List of opera librettists
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This is an incomplete list of authors who have written
libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...
for
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
s. Only librettists with their own articles in Wikipedia are listed. The name of the composer of each opera is also given.


List of operas by librettist's last name


A

Giuseppe Adami Giuseppe Adami (4 February 187812 October 1946) was an Italian librettist, playwright and music critic, he was best known for his collaboration with Giacomo Puccini on the operas ''La rondine'' (1917), ''Il tabarro'' (1918) and ''Turandot'' (1926 ...
(1878–1946) * for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: '' La rondine'', ''
Il tabarro ''Il tabarro'' (''The Cloak'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on 's play ''La houppelande''. It is the first of the trio of operas known as ''Il trittico''. The first performance was given ...
'', ''
Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...
'' (with
Renato Simoni Renato Simoni (Verona, 5 September 1875 – Milan, 5 July 1952) was an Italian journalist, playwright, writer and theatrical critic noted for his collaboration work with Giuseppe Adami for Giacomo Puccini's ''Turandot''. Simoni's career was entire ...
) * for
Riccardo Zandonai Riccardo Zandonai (28 May 1883 – 5 June 1944) was an Italian composer. Biography Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria-Hungary. As a young man, he showed such an aptitude for music that he entered the Pesaro Conserv ...
: ''La via della finestra'' * for Franco Vittadini: ''Anima allegra'', ''Nazareth''
Jules Adenis Jules-Adenis de Colombeau (28 June 1823 – 1900) was a 19th-century French opera librettist, playwright, and journalist. Adenis was born in Paris and studied at the Collège royal de Bourbon (now the Lycée Condorcet). Colombeau was initially emp ...
(1823–1900) * with
Henri Caïn Henri Cain (11 October 1857 – 21 November 1937) was a French dramatist, opera and ballet librettist. He wrote over forty librettos from 1893 to his death, for many of the most prominent composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque. Cain was born in ...
** for
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
: ''Marcella'' * with Charles Grandvallet ** for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''
La grand'tante ''La grand'tante'' (The great-aunt) is an opéra comique in one act by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jules Adenis and Charles Grandvallet. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 April 1867. Though not the first o ...
'' * with (1821–1876) ** for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''Un postillon en gage'' * with J Rostaing ** for
Ernest Guiraud Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...
: ''Sylvie'' * with
Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. Sa ...
** for
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
: ''
La jolie fille de Perth ''La jolie fille de Perth'' (''The Fair Maid of Perth'') is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet (1838–1875), from a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, after the 1828 novel ''The Fair Maid of Perth'' by Sir Walt ...
'' * with A Silvestre and L Bonnemère ** for
Henry Charles Litolff Henry Charles Litolff (7 August 1818 – 5 August 1891) was a British virtuoso pianist, composer of Romantic music, and music publisher. A prolific composer, he is today known mainly for a single brief work – the scherzo from his Concerto Sy ...
: ''Les templiers''
Franco Alfano Franco Alfano (8 March 1875 – 27 October 1954) was an Italian composer and pianist, best known today for his opera ''Risurrezione'' (1904) and for having completed Puccini's opera ''Turandot'' in 1926. He had considerable success with several o ...
(1875–1954) *for his own music: '' Sakùntala''
Louis Anseaume Louis Anseaume (1721 – 7 July 1784 in Paris) was a French playwright and librettist. He contributed the words for operas by André Ernest Modeste Grétry, Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny, Egidio Romualdo Duni, Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Franço ...
(1721–1784) *alone **for Egidio Duni: '' L'école de la jeunesse'', ''
Le peintre amoureux de son modèle (''The Painter in Love with his Model'') is an '' opéra comique'' in two acts by the composer Egidio Duni with a libretto by Louis Anseaume. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Foire Saint-Laurent in Paris on 26 July 1757. The Italia ...
'' **for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: ''L'île de Merlin, ou Le monde renversé'', ''L'ivrogne corrigé'' **for
André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
: ''
Le tableau parlant ''Le tableau parlant'' (''The Talking Picture'') is an opéra comique, described as a ''comédie-parade'', in one act by André Grétry, The French libretto was by Louis Anseaume. Performance history It was first performed on 20 September 1769 by ...
'' *with Thomas Hales **for André Grétry: '' Le jugement de Midas'' *with Pierre-Augustin Lefèvre de Marcouville: **for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: '' La fausse esclave'' **for Jean Louis Laruette: ''La fausse aventurière'' **for
Pieter van Maldere Pieter van Maldere, known also as Pierre van Maldere (16 October 1729 – 1 November 1768) was a Flemish violinist and composer. He was a violinist of the Royal Chapel, the court orchestra in Brussels of the governor-general of the Austrian Neth ...
: ''Le Médecin de l'amour''
George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...
(1900–1959) *for his own music: ''
Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...
''
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...
(1880–1918) *used by
Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
: ''
Les mamelles de Tirésias ''Les Mamelles de Tirésias'' (''The Breasts of Tiresias'') is an ''opéra bouffe'' by Francis Poulenc, in a prologue and two acts based on the eponymous play by Guillaume Apollinaire. The opera was written in 1945 and first performed in 1947. Ap ...
''
W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
(1907–1973) *alone: **for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''
Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the or ...
'' *with
Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in ...
(1921–1975) **for
Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...
: ''
The Bassarids ''The Bassarids'' (in German: ') is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, after Euripides's ''The Bacchae''. The conflict in the opera is between hu ...
'', ''
Elegy for Young Lovers ''Elegy for Young Lovers'' (German: ') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. Background The opera was first performed in a German translation by Louis, Prince of Hesse and by ...
'' **for
Nicolas Nabokov Nicolas Nabokov (Николай Дмитриевич Набоков; – 6 April 1978) was a Russian-born composer, writer, and cultural figure. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939. Life Nicolas Nabokov, a first cousin of Vladimir Nabokov, and of ...
: '' Love's Labour's Lost'' **for
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
: ''
The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...
''


