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Opera and Musical Theater Timeline
1597 |
Birth of opera: Premiere of Dafne (Jacopo
Peri). |
1643 |
Premiere of L'Incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation
of Poppea) (Claudio Monteverdi), one of the earliest operas
still performed |
1714 |
1714 Birth of Christoph Willibald Gluck |
1724 |
Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Giolio Cesare
(Julius Caesar) |
1728 |
John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premieres.
One of the first important "popular" operas, a work
seen as a precursor to operetta and musical comedy |
1742 |
Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Messiah |
1756 |
January 27 - Birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg, Austria |
1762 |
Premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice (Christoph Willibald Gluck) |
1767 |
Premiere of Alceste (Christoph Willibald Gluck) |
1779 |
Premiere of Iphigénie en Tauride (Christoph Willibald
Gluck) |
1786 |
(May 1) - Premiere of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of
Figaro) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) |
1787 |
(October 29) – Premiere of Don Giovanni (Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart) |
1791 |
September 30 - Premiere of Die Zauberflöte
(The Magic Flute) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) |
1792 |
February 29 - Birth of Gioacchino Rossini in Pesaro, Italy |
1797 |
November 29 - Birth of Gaetano Donizetti in Bergamo, Italy |
1813 |
May 22 - Birth of Richard Wagner in Leipzig, Germany
October 9 - Birth of Giuseppe Verdi in Roncole, Italy |
1816 |
February 20 - Premiere of Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber
of Seville) (Gioacchino Rossini) |
1818 |
June 17 - Birth of Charles Francois Gounod in Paris, France |
1825 |
October 25 - Birth of Johann Strauss in Vienna, Austria |
1835 |
September 26 - Premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano
Donizetti) |
1838 |
October 25 - Birth of Georges Bizet in Paris, France |
1845 |
Premiere of Tannhäuser (Richard Wagner) |
1850 |
September 11 - Jenny Lind, known as "The Swedish Nightingale,"
makes her American debut |
1851 |
March 11 - Premiere of Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi) |
1853 |
January 19 - Premiere of Il trovatore (The Troubador)
(Giuseppe Verdi)
March 6 - Premiere of La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi) |
1858 |
December 22 - Birth of Giacomo Puccini in Lucca, Italy |
1859 |
March 19 - Premiere of Faust (Charles Francois Gounod) |
1864 |
June 11 - Birth of Richard Strauss in Munich, Germany |
1865 |
Premiere of Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner) |
1871 |
December 24 - Premiere of Aida (Giuseppe
Verdi) |
1875 |
March 3 - Premiere of Carmen (Georges Bizet) |
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The Minnesota Opera's 2005 production of Bizet's Carmen. Photo courtesy of The Minnesota Opera. |
1876 |
Premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen (known
as The Ring Cycle) (Richard Wagner) |
1883 |
October 22 - The Metropolitan Opera opens in New York City, New
York |
1893 |
August 10 - Birth of Douglas Moore in Cutchogue, New York |
1896 |
February 1 - Premiere of La bohème (Giacomo Puccini) |
1898 |
September 26 - Birth of George Gershwin in Brooklyn, New York |
1900 |
January 14 - Premiere of Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
November 14 - Birth of Aaron Copland in New York City, New York |
1902 |
June 28 - Birth of Richard Rodgers in New York City, New York |
1903 |
November 23 - Enrico Caruso makes his Metropolitan Opera debut
as the Duke in Rigoletto |
1904 |
February 17 - Premiere of Madama Butterfly (Giacomo
Puccini) |
1910 |
March 9 - Birth of Samuel Barber in West Chester, Pennsylvania |
1911 |
January 26– Premiere of Der Rosenkavalier (Richard
Strauss) |
1918 |
August 25– Birth of Leonard Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts |
1926 |
April 2 - Premiere of Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
June 11 - Birth of Carlisle Floyd in Latta, South Carolina |
1930 |
March 22– Birth of Stephen Sondheim in New York City, New
York |
1935 |
September 30 - Premiere of Porgy and Bess (George Gershwin) |
1939 |
1939 (Easter Sunday) - Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial
on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Marian Anderson was barred from performing at Constitution Hall
in Washington, D.C. by the Daughters of the American Revolution
(D.A.R.) because she was African-American. In protest, Eleanor Roosevelt
