and critical observations and records concerning the lyric drama in New York from its earliest days down to the present time  (English)

by Krehbiel, Henry Edward, 1854-1923

• Giacomo Puccini  (English)

by Dry, Wakeling

• Life And Letters Of John Gay (1685-1732), Author of "The Beggar's Opera"  (English)

by Melville, Lewis, 1874-1932

• Old Scores and New Readings : Discussions on Music & Certain Musicians  (English)

by Runciman, John F., 1866-1916

• The Opera : A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions of all Works in the Modern Repertory  (English)

by Streatfeild, R. A. (Richard Alexander), 1866-1919; and Fuller-Maitland, J. A. [Commentator]

• The Perfect Wagnerite : Commentary on the Ring  (English)

by Shaw, George Bernard, 1856-1950

• Pietro Mascagni, con nota delle opere e ritratto  (Italian)

by Bastianelli, Giannotto, 1883-1927

• Richard Wagner : Composer of Operas  (English)

by Runciman, John F., 1866-1916

• Some Forerunners of Italian Opera  (English)

by Henderson, W. J. (William James), 1855-1937

• Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" : an essay on the Wagnerian drama  (English)

by Hight, George Ainslie, 1851-

Opera Fiction

• Madame Flirt : A Romance of 'The Beggar's Opera'  (English)

by Pearce, Charles Edward, -1924

• The Phantom of the Opera  (English)

by Leroux, Gaston, 1868-1927

• The Song of the Lark  (English)

by Cather, Willa Sibert, 1873-1947

Opera Parody and Humor

• A Parody on Iolanthe  (English)

by Dalziel, D. (Davison)

• A Parody on Patience  (English)

by Dalziel, D. (Davison)

• A Parody on Princess Ida  (English)

by Dalziel, D. (Davison)

• Gullible's Travels, Etc.  (English)

by Lardner, Ring, 1885-1933

Source texts

Plays adapted as operas

• Alcestis  by Euripides (English translation)

Gluck: Alceste

• Boris Godunov: a drama in verse  by Pushkin

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

• La Folle Journée ou le Mariage de Figaro  by Beaumarchais (French)

Mozart: Nozze di Figaro

• The Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides  (English translation)

Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride

• Kabale und Liebe  (German) by Frederich Schiller

Verdi: Luisa Miller

• Macbeth  by Shakespeare

Verdi: Macbeth

• Mithridate  by Jean Racine (French)

Mozart: Mitridate, re di Ponto

• Mary Stuart  by Schiller (English translation)

Donizetti: Maria Stuarda

• Pélléas and Mélisande  by Maeterlinck (English translation)

Debussy: Pélléas et Mélisande

• Riders to the Sea  by J. M. Synge

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea

• The Robbers  by Frederich Schiller

Verdi: I masnadieri

• Le Roi s'amuse  by Victor Hugo

Verdi: Rigoletto

• Epicoene: Or, the Silent Woman  by Ben Jonson

Richard Strauss: Die schweigsame Frau

• La Tosca : Drame en cinq actes  (French) by Victorien Sardou

Puccini: Tosca

• El trovador  (Spanish) by Antonio García Gutiérrez

Verdi: Il Trovatore

• The Two Foscari  found in The Works of Lord Byron, Volume V.

Verdi: I due Foscari

• Wilhelm Tell  by Schiller (English translation)

Rossini: Guillaume Tell

• Woyzeck  by Georg Büchner (German)

Alban Berg: Wozzeck

Novels adapted as operas

• La dame aux Camélias  by Alexandre Dumas, fils

Verdi: La traviata

• Hernani  by Victor Hugo

Verdi: Ernani

• Thaïs  (French) Thais  (English) by Anatole France

Massenet: Thaïs

• Die Leiden des jungen Werther Band 1  Band 2  (German) The Sorrows of Young Werther  (English) by Goethe

Massenet: Werther

• Manon Lescaut  by Abbé Prévost (French)

Puccini: Manon Lescaut and Massenet: Manon

• Scènes de la vie de bohème  (French) Bohemians of the Latin Quarter  (English) by Henry Murger

Puccini: La Bohème

• The Girl of the Golden West  by David Belasco

Puccini: La fanciulla del West

• The Turn of the Screw  by Henry James

Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw

• The Borough  (Peter Grimes section) by George Crabbe

Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes

• Carmen  by Prosper Merimee

Bizet: Carmen

• Eugene Oneguine : A Romance of Russian Life in Verse  by Pushkin

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin

• The Queen Of Spades  by Pushkin

Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades

• Le Mariage de Loti  by Pierre Loti

Léo Delibes: Lakmé

• The Bride of Lammermoor  by Sir Walter Scott

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor

• Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre Band 1  Band 2  Band 3  Band 4  Band 5  Band 6  Band 7  Band 8  by Goethe

Ambroise Thomas: Mignon

• L'ami Fritz  (French) by Erckmann-Chatrian

Pietro Mascagni: L'amico Fritz

• Jerusalem Delivered  (English translation) by Torquato Tasso

Operas by Niccolò Jommelli, Rossini, Antonio Sacchini and Haydn

• Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded  by Samuel Richardson

Niccolò Piccinni: La buona figliuola

• War and Peace 

Prokofiev: War and Peace

Short stories adapted as operas

• The Torture by Hope  by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam

Dallapiccola: Il prigioniero

• The birthday of the Infanta  by Oscar Wilde (In the collection "A House of Pomegranates")

Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg

Poetry adapted as operas

• The Lady of the Lake  by Sir Walter Scott

Rossini: La donna del lago

• Oberon  by Christoph Martin Wieland

Carl Maria von Weber: Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath

Additional titles

• More titles are available through catalog search.