B

Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her fa ...
(1926–1973) *for
Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...
: ''
Der junge Lord ''Der junge Lord'' (''The Young Lord'') is an opera in two acts by Hans Werner Henze to a German libretto by Ingeborg Bachmann, after Wilhelm Hauff's 1827 fairy tale "Der Affe als Mensch" (The Ape as Man) from ''Der Scheik von Alessandria und sein ...
'', '' Der Prinz von Homburg''
Béla Balázs Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 in Szeged – 17 May 1949 in Budapest), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film criticism, film critic, aesthetics, aesthetician, writer and poet of History of the Jews in Hungary, Jewish heritage. He was a ...
(1884–1949) *for
Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
: ''
Bluebeard's Castle ''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' ( hu, A kékszakállú herceg vára, link=no, or ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act expressionism, expressionist opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet ...
'' Luigi Balocchi (1766–1832) *for
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
: ''
Il viaggio a Reims ''Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro'' (''The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis'') is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts,Janet Johnson: ''A Lost Masterpiece Recovered'', pp. 37 ...
'', ''
Le siège de Corinthe ''Le siège de Corinthe'' (English: ''The Siege of Corinth'') is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini set to a French libretto by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet, which was based on the reworking of some of the music from the composer ...
'' (with
Alexandre Soumet Alexandre Soumet (; 18 February 178830 March 1845) was a French poet. Biography Alexandre Soumet was born at Castelnaudary, ''département'' of Aude. His love of poetry began at an early age. He was an admirer of Klopstock and Schiller, then li ...
), ''
Moïse et Pharaon Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses (given name), Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a su ...
'' (with
Étienne de Jouy Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...
)
Henri Auguste Barbier Henri Auguste Barbier (29 April 1805 – 13 February 1882) was a French dramatist and poet. Barbier was born in Paris, France. He was inspired by the July Revolution and poured forth a series of eager, vigorous poems, denouncing the evils of the ...
(1805–1882) *for
Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
: ''
Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...
'' (with Léon Wailly)
Jules Barbier Paul Jules Barbier (8 March 182516 January 1901) was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters.Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''
The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...
'' **for
Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...
: ''Le timbre d'argent'' *with
Michel Carré Michel Carré (20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libre ...
: **for
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
: '' La colombe'', ''
Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...
'', ''
Le médecin malgré lui ''Le Médecin malgré lui'' (; "The doctor/physician in spite of himself") is a farce by Molière first presented in 1666 (published as a manuscript in early 1667) at le théâtre du Palais-Royal by la Troupe du Roi. The play is one of sever ...
'', ''
Philémon et Baucis (''Philemon and Baucis'') is an opera in three acts by Charles Gounod with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. The opera is based on the tale of Baucis and Philemon as told by La Fontaine (derived in turn from Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' ...
'', ''
Polyeucte ''Polyeucte'' is a drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in ge ...
'', '' La reine de Saba'', '' Roméo et Juliette'' **for Giacomo Meyerbeer: '' Le pardon de Ploermel'' **for
Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas '' Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868). Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...
: ''
Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The ...
'', ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', '' Françoise de Rimini''
Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...
(1732–1799) *used by
Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
: ''
Tarare Tarare is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It lies on the Turdine river, 28 miles west-northwest of Lyon by rail. History The city was founded at the beginning of the 12th century, as the priory of Tarare by the Savigny A ...
'' Vladimir Belsky (1866-1946) *for
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
: ''
Sadko Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic '' bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and '' gusli'' musician from Novgorod. Textual notes "Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome ...
'' (in part), ''
The Tale of Tsar Saltan The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan ( rus, «Сказка о царе Салтане, о сыне его славном и могучем богаты ...
'', ''
The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya ''The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya'' ( rus, Сказание о невидимом граде Китеже и деве Февронии, italic=yes, Skazániye o nevídimom gráde Kítezhe i déve Fevrónii ) is ...
'', ''
The Golden Cockerel ''The Golden Cockerel'' ( rus, Золотой петушок, Zolotoy petushok ) is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last opera he completed before his death in 1908. ...
''
Sem Benelli Sem Benelli (August 10, 1877 – December 18, 1949) was an Italian playwright, essayist and librettist. He provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's ''L'amore dei tre re'' and ''L'incantesimo'', and Umber ...
(1877–1949) *for
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
: ''
La cena delle beffe ''La cena delle beffe'' (''The Jesters' Supper'') is an opera in four acts composed by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Sem Benelli adapted from his 1909 play of the same name. The opera premiered on 20 December 1924 at La Scala. Mil ...
'' *for
Italo Montemezzi Italo Montemezzi (August 4, 1875 – May 15, 1952) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera ''L'amore dei tre re'' (''The Love of the Three Kings''), once part of the standard repertoire. It is now seldom performed. Biography M ...
: ''
L'amore dei tre re (''The Love of the Three Kings'') is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his play of the same title. Performance history ''L'amore de tre re'' premiere ...
'', ''
L'incantesimo is a short opera in one act by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi. Its libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who had previously collaborated with the composer on his most famous opera, ''L'amore dei tre re''. Benelli finished the text in ...
''
Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
(1803–1869) *for his own music: ''
Les Troyens ''Les Troyens'' (; in English: ''The Trojans'') is a French grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself from Virgil's epic poem the ''Aeneid''; the score was composed between 1856 and 1858. ''Les Tro ...
'', ''
Béatrice et Bénédict ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' (''Beatrice and Benedick'') is an '' opéra comique'' in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based in general outline on a subplot in Shakespeare's ''Much Ado About N ...
''
Giovanni Bertati Giovanni Bertati (10 July 1735 – 1 March 1815) was an Italian Libretto, librettist. Bertati was born in Martellago, Italy. In 1763, he wrote his first libretto, ''La morte di Dimone'' ("The Death of Dimone"), set to music by Antonio Tozzi. Two ye ...
(1735–1815) *for
Domenico Cimarosa Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of his ...
: ''
Il matrimonio segreto ' (''The Secret Marriage'') is a dramma giocoso in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the 1766 play ''The Clandestine Marriage'' by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. It was first performed o ...
'' *for
Giuseppe Gazzaniga Giuseppe Gazzaniga (5 October 1743 – 1 February 1818) was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas and is considered to be one of the last Italian opera buffa composers. Biography Born in Verona, G ...
: ''
Don Giovanni Tenorio ', (English: ''Don Giovanni, or The Stone Guest'') also known as ''Don Giovanni Tenorio'' is a one-act opera (dramma giocoso) by the Italian composer Giuseppe Gazzaniga. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice, on 5 February ...
''
Thomas Betterton Thomas Patrick Betterton (August 1635 – 28 April 1710), the leading male actor and theatre manager during Restoration England, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London. Apprentice and actor Betterton was born in August 16 ...
(1635–1710) *for
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...
: ''
Dioclesian ''Dioclesian'' (''The Prophetess: or, The History of Dioclesian'') is an English tragicomic semi-opera in five acts by Henry Purcell to a libretto by Thomas Betterton based on the play '' The Prophetess'', by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, ...
'', ''
The Fairy-Queen ''The Fairy-Queen'' (1692; Purcell catalogue number Z.629) is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. First performed ...
'' (probably)
Robin Blaser Robin Francis Blaser (May 18, 1925 – May 7, 2009) was an author and poet in both the United States and Canada. Personal background Born in Denver, Colorado, Blaser grew up in Idaho, and came to Berkeley, California, in 1944. There he met Jack ...
(born 1925) *for
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''
The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
''
Édouard Blau Édouard Blau (30 May 1836 – 7 January 1906) was a French dramatist and opera librettist. He was a cousin of Alfred Blau, another librettist of the same period.Smith C. Édouard Blau. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, Londo ...
(1836–1906) *alone: **for
Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra, which remains a popular work in the standard repe ...
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Le roi d'Ys ' (''The King of Ys'') is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by the French composer Édouard Lalo, to a libretto by Édouard Blau, based on the old Breton legend of the drowned city of Ys. That city was, according to the legend, the capi ...
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Paul Milliet Paul Milliet (14 February 1848 – 21 November 1924) was a French playwright and librettist of the Parisian Belle Époque. His opera librettos include Jules Massenet's ''Hérodiade'' (1881) and ''Werther'' (1892), Alfred Bruneau's ''Kérim'' ( ...
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Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''
Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...
'' *with
Adolphe d'Ennery Adolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery (17 June 181125 January 1899) was a French playwright and novelist. Life Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe. He obtained his first success in collaboration with Charles Desnoyer in ''Émile, ou le ...
and
Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; oc, Valença ) is a commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is situated on the left bank of the ...
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Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
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Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best ...
(1842–1918) * for
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
: ''
Simon Boccanegra ''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had b ...
'' (revised version), ''
Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...
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Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'' * for Amilcare Ponchielli: '' La Gioconda'' (writing under the pseudonym/anagram Tobia Gorrio) * for his own music: ''
Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libret ...
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Franco Faccio Francesco (Franco) Antonio Faccio (8 March 1840 – 21 July 1891) was an Italian composer and conductor. Born in Verona, he studied music at the Milan Conservatory from 1855 where he was a pupil of Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti and, as scholar Wil ...
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Amleto ''Amleto'' is an opera in four acts by Franco Faccio set to a libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. It premiered on 30 May 1865 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and was revised for a La Scala production given on ...
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Jean-Nicolas Bouilly Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (24 January 1763 – 14 April 1842) was a French playwright, librettist, children's writer, and politician of the French Revolution. He is best known for writing a libretto, supposedly based on a true story, about a woman who ...
(1763–1842) *for Luigi Cherubini: ''
Les deux journées ''Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d'eau'' (''The Two Days, or The Water Carrier'') is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It takes the form of an opéra comique, meaning not that the subject matte ...
'' *for
André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
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Pierre le Grand ''Pierre le Grand'' (''Peter the Great'') is an '' opéra comique'' by André Grétry. The libretto, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, is based on the early life of the Russian tsar Peter the Great. It was first performed in Paris on January 13, 1790, wi ...
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Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a ...
: '' Le jeune Henri'', '' Une folie'', '' Héléna'', '' Valentine de Milan'',
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
(1898–1956) *for
Paul Dessau Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them. Biography Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
: '' Die Verurteilung des Lukullus'' *for
Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
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Der Jasager ' (literally ''The Yes Sayer''; also translated as ''The Affirmer'' or ''He Said Yes'') is an opera (specifically a '' Schuloper'' or "school-opera") by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht (after Elisabeth Hauptmann's translation from ...
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Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the i ...
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Elisabeth Hauptmann Elisabeth Hauptmann (20 June 1897, Peckelsheim, Westphalia, German Empire – 20 April 1973, East Berlin) was a German writer who worked with fellow German playwright and director Bertolt Brecht. She got to know Brecht in 1922, the same year ...
: '' Happy End'', ''
The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...
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Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...
(1813–1837) *used by
Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
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Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama ''Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at h ...
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Francis Burnand Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera ''Cox and Box''. The son of ...
(1836–1917) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