resigned her D.A.R. membership and sponsored Ms. Anderson's
concert at the Lincoln Memorial. An audience of 75,000 heard the
great contralto perform, which was one of the largest crowds ever
to gather on the Mall at that time. |
1940 |
December 7 - Metropolitan Opera / Texaco Radio Broadcasts begin,
increasing opera audiences by bringing high quality performances
into people's homes. |
1941 |
January 21 - Maria Callas makes her operatic stage debut in the
title role of Tosca at Athens Opera |
1943 |
March 31 - Premiere of Oklahoma! (Richard Rodgers) |
1949 |
April 7 - Premiere of South Pacific (Richard Rodgers)
May 2 - Premiere of Susannah (Carlisle Floyd) |
1951 |
March 29 - Premiere of The King and I (Richard Rodgers)
December 24 - Premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and
the Night Visitors, which was a television broadcast |
1954 |
April 1 - Premiere of The Tender Land (Aaron Copland)
at New York City Opera |
1956 |
July 7 - Premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe (Douglas
Moore) at Central City Opera
October 29 - Premiere of Candide (Leonard Bernstein) |
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Des Moines Metro Opera's 2002 Summer Festival production of Bernstein's Candide, featuring Paul Saik, Brian Shadowens, Corey Trahan and Jane Redding. Photo by Davitt Photo Alliance. |
1957 |
September 26 - Premiere of West Side Story
(Leonard Bernstein) |
1958 |
January 15 - Premiere of Vanessa (Samuel Barber) at
The Metropolitan Opera |
1959 |
October - Premiere of The Sound of Music (Richard Rodgers) |
1965 |
Congress establishes The National Endowment for the Arts |
1968 |
September 28 - Plácido Domingo makes his Metropolitan
Opera debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur
November 23 - Luciano Pavarotti makes his Metropolitan Opera debut
as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème |
1970 |
OPERA America is established |
1974 |
José Carreras makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as Cavaradossi
in Tosca |
1975 |
July 25 - Premiere of A Chorus Line (Michael Bennett) |
1979 |
March 1 - Premiere of Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim) |
1982 |
October 7– Premiere of Cats (Andrew Lloyd Webber) |
1983 |
New York City Opera introduces projected translation system (called
supertitles) - the first of its kind in the United States |
1986 |
September 28 - Premiere of X, or The Life and Times
of Malcolm X (Anthony Davis) at New York City Opera |
1987 |
March 12 - Premiere of Les Misérables (Claude-Michel
Schönberg)
October 22 - Premiere of Nixon in China (John Adams) at
Houston Grand Opera |
1988 |
January 26 - Premiere of The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)
|
1990 |
July 7 - First Three Tenors concert in Rome, Italy for the World Cup. Featured
José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti
|
1991 |
April 11 - Premiere of Miss Saigon (Claude-Michel Schönberg)
December 1 - Premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles (John
Corigliano) at The Metropolitan Opera |
1992 |
October 12 - Premiere of The Voyage (Philip Glass) at The Metropolitan
Opera |
1993 |
January - Premiere of The Dream of Valentino (Dominick Argento) at
Washington National Opera |
1994 |
September 10 - Premiere of The Dangerous Liaisons (Conrad Susa) at
San Francisco Opera |
1996 |
January 27 - Premiere of Rent (Jonathan Larson)
July 27 - Premiere of Emmeline (Tobias Picker) at New York City
Opera |
1997 |
November 13 - Premiere of The Lion King (Elton John) |
1998 |
September 19 - Premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire (Andre Previn)
at San Francisco
Opera |
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Sandra Piques Eddy, Benjamin Bunsold, Jennifer Dudley, Coral Owdom, and Tawney Seward perform in Fort Worth Opera's 2005 production of Mark Adamo's Little Women. Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Opera Association. |
1999 |
December 20 - Premiere of The Great Gatsby
(John Harbison) at The Metropolitan Opera |
2000 |
October 7 - Premiere of Dead Man Walking (Jake Heggie)
at San Francisco Opera |
2001 |
April 19 - Premiere of The Producers (Mel Brooks) |
2002 |
May 31 - Premiere of The Little Prince (Rachel Portman)
at Houston Grand Opera
December 8 - Premiere of Puccini's La bohème
on Broadway |
2004 |
October 9 - Premiere of A Wedding (William Bolcom) at
Lyric Opera of Chicago |
2005 |
May 7 - Premiere of Margaret Garner (Richard
Danielpour) at Michigan Opera Theatre |
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