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The Chieftain ''The Chieftain'' is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand based on their 1867 opera, ''The Contrabandista''. It consists of substantially the same first act as the 1867 work with a completely new second act. It premiered at ...
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The Contrabandista ''The Contrabandista'', ''or The Law of the Ladrones'', is a two-act comic opera by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand. It premiered at St. George's Hall, in London, on 18 December 1867 under the management of Thomas German Reed, for a run of 72 ...
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Cox and Box ''Cox and Box; or, The Long-Lost Brothers'', is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on the 1847 farce '' Box and Cox'' by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan's first successful comic o ...
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Edward Solomon Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Oper ...
: ''Domestic Economy'', '' Pickwick'', ''The Tiger''
Giovanni Francesco Busenello Giovanni Francesco Busenello (24 September 1598 – 27 October 1659) was an Italian lawyer, librettist and poet of the 17th century. Biography Born to a low-class family of Venice, it is thought that he studied at the University of Oberhausen a ...
(1598–1659) *for
Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
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L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...
'' *for
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
: ''Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne'', ''La Didone'', ''La prosperita di Giulio Cesare dittatore '', ''Statira principessa de Persia''
Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...
(1866–1924) *for his own music: ''
Arlecchino Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally ...
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Die Brautwahl ''Die Brautwahl'' (''The Bridal Choice'') is a "comic-fantastic" opera in three acts and an epilogue by Ferruccio Busoni. The German libretto, by Busoni himself, is based on a short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Busoni began work on this, his first c ...
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Doktor Faust ''Doktor Faust'' is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time o ...
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Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...
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Massimo Cacciari Massimo Cacciari (; born 5 June 1944) is an Italian philosopher, politician and public intellectual. Biography Born in Venice, Cacciari graduated in philosophy from the University of Padua (1967), where he also received his doctorate, writing a ...
(born 1944) *for
Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
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Prometeo ''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning. Indeed, Nono scornf ...
''
Louis de Cahusac Louis de Cahusac (6 April 1706 – 22 June 1759) was an 18th-century French playwright and librettist, and Freemason, most famous for his work with the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He provided the libretti for several of Rameau's operas, name ...
(1706–1759) *for
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...
: '' Anacréon'' (first Rameau opera by that name), ''
Les Boréades ''Les Boréades'' is a ''tragédie lyrique mise en musique'', or a lyric tragedy put into music, a type of opera, in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It is the last of his five such works. The libretto, attributed to Louis de Cahusac ...
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Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour ''Les fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ou Les dieux d'Egypte'' is an ''opéra-ballet'' in three ''entrées'' and a prologue by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The work was first performed on March 15, 1747, at the La Grande Ecurie, Ve ...
'', '' Naïs'', '' La naissance d'Osiris'', ''
Zaïs ''Zaïs'' is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 29 February 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a ''pastorale héroïque'' in four acts and a prologue. The librettist was Louis de Cahusac. The score is particularly ...
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Zoroastre ''Zoroastre'' (''Zoroaster'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 by the Opéra in the first Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. ''Zoroastre'' was the fourth of Rameau's '' trag ...
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Henri Caïn Henri Cain (11 October 1857 – 21 November 1937) was a French dramatist, opera and ballet librettist. He wrote over forty librettos from 1893 to his death, for many of the most prominent composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque. Cain was born in ...
(1859–1937) *alone: **for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''
Cendrillon ''Cendrillon'' (''Cinderella'') is an opera—described as a "fairy tale"—in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn based on Perrault's 1698 version of the Cinderella fairy tale. It had its premiere performance on 24 ...
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La Navarraise ''La Navarraise'' (, "The Woman of Navarre") is an opera in two acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jules Claretie and Henri Cain, based on Claretie's short story ''La cigarette'' (1890). It was first performed at Covent Garden in ...
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Don Quichotte ''Don Quichotte'' (''Don Quixote'') is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Caïn. It was first performed on 19 February 1910 at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Massenet's ''comédie-héroïque'', like many dramatiz ...
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Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
'', '' Sapho'' **for
Franco Alfano Franco Alfano (8 March 1875 – 27 October 1954) was an Italian composer and pianist, best known today for his opera ''Risurrezione'' (1904) and for having completed Puccini's opera ''Turandot'' in 1926. He had considerable success with several o ...
: '' Cyrano di Bergerac'' *with de Croisset – see Francis de Croisset
Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the ''Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the '' Cosmicomi ...
(1923–1985) *for
Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
: '' La vera storia'', ''
Un re in ascolto ''Un re in ascolto'' (''A King Listens'') is an opera by Luciano Berio, who also wrote the Italian libretto. It is based on a short story from the collection '' Under the Jaguar Sun'' by Italo Calvino, but incorporates excerpts from Friedrich Einsi ...
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Ranieri de' Calzabigi Ranieri de' Calzabigi (; 23 December 1714 – July 1795) was an Italian poet and librettist, most famous for his collaboration with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck on his "reform" operas. Born in Livorno, Calzabigi spent the 1750s in Paris ...
(1714–1795) *for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: '' Alceste'', '' Orfeo ed Euridice'', ''
Paride ed Elena ' (; ''Paris and Helen'') is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck. It is the third of Gluck's so-called reform operas for Vienna, following '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' and '' Alceste'', and the least often performed of the three. Like its predecess ...
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Salvadore Cammarano Salvadore Cammarano (also Salvatore) (born Naples, 19 March 1801 – died Naples 17 July 1852) was a prolific Italian librettist and playwright perhaps best known for writing the text of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1835) for Gaetano Donizetti. For ...
(1801–1852) *for
Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
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L'assedio di Calais ''L'assedio di Calais'' (''The siege of Calais'') is an 1836 ''melodramma lirico'', or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti, his 49th opera. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto, which has been described as "...a remarkable libr ...
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Belisario ''Belisario'' (''Belisarius'') is a ''tragedia lirica'' (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of play, ''Belisarius'', first staged in Munich in 182 ...
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Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
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Maria de Rudenz ''Maria de Rudenz'' is a ''dramma tragico'', or tragic opera, in three parts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on "a piece of Gothic horror",Osborne 1994, pp. 262-263 ''La nonne sanglante'' by ...
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Maria di Rohan ''Maria di Rohan'' is a ''melodramma tragico'', or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's ''Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu'', which had pl ...
'', ''
Pia de' Tolomei Pia de' Tolomei was an Italian noblewoman from Siena identified as "la Pia," a minor character in Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' who was murdered by her husband. Her brief presence in the poem has inspired many works in art, music, literature, and cin ...
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Poliuto ''Poliuto'' is a three-act ''tragedia lirica'' (or tragic opera) by Gaetano Donizetti from the Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, which was based on Pierre Corneille's play ''Polyeucte'' written in 1641–42. It reflected the life of the e ...
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Roberto Devereux ''Roberto Devereux'' (or ''Roberto Devereux, ossia Il conte di Essex'' 'Robert Devereux, or the Earl of Essex'' is a ''tragedia lirica'', or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after François Ance ...
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Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
: ''
Alzira Alzira may refer to: * ''Alzira'' (opera), an opera by Giuseppe Verdi *Alzira, Valencia Alzira ( es, Alcira) is a city and municipality of 45.088 inhabitants (62,094 floating population) in Valencia, eastern Spain. It is the capital of the ''coma ...
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La battaglia di Legnano ''La battaglia di Legnano'' (''The Battle of Legnano'') is an opera in four acts, with music by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian-language libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. It was based on the play ''La Bataille de Toulouse'' by Joseph Méry, later the c ...
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Luisa Miller ''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller. Verdi's initial idea for ...
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Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...
'' (with Leone Emanuele Bardare) *for
Giuseppe Persiani Giuseppe Persiani (11 September 1799 – 13 August 1869) was an Italian opera composer. Persiani was born in Recanati. He wrote his first opera - one of 11 - in 1826 but, after his marriage to the soprano Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani, who w ...
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Ines de Castro Ines or INES may refer to: People * Ines (name), a feminine given name, also written as Inés or Inês * Saint Ines or Agnes (), Roman virgin–martyr * Eda-Ines Etti (stage name: ''Ines''; born 1981), Estonian singer Places * Doña Ines, a volca ...
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Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond ...
: '' Elena da Feltre'', ''
La vestale ''La vestale'' (''The Vestal Virgin'') is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. It was first performed on 15 December 1807 by the Académie Impé ...
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Orazi e Curiazi ''Orazi e Curiazi'' (''The Horatii and the Curiatii'') is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a ''tragedia lirica'' in three acts. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano, is based on the Ancient Rome, Roman le ...
'', ''
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
'', '' Il reggente'' *for Giovanni Pacini: '' Saffo'' Mark Campbell * for
Mason Bates Mason Wesley Bates (born January 23, 1977) is a Grammy award-winning American composer of symphonic music and DJ of electronic dance music. He is the first composer-in-residence of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and he has also bee ...
: ''
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs ''The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs'' is an opera with music by American composer Mason Bates and an English-language libretto by Mark Campbell. It was commissioned by Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Jacobs School of Music at ...
'' * for Iain Bell: ''Stonewall'' * for
William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...
: ''Lucrezia'', ''Dinner At Eight'' * for
Julian Grant Julian Grant (born 3 October 1960) is an English-born classical composer best known for a series of operas. He is also known for chamber music works and his challenging children's music. He is active as composer, journalist, broadcaster and mus ...
: ''The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare'' * for
Laura Kaminsky Laura Kaminsky (born September 28, 1956) is an American composer, producer of musical and multi-disciplinary cultural events, and educator. She was born in New York City, graduated from the High School of Music and Art, and studied with Joseph ...
: '' As One'', ''Some Light Emerges'', ''Today It Rains'' * for
Paul Moravec Paul Moravec (born November 2, 1957) is an American composer and a University Professor at Adelphi University on Long Island, New York and also a member of the composition department of the Mannes School of Music . Already a prolific composer, he ...
: ''The Shining'' * for
John Musto John Musto (born 1954) is an American composer and pianist. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orch ...
: ''Volpone'', ''Later the Same Evening'', ''Bastianello'', ''The Inspector'' * for Rene Orth: ''Empty the House'' * for Roberto Scarcella Perino: ''A Sweet Silence in Cremona'' * for
Paola Prestini Paola Prestini (born ) is a composer of classical music. The ''New York Times'' referred to Prestini as "the enterprising composer and impresario" and a "human resources alchemist". In 2011, she was named one of the Top 100 Composers in the World ...
: ''Edward Tulane'' * for
Kevin Puts Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, ''Silent Night''. Early life and education Puts was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Alma, Michi ...
: ''
Silent Night "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...
'', ''The Manchurian Candidate'', ''Elizabeth Cree'' * for
Stewart Wallace Stewart Wallace (born 1960, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American composer and cantor. Biography The son of Marsha J. Wallace and Dr. Sidney Wallace, Wallace is one of three siblings in his family. Wallace attended the University of Texas ...
: ''Supermax''
Michel Carré Michel Carré (20 October 1821, Besançon – 27 June 1872, Argenteuil) was a prolific French librettist. He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libre ...
(1821–1872) *alone: **for
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
: ''
Mireille Mireille () is a French given name, derived from the Provençal Occitan name ''Mirèio'' (or ''Mirèlha'' in the classical norm of Occitan, ). It could be related to the Occitan verb ''mirar'' "to look, to admire" or to the given names ''Miriam'' ...
'' **for Jacques Offenbach: '' La rose de Saint-Flour'' *with Eugène Cormon: **for
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
: ''
Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...
'' * with Barbier – see Jules Barbier
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...
(born 1957) *for
Nicholas Lens Nicholas Lens Noorenbergh (born 1957) is a Belgian composer of contemporary music, particularly known for his operas. His work is published by Schott Music and Mute Song and distributed by Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. In 2020 Nicholas ...
: ''
Shell Shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
''
Ernest Chausson Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish. Life Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...
(1855–1899) *for his own music: '' Le roi Arthus''
Helmina von Chézy Helmina von Chézy (26 January 178328 January 1856), née Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright. She is known for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera ''Euryanthe'' (1823) and the play ' ...
(1783–1856) *for
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...
: ''
Euryanthe ''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...
''
Henry Fothergill Chorley Henry Fothergill Chorley (15 December 1808 – 16 February 1872) was an English literary, art and music critic, writer and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics. Chorley was a prolific and important music and litera ...
(1808–1872) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''
The Sapphire Necklace ''The Sapphire Necklace, or the False Heiress'' (completed by 1867, and at least mostly completed by 1864), was the first opera composed by Arthur Sullivan. It was never performed, and most of the music and libretto are now lost. Background Af ...
'' *for
William Vincent Wallace William Vincent Wallace (11 March 1812 – 12 October 1865) was an Irish composer and pianist. In his day, he was famous on three continents as a double virtuoso on violin and piano. Nowadays, he is mainly remembered as an opera composer of n ...
: ''The Amber Witch'' (1873–1954) * for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''
La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...
'' (with )
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
(1889–1963) *for
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...
: ''
Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...
'' *for
Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
: ''
Le pauvre matelot (''The Poor Sailor'') is a three-act opera (described as a ' complainte') composed by Darius Milhaud with libretto by Jean Cocteau. It was given its premiere on 16 December 1927 by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris. ''Le pauvre mat ...
'' *for
Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
: ''
La voix humaine ' (English: ''The Human Voice'') is a forty-minute, one-act opera for soprano and orchestra composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. The work is based on the play The Human Voice, of the same name by Jean Cocteau, who, along with French soprano Denis ...
'' *for
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
: ''
Oedipus rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
''
John M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...
(born 1940) *for
Nicholas Lens Nicholas Lens Noorenbergh (born 1957) is a Belgian composer of contemporary music, particularly known for his operas. His work is published by Schott Music and Mute Song and distributed by Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. In 2020 Nicholas ...
: ''
Slow Man ''Slow Man'' is a novel by the South-African writer J.M. Coetzee and concerns a man who must learn to adapt after losing a leg in a road accident. The novel has many varied themes, including the nature of care, the relationship between an autho ...
''
Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...
(1873–1954) *for
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
: ''
L'enfant et les sortilèges ''L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties'' (''The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts'') is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first be ...
''
Marco Coltellini Marco Coltellini (24 May 1724, in Montepulciano – November 1777, in Saint Petersburg) was an Italian opera tenor, librettist and printer. Biography Coltellini embarked on a career in the Church, but had to leave after fathering four daught ...
(1719–1777) *for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: '' Telemaco'' *for Hasse: '' Piramo e Tisbe'' *for
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
: ''
L'infedeltà delusa ''L'infedeltà delusa'' (''Deceit Outwitted''), Hob. 28/5, is an operatic ''burletta per musica'' in two acts by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was by Marco Coltellini. Performance history The earliest recorded performance, which may have b ...
'' *for
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
: ''
La finta semplice ''La finta semplice'' (''The Fake Innocent''), K. 51 (46a) is an opera buffa in three acts for seven voices and orchestra, composed in 1768 by then 12-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Young Mozart and his father Leopold were spending the year in ...
'' *for
Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
: ''
Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic ''Jerusalem Delivered'' ( it, Gerusalemme liberata, link=no), Rinaldo is a fierce and determ ...
'' *for
Tommaso Traetta Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic r ...
: ''Ifigenia in Aulide'', '' Antigona''
Jeremy Commons Jeremy Paul Axford Commons (born 17 December 1933) is a New Zealand opera historian, scholar, impresario and librettist. He is an authority on nineteenth-century Italian opera and has published major works on the composers Gaetano Donizetti and N ...
(born 1933) *with Ivan Bootham: ''The Death of Venus''
William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright and poet of the Restoration period. He is known for his clever, satirical dialogue and influence on the comedy of manners style of that period. He was also a mi ...
(1670–1729) *used by John Eccles: ''
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysu ...
'' *used by
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
: ''
Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysu ...
'' *used by John Eccles,
Daniel Purcell Daniel Purcell (c. 1664 – buried 26 November 1717) was an English Baroque composer, the younger brother or cousin of Henry Purcell. Biography Like Henry Purcell before him, Daniel Purcell joined the choir of the Chapel Royal at about the age ...
,
Gottfried Finger Gottfried Finger (ca. 1655-6 – buried 31 August 1730), also Godfrey Finger, was a Moravian Baroque composer. He was also a virtuoso on the viol, and many of his compositions were for the instrument. He also wrote operas. Finger was born in ...
and John Weldon: '' The Judgement of Paris''
Eugène Cormon Pierre-Étienne Piestre, known as Eugène Cormon (5 May 1810 – March 1903), was a French dramatist and librettist. He used his mother's name, Cormon, during his career. Cormon wrote dramas, comedies and, from the 1840s, libretti; around 15 ...
(1810–1903) *with Michel Carré **for
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
: ''
Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...
'' *with Hector-Jonathan Crémieux **for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''
Robinson Crusoé ''Robinson Crusoé '' is an opéra comique with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Eugène Cormon and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. It premiered in Paris on 23 November 1867. The writers took the theme from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' b ...
'' *with
Lockroy Joseph-Philippe Simon, called Lockroy (February 17, 1803 – January 19, 1891)Death notice
in ''
Aimé Maillart: ''
Les dragons de Villars ''Les dragons de Villars'' (''The Dragoons of Villars'') is an opéra-comique in three acts by Aimé Maillart to a libretto by Lockroy and Eugène Cormon. The story of the opera was said to have been borrowed from ''La Petite Fadette'' by George ...
''
Thomas Corneille Thomas Corneille (20 August 1625 – 8 December 1709) was a French lexicographer and dramatist. Biography Born in Rouen some nineteen years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself e ...
(1625–1709) *for
Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
: ''
Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille in 1635. Summary The heroine of the play is the sorceress Médée. After Médée gives Jason twin boys, Jason leaves her for Creusa. Médée ...
'' *for
Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
: '' Bellérophon'' (with Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle)
Hector-Jonathan Crémieux Hector-Jonathan Crémieux (10 November 1828 – 30 September 1893) was a French librettist and playwright. His best-known work is his collaboration with Ludovic Halévy for Jacques Offenbach's ''Orphée aux Enfers'', known in English as ''Orpheu ...
(1828–1892) *with E About **for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''
Le financier et le savetier ''Le financier et le savetier'' (The financier and the cobbler) is a one-act opérette bouffe of 1856 with words by Hector Crémieux and Edmond About, and music by Jacques Offenbach, based on the poem by La Fontaine. In 1842 Offenbach had set '' T ...
'' *with Ernest Blum **for Jacques Offenbach: ''
Bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by wooden ...
'', ''
La jolie parfumeuse ''La jolie parfumeuse'' is an opéra comique in three acts of 1873 with music by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was by Hector Crémieux and Ernest Blum. Performance history The opera was premiered at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Pari ...
'' *with Eugène Cormon **for Jacques Offenbach: ''
Robinson Crusoé ''Robinson Crusoé '' is an opéra comique with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Eugène Cormon and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux. It premiered in Paris on 23 November 1867. The writers took the theme from the 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' b ...
'' *with Philippe Gille **for Jacques Offenbach: ''Les bergers'' *with
Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in ...
**for
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (ba ...
: ''Les eaux d’Ems'' **for Jacques Offenbach: ''
La chanson de Fortunio ''La chanson de Fortunio '' (''The Song of Fortunio'') is a short opéra-comique in one act by Jacques Offenbach with a French libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Hector Crémieux. The music was composed within a week, with a further week being spent ...
'', ''Jacqueline'', ''
Orphée aux enfers ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act "opéra bouffon" at the Théâ ...
'', ''
Le pont des soupirs ''Le pont des soupirs '' ("The Bridge of Sighs") is an opéra bouffe (or operetta) set in Venice, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1861. The French libretto was written by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. Plays, including ...
'', ''Le roman comique'' *with
Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in ...
, M de Saint-Rémy and Ernest Lépine **for Jacques Offenbach: ''
M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le . . . ''M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le... '' (''Mr. Cauliflower will be at home on... '') is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, in one act by Jacques Offenbach and the Duc de Morny (under the pseudonym "M. de St Rémy"). The French libretto is also c ...
'' *with
Adolphe Jaime Adolphe Jaime, called Jaime fils, (1825 in Paris – 1901 in Asnières-sur-Seine) was a 19th-century French vaudevillist and librettist. He was the son of Ernest Jaime (1804–1884), also a playwright. Works *1845: ''Le Diable à quatre'', va ...
**for
Hervé Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizati ...
: ''
Le petit Faust ''Le petit Faust'' is an opéra bouffe in four acts which burlesques the drama ''Faust'' by Goethe and the opera of the same name by Gounod. The music of the piece is by Hervé, with a text by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux and Adolphe Jaime. The work ...
'' **for Jacques Offenbach: '' Une demoiselle en loterie'' *with
Adolphe Jaime Adolphe Jaime, called Jaime fils, (1825 in Paris – 1901 in Asnières-sur-Seine) was a 19th-century French vaudevillist and librettist. He was the son of Ernest Jaime (1804–1884), also a playwright. Works *1845: ''Le Diable à quatre'', va ...
and Etienne Tréfeu **for Jacques Offenbach: ''
Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...
'' *with Albert de Saint-Albin **for Jacques Offenbach: ''La foire Saint-Laurent''
Michael Cristofer Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip ...
(born 1945) *for
Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...
: ''
Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...
''
Francis de Croisset Francis de Croisset (; born Franz Wiener, 28 January 1877 – 8 November 1937) was a Belgian-born French playwright and opera librettist. Early life Born as Franz Wiener, he was educated in Brussels on 28 January 1877 into a prominent Jewish-Bel ...
(1877–1937) *alone: **for
Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...
: ''
Ciboulette ''Ciboulette'' is a French opérette in three acts, music by Reynaldo Hahn, libretto by Robert de Flers and Francis de Croisset, first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés, in Paris, on 7 April 1923. One of the most elegant and refined compo ...
'' * with Henri Caïn **for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''
Chérubin ''Chérubin'' is an opera (''comédie chantée'') in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Francis de Croisset and Henri Cain after de Croisset's play of the same name. It was first performed at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 14 F ...
''
Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Dr ...
(1914–1994) *for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''
Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera ''The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cr ...
'', '' Billy Budd'' (with
E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...
), ''
The Little Sweep ''The Little Sweep'', Op. 45, is an opera for children in three scenes by the English composer Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Eric Crozier. ''Let's Make an Opera!'' ''The Little Sweep'' is the second part of a stage production entitled ' ...
''
César Cui César Antonovich Cui ( rus, Це́зарь Анто́нович Кюи́, , ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi, links=no, Ru-Tsezar-Antonovich-Kyui.ogg; french: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui, links=no, italic=no; 13 March 1918) was a Ru ...
(1835–1918) *for his own music: ''
The Captain's Daughter ''The Captain's Daughter'' (russian: «Капитанская дочка», Kapitanskaya dochka) is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. It was first published in 1836 in the fourth issue of the literary journal '' Sovrem ...
'', '' A Feast in Time of Plague'', '' Mademoiselle Fifi'', ''
The Saracen ''The Saracen'' is a two-part novel written by Robert Shea. The continuous tale has two separate portions: ''The Land of the Infidel'' and ''The Holy War''. Basically ignored during its publication and then out of print although still enjoying st ...
'' (with
Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (also Stassov; rus, Влади́мир Васи́льевич Ста́сов; 14 January Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Adoption_in_Eastern_Europe.html" ;"title="/nowiki> O.S._2_January.html" ;"title="Adoption of ...
)


D

Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938) *for
Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...
: ''
Parisina ''Parisina'' is a 586-line poem written by Lord Byron. It was probably written between 1812 and 1815, and published on 13 February 1816. It is based on a story related by Edward Gibbon in his '' Miscellaneous Works'' (1796) about Niccolò III d ...
'' *for
Alberto Franchetti Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''. Biography Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied first in Venice, the ...
: ''
La figlia di Iorio ''La figlia di Iorio'' (''The Daughter of Iorio''), sometimes written as ''La figlia di Jorio'', is an opera in three acts by Alberto Franchetti to a libretto by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The libretto is a very close rendering of D'Annunzio's play of ...
''
Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: ''The Marr ...
(1749–1838) *for
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
: ''
The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...
'', ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...
'', ''
Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...
'' *for
Vicente Martín y Soler Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler (2 May 175430 January or 10 February 1806) was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his ...
: ''
L'arbore di Diana ''L'arbore di Diana'' (''The Tree of Diana''), is an opera in two acts composed by Vicente Martín y Soler, with an original libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 October 1787. Background and performance ...
'', '' Il burbero di buon cuore'', ''
Una cosa rara ' (''A Rare Thing, or Beauty and Honesty'') is an opera by the composer Vicente Martín y Soler. It takes the form of a dramma giocoso in two acts. The libretto, by Lorenzo Da Ponte, is based on the play ' by Luis Vélez de Guevara. The opera was f ...
'' *for
Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
: ''
Axur, re d'Ormus ''Axur, re d'Ormus'' ("Axur, king of Ormus") is an operatic dramma tragicomico in five acts by Antonio Salieri. The libretto was by Lorenzo Da Ponte. ''Axur'' is the Italian version of Salieri's 1787 French-language work ''Tarare (opera), Tarare' ...
''
William Davenant Sir William Davenant (baptised 3 March 1606 – 7 April 1668), also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned b ...
(1606–1668) *for
Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Musi ...
,
Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2 ...
and others: ''
The Siege of Rhodes ''The Siege of Rhodes'' is an opera written to a text by the impresario William Davenant. The score is by five composers, the vocal music by Henry Lawes, Matthew Locke, and Captain Henry Cooke, and the instrumental music by Charles Coleman and G ...
''
Giovanni de Gamerra Giovanni de Gamerra (26 December 1742 – 29 August 1803) was an Italian cleric, a playwright, and a poet. He is best known as a prolific librettist. Gamerra was born in Livorno, and worked from 1771 at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan  ...
(1743–1803) *for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: ''
Lucio Silla ''Lucio Silla'' (), K. 135, is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 16. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Pietro Metastasio. It was first performed on 26 December 1772 ...
'' (revised by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...
); Italian adaptation of ''
The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
'' *for
Giuseppe Sarti Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer. Biography He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...
: '' Medonte, re di Epiro'' *for
Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant comp ...
: '' Il Medonte'' *for Antonio Salieri: '' Palmira, regina di Persia'' Constance DeJong (born 1950) *for
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: ''
Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...
''
Casimir Delavigne Jean-François Casimir Delavigne (4 April 179311 December 1843) was a French poet and dramatist. Life and career Delavigne was born at Le Havre, but was sent to Paris to be educated at the Lycée Napoleon. He read extensively. When, on 20 Marc ...
Germain Delavigne Louis Marie Germain Delavigne (1 February 1790 – 3 November 1868) was a French playwright and librettist. Delavigne was born in Giverny to Louis-Augustin-Anselme Delavigne, a surveyor of the French royal forests, and his wife. He was the broth ...
Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...
(1862–1934) *for his own music: ''
Fennimore and Gerda (subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...
'', ''
Irmelin ''Irmelin'' is an opera in three acts with music by Frederick Delius. Composed between 1890 and 1892, it was the first opera which he finished. But it wasn't premiered until 1953, nearly twenty years after his death. The libretto was by the compo ...
'', ''
A Village Romeo and Juliet ''A Village Romeo and Juliet'' is an opera by Frederick Delius, the fourth of his six operas. The composer himself, with his wife Jelka, wrote the English-language libretto based on the short story "''Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe''" by the Swi ...
''
Philippe Néricault Destouches Philippe Néricault Destouches (9 April 1680 – 4 July 1754) was a French playwright who wrote 22 plays. Biography Destouches was born at Tours, in today's department of Indre-et-Loire. When he was nineteen years of age, he became secretary to ...
(1680–1754) *for
Jean-Joseph Mouret Jean-Joseph Mouret (11 April 1682 in Avignon – 22 December 1738 in Charenton-le-Pont) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are rarely per ...
: ''
Les amours de Ragonde ''Les amours de Ragonde'' (''The Loves of Ragonde'', original title: ''Le mariage de Ragonde et de Colin ou La Veillée de Village'') is an opera in three acts by Jean-Joseph Mouret with a libretto by Philippe Néricault Destouches. It was first p ...
''
Eduard Devrient (Philipp) Eduard Devrient (11 August 18014 October 1877) was a German baritone, librettist, playwright, actor, theatre director, and theatre reformer and historian. Devrient came from a theatrical family. His uncle was Ludwig Devrient and his b ...
(1801–1877) *for
Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.
: ''
Hans Heiling ''Hans Heiling'' is a German Romantic opera in 3 acts with prologue by Heinrich Marschner with a libretto by Eduard Devrient, who also sang the title role at the première at the Königliche Hofoper (now Berlin State Opera), Berlin, on 24 May 1 ...
''
Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
(1797–1848) *for his own music: ''
Betly ''Betly, ossia La capanna svizzera'' ("Betly, or The Swiss Chalet") is a ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts (originally one) by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. The composer wrote the Italian libretto after Eugène Scribe and Mélésville's l ...
'', '' Il campanello di notte'', ''
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali ''Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'' (''Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage''), also known as ''Viva la mamma'' and ''Viva la Diva'', is a dramma giocoso, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was writte ...
'', ''
Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's ...
'' (with Giovanni Ruffini)
John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
(1631–1700) *for
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...
: '' The Indian Queen'' (with Robert Howard), ''
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
'' *for
Louis Grabu Louis Grabu, Grabut, Grabue, or Grebus (fl. 1665 – 1690, died after 1693) was a Catalan-born, French-trained composer and violinist who was mainly active in England. While he was probably born in Catalonia – he was later referred to as 'Lo ...
: ''
Albion and Albanius ''Albion and Albanius'' is an opera, closely resembling a French ''tragédie en musique'', by Louis Grabu with an English libretto by John Dryden. The words were written by Dryden in 1680. It was initially intended as a prologue to his opera ' ...
''


E

Gottfried von Einem Gottfried von Einem (24 January 1918 – 12 July 1996) was an Austrian composer. He is known chiefly for his operas influenced by the music of Stravinsky and Prokofiev, as well as by jazz. He also composed pieces for piano, violin and organ. Biog ...
(1918–1996) *for his own music: ''
Dantons Tod ' (German for ''Danton's Death'') is an opera by Gottfried von Einem to a libretto by Boris Blacher and Gottfried von Einem after Georg Büchner's 1835 play of the same name. Its first performance took place in Salzburg on 6 August 1947. It was ...
'' (with
Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (he ...
)
Adolphe d'Ennery Adolphe Philippe d'Ennery or Dennery (17 June 181125 January 1899) was a French playwright and novelist. Life Born in Paris, his real surname was Philippe. He obtained his first success in collaboration with Charles Desnoyer in ''Émile, ou le ...
(1811–1899) *alone: **for
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
: ''
Le tribut de Zamora is a grand opera in four acts by Charles Gounod, his last work for the stage. The libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery was offered to Gounod after negotiations with Giuseppe Verdi stalled. The premiere at the Paris Opera's Palais Garnier on 1 April 1881 ...
'' *with
Édouard Blau Édouard Blau (30 May 1836 – 7 January 1906) was a French dramatist and opera librettist. He was a cousin of Alfred Blau, another librettist of the same period.Smith C. Édouard Blau. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, Londo ...
and
Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; oc, Valença ) is a commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is situated on the left bank of the ...
: **for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''
Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
'' *with Jules Brésil **for
Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...
: ''
Si j'étais roi ''Si j'étais roi'' (English: ''If I Were King'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam. The libretto was written by Adolphe d'Ennery and Jules-Henri Brésil. It was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Hist ...
'' *with Philippe François Pinel Dumanoir and Jules Chantepie: **for Jules Massenet: '' Don César de Bazan''
Victor Erofeyev Viktor Vladimirovich Yerofeyev (russian: Ви́ктор Влади́мирович Ерофе́ев, also transliterated as Erofeyev; born 19 September 1947 in Moscow) is a Russian writer. As son of a high-ranking Soviet diplomat Vladimir Yero ...
(born 1947) *for
Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...
: ''
Life with an Idiot ''Life with an Idiot'' () is an opera by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke to a Russian libretto by Viktor Erofeyev. Written as an allegory of oppression under the Soviet Union, the opera was first performed at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, o ...
''
Hanns Heinz Ewers Hanns Heinz Ewers (3 November 1871 – 12 June 1943) was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilo ...
(1871–1943) *for Eugen d'Albert: ''Die toten Augen''


F

Mohammed Fairouz (born 1985) *for himself: ''Sumeida's Song'' Duncan Fallowell (born 1948) * for Irmin Schmidt composer ''Gormenghast (opera)'' Charles-Simon Favart (1710–1792) * for Egidio Duni: ''La fée Urgèle, La fée Urgèle, ou Ce qui plaît aux dames'' Lorenzo Ferrero (born 1951) *for himself: ''Marilyn (opera), Marilyn'', ''Night'', ''La nascita di Orfeo'', ''La Conquista (opera), La Conquista'' Jacopo Ferretti (1784–1852) *for
Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
: ''L'ajo nell'imbarazzo'', ''Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo'', ''Olivo e Pasquale'', ''Torquato Tasso (opera), Torquato Tasso'', ''Zoraide di Grenata'' *for
Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond ...
: ''Gli amici di Siracusa'', ''Scipione in Cartagine'' *for Giovanni Pacini: ''Cesare in Egitto'' *for Luigi Ricci (composer), Luigi Ricci: ''L'orfanella di Ginevra'' *for Lauro Rossi: ''La figlia di Figaro'' *for
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
: ''La Cenerentola'', ''Matilde di Shabran'' *for Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli: ''Baldovino'' Ferdinando Fontana (1850–1919) *for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''Le Villi'', ''Edgar (opera), Edgar''
E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...
(1879–1970) *for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: '' Billy Budd'' (with
Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Royal Academy of Dr ...
) Giovacchino Forzano (1884–1970) *for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''Suor Angelica'', ''Gianni Schicchi'' Frederick the Great (1712–1786) *for Carl Heinrich Graun: ''Montezuma (Graun), Montezuma'' Christopher Fry (1907–2005) *for Krzysztof Penderecki: ''Paradise Lost (Penderecki), Paradise Lost''


G

Kate Gale (born 1965) *for Don Davis (composer), Don Davis: ''Río de Sangre''
Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; oc, Valença ) is a commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is situated on the left bank of the ...
(1835–1898) *for
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
: ''Djamileh'' *for Alfred Bruneau: ''L'attaque du moulin'' *for
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
: ''Cinq-Mars (opera), Cinq-Mars'', ''Maître Pierre'' *for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''Thaïs (opera), Thaïs'', ''
Le Cid ''Le Cid'' is a five-act French tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille, first performed in December 1636 at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris and published the same year. It is based on Guillén de Castro's play ''Las Mocedades del Cid''. Castro ...
'', ''Le roi de Lahore'' *for
Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...
: ''Ascanio'', ''La princesse jaune'', ''Déjanire'' John Gay (1685–1732) *for music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch: ''The Beggar's Opera'' Richard Genée (1823–1895) *with Camillo Walzel **for Carl Millöcker: ''Der Bettelstudent'' **for Johann Strauss II: ''Cagliostro in Wien'', ''Der lustige Krieg'', ''Eine Nacht in Venedig'' Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) *with DuBose Heyward: **for George Gershwin: ''Porgy and Bess'' Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824–1893) *for
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
: ''Aida'', ''La forza del destino'' *for Amilcare Ponchielli: ''I Lituani'' Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1906) and Luigi Illica (1857–1919) *for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''La bohème'', ''Madama Butterfly'', ''Manon Lescaut (Puccini), Manon Lescaut'' (with others, including Ruggero Leoncavallo, Leoncavallo), ''Tosca'' W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''The Gondoliers'', ''The Grand Duke'', ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''Iolanthe'', ''The Mikado'', ''Patience (opera), Patience'', ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''Princess Ida'', ''Ruddigore'', ''The Sorcerer'', ''Thespis (opera), Thespis'', ''Trial by Jury'', ''Utopia, Limited'', ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' *for Thomas German Reed: ''Eyes and No Eyes'', ''No Cards'', ''Our Island Home'', ''A Sensation Novel'' *for Frederic Clay: ''Ages Ago'', ''Happy Arcadia'', ''Princess Toto'', ''The Gentleman in Black'' *for Alfred Cellier: ''The Mountebanks'', ''Topsyturveydom'' *for George Grossmith: ''Haste to the Wedding'' *for Frank Osmond Carr: ''His Excellency (opera), His Excellency'' *for Edward German: ''Fallen Fairies'' *for Alberto Randegger: ''Creatures of Impulse'' Philippe Gille (1831–1901) *with Edmond Gondinet: **for
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (ba ...
: ''Lakmé'' *with Henri Meilhac: **for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''Manon'' Alvise Giusti (1709–1766) *for Antonio Vivaldi: ''Motezuma'' Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) *used by Modest Mussorgsky: ''Zhenitba'' (''Marriage'') Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793) *used by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
: ''
La finta semplice ''La finta semplice'' (''The Fake Innocent''), K. 51 (46a) is an opera buffa in three acts for seven voices and orchestra, composed in 1768 by then 12-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Young Mozart and his father Leopold were spending the year in ...
'' *used by Niccolò Piccinni: ''La buona figliuola'' *used by
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
: ''Il mondo della luna'', ''Lo speziale'', ''Le pescatrici'' *used by Baldassare Galuppi: ''Il filosofo di campagna'' *used by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari: ''Il campiello'', ''Le donne curiose'', ''I quatro rusteghi'', ''Gli amanti sposi'', ''La vedova scaltra'' Edmond Gondinet (1828–1888) *alone **for
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (ba ...
: ''Le roi l'a dit'' *with Ernest Blum and Albert de Saint-Albin **for
Hervé Hervé is a French language, French masculine given name of Breton language, Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinizati ...
: Mam’zelle Gavroche *with Georges Duval: **for Robert Planquette: ''Les Voltigeurs de la 32ème'' *with Philippe Gille: **for
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and French opera, operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and ''Sylvia (ba ...
: ''Jean de Nivelle '', ''Lakmé'' Alice Goodman (born 1958) *for John Adams (composer), John Adams: ''The Death of Klinghoffer'', ''Nixon in China (opera), Nixon in China'' Vincenzo Grimani (1652/1655–1710) *for
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
: ''Agrippina (opera), Agrippina'' Sydney Grundy (1848–1914) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''Haddon Hall (opera), Haddon Hall'' *for
Edward Solomon Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Oper ...
: ''Pocahontas'', ''The Vicar of Bray (opera), The Vicar of Bray'' Nicolas-François Guillard (1752–1814) *for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' *for
Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
: ''Les Horaces'' *for Antonio Sacchini: ''Chimène'', ''Œdipe à Colone'', ''Arvire et Évélina''


H

Daron Hagen (born 1961) *for his own music: **alone: ''Cradle Song'', from ''New York Stories (opera), New York Stories'', ''Orson Rehearsed'' **with Barbara Grecki: ''A Woman in Morocco'' Thomas Hales (c.1740–1780) *for
André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
: ''L'amant jaloux'', '' Le jugement de Midas''
Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in ...
(1834–1908) *for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''Ba-ta-clan'' *also see Meilhac and Crémieux Christopher Hampton (born 1946) *for
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: ''Appomattox (opera), Appomattox'', ''Waiting for the Barbarians (opera), Waiting for the Barbarians'' David Harsent (born 1942) *for
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''Gawain (opera), Gawain'' Georges Hartmann (1843–1900) *for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''Hérodiade'', ''
Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...
'' *for André Messager: ''Madame Chrysanthème (opera), Madame Chrysanthème'' *for
Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...
: ''L'île du rêve'' Nicola Francesco Haym (1678–1729) *for Giovanni Bononcini: ''Calfurnia'' and ''Astianatte'' *for
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
: ''Admeto'', ''Amadigi di Gaula'', ''Flavio'', ''Giulio Cesare'', ''Ottone'', ''Radamisto (opera), Radamisto'', ''Rodelinda (opera), Rodelinda'', ''Siroe'', ''Tamerlano'' ''Teseo'' Philip Hensher (born 1965) *for Thomas Adès: ''Powder Her Face'' DuBose Heyward (1885–1940) *with Ira Gershwin: **for George Gershwin: ''Porgy and Bess'' Ernest Hilbert (born 1970) *for Stella Sung: ''The Red Silk Thread, an Epic Tale of Marco Polo'', ''The Book Collector'' *for Daniel Felsenfeld: ''Summer and All it Brings'', ''The Last of Manhattan'' Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) *for his own music: ''Die Harmonie der Welt'', ''Mathis der Maler (opera), Mathis der Maler'' Russell Hoban (born 1925) *for
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''The Second Mrs Kong'' Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1925) *for Richard Strauss: ''Die ägyptische Helena'', ''Arabella'', ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', ''Elektra (opera), Elektra'', ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'', ''Der Rosenkavalier'' François-Benoît Hoffman (1760–1828) *for Luigi Cherubini: ''Médée (Cherubini), Médée'' *for Nicolas Isouard: ''Les rendez-vous bourgeois'' *for Rodolphe Kreutzer: ''La mort d'Abel'' *for Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne: ''Nephté'', ''Phèdre (opera), Phèdre'' *for
Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a ...
: ''Adrien (opera), Adrien'', ''Ariodant'', ''Euphrosine'', ''Le jeune sage et le vieux fou'', ''Stratonice (opera), Stratonice'' Basil Hood (1864–1917) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''The Emerald Isle'' (finished by Edward German after Sullivan's death), ''The Rose of Persia'' *for Arthur Bruhns (later reset by Franco Leoni): ''Ib and Little Christina'' *for Cecil Cook: ''The Willow Pattern'' *for Edward German: ''Merrie England (opera), Merrie England'', ''A Princess of Kensington'' Victor Hugo (1802–1885) *for Louise Bertin: ''La Esmeralda (opera), La Esmeralda'' David Henry Hwang (born 1957) *for
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: ''The Voyage (opera), The Voyage'', ''1000 Airplanes on the Roof'' *for Osvaldo Golijov: ''Ainadamar'' *for Howard Shore: ''The Fly (opera), The Fly''


I

Luigi Illica (1857–1919) *for Alfredo Catalani: ''La Wally'' *for
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
: ''Andrea Chénier'', ''Siberia (opera), Siberia'' *for
Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...
: ''Iris (opera), Iris'', ''Isabeau'', ''Le maschere'' :see also Giuseppe Giacosa Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) *for Karol Szymanowski: ''King Roger'' (with the composer)


J

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) *for his own music: ''The Cunning Little Vixen'', ''From the House of the Dead'', ''Jenůfa'', ''The Makropulos Affair (opera), The Makropulos Affair'', ''Destiny (Janáček), Destiny'' Scott Joplin (1868–1917) *for his own music: ''Treemonisha''
Étienne de Jouy Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...
(1764–1846) *for Luigi Cherubini: ''Les Abencérages'' *for
Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a ...
: ''Les amazones'' *for
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
: ''
Moïse et Pharaon Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses (given name), Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a su ...
'' (with Luigi Balocchi), ''William Tell (opera), Guillaume Tell'' (with Hippolyte Bis) *for Gaspare Spontini: ''Milton (opera), Milton'' (with Michel Dieulafoy, Armand-Michel Dieulafoy), ''
La vestale ''La vestale'' (''The Vestal Virgin'') is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy. It takes the form of a ''tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. It was first performed on 15 December 1807 by the Académie Impé ...
'', ''Fernand Cortez'' (with Joseph-Alphonse Esménard)


K

Georg Kaiser (1878–1945) *for
Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
: ''Der Protagonist'', ''Der Silbersee'', ''Der Zar lässt sich photographieren''
Chester Kallman Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an American poet, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with W. H. Auden on opera librettos for Igor Stravinsky and other composers. Life Kallman was born in ...
see Auden Johann Friedrich Kind (1768–1843) *for
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...
: ''Der Freischütz'' *for Conradin Kreutzer: ''Das Nachtlager in Granada'' Kenneth Koch (1925–2002) *for Ned Rorem: ''Bertha (opera), Bertha'' Eliška Krásnohorská (1847–1926) *for Bedřich Smetana: ''The Devil's Wall'', ''The Kiss (opera), The Kiss'', ''The Secret (opera), The Secret'', ''Viola (opera), Viola'' Clemens Krauss (1893–1954) *for Richard Strauss: ''Capriccio (opera), Capriccio''


L

Antoine Houdar de la Motte (1672–1731) *for André Campra: ''L'Europe galante'' *for André Cardinal Destouches: ''Issé (opera), Issé'' *for Marin Marais: ''Alcyone (opera), Alcyone'' Ferdinand Lemaire (1832–1879) *for
Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...
: ''Samson and Delilah (opera), Samson et Dalila'' Kasi Lemmons (born 1961) *for
Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...
: ''Fire Shut Up In My Bones'' Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919) *for his own music: ''Chatterton (opera), Chatterton'', ''I Medici'', ''La bohème (Leoncavallo), La bohème'', ''Pagliacci'', ''Zazà'' *for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''Manon Lescaut (Puccini), Manon Lescaut'' (with others, including Giuseppe Giacosa, Giacosa and Luigi Illica, Illica) Doris Lessing (1919–2013) *for
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: ''The Making of the Representative for Planet 8''


M

Amin Maalouf (born 1949) *for Kaija Saariaho: ''L'amour de loin'' Daniel MacIvor (born 1962) *for Rufus Wainwright: ''Hadrian (opera), Hadrian'' Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) *used by Claude Debussy: ''Pelléas et Mélisande (opera), Pelléas et Mélisande'' *used by Paul Dukas: ''Ariane et Barbe-bleue'' Andrea Maffei (1798–1885) *for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''I masnadieri'' Albéric Magnard (1865–1914) * for his own music: ''Bérénice (Magnard), Bérénice'', ''Guercœur'' Jean-François Marmontel (1723–1799) *for
Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...
: ''Acante et Céphise'', ''La guirlande'', ''Les sibarites'' *for
André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
: ''Le Huron'', ''Lucile (opera), Lucile'', ''Zémire et Azor'' *for Niccolò Piccinni: ''Atys (Piccinni), Atys'', ''Didon (Piccinni), Didon'', ''Pénélope (Piccinni), Pénélope'', ''Roland (Piccinni), Roland'' Henri Meilhac (1831–1897) *with Philippe Gille **for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: Manon *with
Ludovic Halévy Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French author and playwright, best known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on Georges Bizet's '' Carmen'' and on the works of Jacques Offenbach. Biography Ludovic Halévy was born in ...
**for
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
: ''Carmen'' **for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''Barbe-bleue (opera), Barbe-bleue'', ''La belle Hélène'', ''La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'', ''La Périchole'', ''La Vie parisienne (operetta), La Vie parisienne'' Mélesville, Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélesville (1787–1865) *for Ferdinand Hérold: ''Zampa'' *with Pierre Carmouche **for
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...
: ''La permission de dix heures'' *with Eugène Scribe **for Jacques Offenbach: ''La chatte métamorphosée en femme'' Guido Menasci (1867–1925) *with Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti: **for
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
: ''Regina Diaz'' **for
Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...
: ''Cavalleria rusticana'', ''I Rantzau'', ''Zanetto'' Catulle Mendès (1841–1909) *for Emmanuel Chabrier: ''Gwendoline (opera), Gwendoline'' * for Claude Debussy: ''Rodrigue et Chimène'' *with Ephraïm Mikaël: **for Emmanuel Chabrier: ''Briséïs'' *for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''Ariane (Massenet), Ariane'', ''Bacchus (opera), Bacchus'' *for André Messager: ''Isoline (opera), Isoline'' Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007) *for his own music: ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'', ''The Boy Who Grew Too Fast'', ''The Consul'', ''The Island God'', ''The Last Savage'', ''The Medium'', ''The Old Maid and the Thief'', ''The Saint of Bleecker Street'', ''The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois'' *for Samuel Barber: ''A Hand of Bridge'', ''Vanessa (opera), Vanessa'' Joseph Méry (1798–1866) *for
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
: ''Don Carlos'' (with Camille du Locle) Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) *for his own music: ''Saint François d'Assise'' Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782) *used by Johann Christian Bach, J. C. Bach, Riccardo Broschi, Johann Adolph Hasse,
Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant comp ...
, and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, among others: ''Adriano in Siria'' *used by
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
, Hasse, Mysliveček, and
Tommaso Traetta Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic r ...
, among others: ''Antigono'' *used by J. C. Bach, Gluck, Hasse, Mysliveček, and Leonardo Vinci, among others: ''Artaserse'' *used by Hasse, Vinci, J. C. Bach, and Antonio Vivaldi, among others: ''Catone in Utica'' *used by Gluck, Hasse, and Mysliveček, among others: ''Demetrio'' *used by Gluck, Hasse, Niccolò Jommelli, Mysliveček, Traetta, and Vinci, among others: ''Demofoonte'' *used by Hasse, Nicola Porpora, and Vinci, among others: ''Didone abbandonata'' *used by Gluck and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
, among others: ''Il re pastore'' *used by Gluck, Hasse, Jommelli, and Mysliveček, among others: ''Il trionfo di Clelia'' *used by Gluck, Hasse, and Porpora, among others: ' *used by Gluck,
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
, Mysliveček, and Porpora, among others: ''Ezio (libretto), Ezio'' *used by Handel, Hasse, Porpora, and Vinci, among others: ''Alessandro nelle Indie'', also known as ''Poro (opera), Poro, re dell'Indie'' *used by Gluck, Hasse, and Mysliveček, among others: ''Ipermestra (disambiguation), Ipermestra'' *used by Mozart and Mysliveček, among others: ''La clemenza di Tito'' *used by Hasse, Mysliveček, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Traetta, and Vivaldi, among others: ''L'Olimpiade'' *used by Hasse, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Mysliveček, Porpora,
Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...
, and Vinci, among others: ''Semiramide riconosciuta'' *used by Handel, Hasse, Porpora, Vinci, and Vivaldi, among others: ''Siroe rè di Persia'' Madeleine Milhaud (1902–2008) *for
Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
: ''Médée'', ''Bolivar'', ''La mère coupable'' Nicolò Minato (ca. 1630–1698) *used by
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
: ''Orimonte'' *used by Francesco Cavalli, Alessandro Scarlatti and Giacomo Antonio Perti: ''Pompeo Magno'' *used by Francesco Cavalli, Giovanni Bononcini and
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
: ''Xerse'' *used by Antonio Draghi: ''Leonida in Tegea'', ''La tirannide abbatuta dalla virtù'' *used by Antonio Draghi and Marc'Antonio Ziani: ''Chilonida'' *used by Antonio Draghi and Georg Reutter/Antonio Caldara: ''La patienza di Socrate con due mogli'' *used by Antonio Sartorio, Antonio Draghi and Tomaso Albinoni: ''La prosperità di Elio Sejano'' Paul Muldoon (born 1951) *for Daron Hagen: ''Shining Brow'', ''Vera of Las Vegas'', ''Bandanna (opera), Bandanna'', ''The Antient Concert'' Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) *for his own music: ''Boris Godunov (opera), Boris Godunov'', ''The Fair at Sorochyntsi'', ''Khovanshchina'', ''Salammbô (Mussorgsky), Salammbô''


N

Émile de Najac (1828–1899) * with Paul Burani **for Emmanuel Chabrier: ''Le roi malgré lui'' * with Paul Ferrier **for Charles Lecocq, Lecocq: ''La vie mondaine'' Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter, Charles Nuitter (1828–1899) *for Jacques Offenbach: ''Les bavards'', ''Les fées du Rhin''


O

Meredith Oakes (born 1946) *for Thomas Adès: ''The Tempest (opera), The Tempest'' Marc Okrand (born 1948) *for Eef van Breen: ''ʼuʼ'' Martin Opitz (1597–1639) *for Heinrich Schütz: ''Dafne'' (lost) John Oxenford (1812–1877) *for George Alexander Macfarren: ''Robin Hood'', ''Helvellyn (opera), Helvellyn''


P

Francesco Maria Piave (1810–1876) *for Luigi Ricci (composer), Luigi Ricci and Federico Ricci: ''Crispino e la comare'' *for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Aroldo'' (1857), ''Il corsaro'' (1848), ''I due Foscari'' (1844), ''Ernani'' (1844), ''La forza del destino'' (1862 first version), ''Macbeth (opera), Macbeth'' (1847 first version), ''Macbeth (opera), Macbeth'' (1865 second version), ''Rigoletto'' (1851), ''
Simon Boccanegra ''Simon Boccanegra'' () is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play ''Simón Bocanegra'' (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play ''El trovador'' had b ...
'' (1857 first version), ''Stiffelio'' (1850), ''La traviata'' (1851) Arthur Wing Pinero (1855–1934) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''The Beauty Stone'' Myfanwy Piper (1911–1997) *for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''Death in Venice (opera), Death in Venice'', ''Owen Wingrave'', ''The Turn of the Screw (opera), The Turn of the Screw'' James Robinson Planché (1796–1880) *for Carl Maria von Weber, Weber: ''Oberon (Weber), Oberon'' William Plomer (1903–1973) *for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''The Burning Fiery Furnace'', ''Curlew River'', ''Gloriana'', ''The Prodigal Son (Britten), The Prodigal Son''. David Pountney (born 1947) *for Peter Maxwell Davies: ''The Doctor of Myddfai'', ''Mr Emmet Takes a Walk'' Alexander Preis *for Dmitri Shostakovich, Shostakovich: ''Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera), Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk district'', ''The Nose (opera), The Nose'' Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) *for his own music: **alone: ''The Fiery Angel (opera), The Fiery Angel'', ''The Gambler (Prokofiev), The Gambler'', ''The Love for Three Oranges'', ''Maddalena (opera), Maddalena'' **with Mira Mendelson: ''Betrothal in a Monastery'', ''The Story of a Real Man'', ''War and Peace (opera), War and Peace'' **with Valentin Katayev: ''Semyon Kotko'' Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) *used by Alexander Dargomyzhsky: ''The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky), The Stone Guest''


Q

Philippe Quinault (1635–1688) *for
Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
: ''Acis et Galatée'', ''Amadis (Lully), Amadis'', ''Armide (Lully), Armide'', ''Atys (Lully), Atys'', ''Cadmus et Hermione'', ''Isis (Lully), Isis'', ''Persée'', ''Phaëton (Lully), Phaëton'', ''Proserpine (Lully), Proserpine'', ''Roland (Lully), Roland'', ''Thésée'' *used by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Gluck: ''Armide (Gluck), Armide'' *used by Niccolò Piccinni, Piccinni: ''Roland''


R

Jean Richepin (1849–1926) *for
César Cui César Antonovich Cui ( rus, Це́зарь Анто́нович Кюи́, , ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi, links=no, Ru-Tsezar-Antonovich-Kyui.ogg; french: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui, links=no, italic=no; 13 March 1918) was a Ru ...
: ''Le flibustier (opera), Le flibustier'' *for
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
: ''Le mage''
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
(1844–1908) *for his own music: ''Christmas Eve (opera), Christmas Eve'', ''Kashchey the Deathless'', ''The Maid of Pskov'', ''May Night'', ''The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga'', ''
Sadko Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic '' bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and '' gusli'' musician from Novgorod. Textual notes "Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome ...
'', ''Servilia (opera), Servilia'', ''The Snow Maiden'' Ottavio Rinuccini (1562–1621) *for Giulio Caccini, Caccini: ''Euridice (Caccini), Euridice'' *for Marco da Gagliano, Gagliano: ''Dafne (Gagliano), Dafne'' *for Claudio Monteverdi, Monteverdi: ''L'Arianna'' *for Jacopo Peri, Peri: ''Dafne'', ''Euridice (Peri), Euridice'' Michael Symmons Roberts (born 1963) *for James MacMillan: ''The Sacrifice (opera), The Sacrifice'' Felice Romani (1788–1865) *for Vincenzo Bellini, Bellini: ''Adelson e Salvini'', ''Beatrice di Tenda'', ''Bianca e Fernando'', ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'', ''Norma (opera), Norma'', ''Il pirata'', ''I puritani'', ''La sonnambula'', ''La straniera'', ''Zaira (opera), Zaira'' *for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''Alina, regina di Golconda'', ''Anna Bolena'', ''L'elisir d'amore'', ''Gianni di Parigi'', ''Lucrezia Borgia (opera), Lucrezia Borgia'', ''Parisina'', ''Rosmonda d'Inghilterra'', ''Ugo, conte di Parigi'' *for Giacomo Meyerbeer: ''L'esule di Granata'', ''Margherita d'Anjou'' *for Gioachino Rossini, Rossini: ''Aureliano in Palmira'', ''Bianca e Falliero'', ''Il turco in Italia'' *for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Un giorno di regno'' Giulio Rospigliosi (later Pope Clement IX) (1600–1669) *for Stefano Landi: ''Il Sant'Alessio'' *for Marco Marazzoli and Virgilio Mazzocchi: ''Chi soffre, speri'' *for Luigi Rossi: ''Il palazzo incantato'' *for Michelangelo Rossi: ''Erminia sul Giordano'' *with Giacomo Rospigliosi **for Antonio Maria Abbatini and Marco Marazzoli: ''Dal male il bene'' Gaetano Rossi (1774–1855) * for Gioachino Rossini, Rossini: ''La cambiale di matrimonio'', ''Tancredi'', ''Semiramide'' * for Simon Mayr: ''L'amor coniugale'' * for
Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond ...
: ''Il giuramento'' * for Giacomo Meyerbeer, Meyerbeer: ''Il crociato in Egitto'' * for Giovanni Pacini, Pacini: ''Carlo di Borgogna'' * for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''Maria Padilla'' (with Gaetano Donizetti), ''Linda di Chamounix'' Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) *for his own music: ''Le devin du village'' Pierre-Charles Roy (1683–1764) *for André Cardinal Destouches: ''Callirhoé'' *for André Cardinal Destouches and Michel Richard Delalande: ''Les élémens'' Alphonse Royer (1803–1875) * with Gustave Vaëz ** for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''La favorite'', ''L'Ange de Nisida'' ** for Gioachino Rossini, Rossini and Louis Niedermeyer, Niedermeyer: ''Robert Bruce (opera), Robert Bruce'' ** for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Jérusalem''


S

Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. Sa ...
(1799–1875) *alone **for Franz Lachner: ''Caterina Cornaro (Lachner), Caterina Cornaro'' **for Fromental Halévy: ''La reine de Chypre'' *with
Jules Adenis Jules-Adenis de Colombeau (28 June 1823 – 1900) was a 19th-century French opera librettist, playwright, and journalist. Adenis was born in Paris and studied at the Collège royal de Bourbon (now the Lycée Condorcet). Colombeau was initially emp ...
**for Georges Bizet, Bizet: ''
La jolie fille de Perth ''La jolie fille de Perth'' (''The Fair Maid of Perth'') is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet (1838–1875), from a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, after the 1828 novel ''The Fair Maid of Perth'' by Sir Walt ...
'' *with Jean-François Bayard: **for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''La fille du régiment'' *with Eugène de Planard, François-Antoine de Planard: **for Fromental Halévy: ''L'éclair'' *with Eugène Scribe: **for Daniel Auber, Auber: ''Les diamants de la couronne'' Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812) *for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart: ''
The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...
'' (1791) *for Franz Xaver Süssmayr: ''Der Spiegel von Arkadien'' (1794) *for Peter Winter: ''The Magic Flute's Second Part'' (1798) Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) *for his own music: ''Die glückliche Hand'', ''Moses und Aron'' Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) *alone **for Daniel Auber, Auber: ''Le cheval de bronze'', ''Le domino noir'', ''L'enfant prodigue (Auber), L'enfant prodigue'', ''Fra Diavolo (opera), Fra Diavolo'', ''Gustave III (Auber), Gustave III'', ''Haydée'', ''Manon Lescaut (Auber), Manon Lescaut'', ''La muette de Portici'', ''La part du diable'' **for Adrien Boieldieu, Boieldieu: ''La dame blanche'' **for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''Dom Sébastien'' **for Fromental Halévy, Halévy: ''Guido et Ginevra'', ''La Juive'' **for Giacomo Meyerbeer, Meyerbeer: ''L'Africaine'', ''Les Huguenots'', ''Le prophète (opera), Le prophète'', ''Robert le diable'', ''L'étoile du nord'' *with Germain Delavigne **for Charles Gounod, Gounod: ''La nonne sanglante'' *with Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson **for Gioachino Rossini, Rossini: ''Le comte Ory'' *with Charles Duveyrier **for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''Le duc d'Albe'' **for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Les vêpres siciliennes'' *with
Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. Sa ...
**for Daniel Auber, Auber: ''Les diamants de la couronne'' Sandra Seaton *for William Bolcom's From The Diary of Sally Hemings Michel-Jean Sedaine (1719–1797) *for
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
: ''Le diable à quatre (opera), Le diable à quatre'' *for
André Grétry André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
: ''Aucassin et Nicolette (opera), Aucassin et Nicolette'', ''Guillaume Tell (Grétry), Guillaume Tell'', ''Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera), Richard Coeur-de-lion'' *for Monsigny: ''Le déserteur'' Peter Sellars (born 1957) *for John Adams (composer), John Adams: ''Doctor Atomic'' Elkanah Settle (1648–1724) *for ''The World in the Moon'' (1697) and ''The Virgin Prophetess, The Virgin Prophetess, or The Fate of Troy'' (1701) Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692) *for
Matthew Locke Matthew Locke may refer to: * Matthew Locke (administrator) (fl. 1660–1683), English Secretary at War from 1666 to 1683 * Matthew Locke (composer) (c. 1621–1677), English Baroque composer and music theorist * Matthew Locke (soldier) (1974–2 ...
: ''Psyche (Locke), Psyche'' William Shakespeare (1564–1616) *used by
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, heavily cut by Britten and Peter Pears: ''A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera), A Midsummer Night's Dream'' Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) *for Thomas Linley the younger and Thomas Linley the elder: ''The Duenna''
Renato Simoni Renato Simoni (Verona, 5 September 1875 – Milan, 5 July 1952) was an Italian journalist, playwright, writer and theatrical critic noted for his collaboration work with Giuseppe Adami for Giacomo Puccini's ''Turandot''. Simoni's career was entire ...
(1875–1952) *for Giacomo Puccini, Puccini: ''
Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...
'' (with
Giuseppe Adami Giuseppe Adami (4 February 187812 October 1946) was an Italian librettist, playwright and music critic, he was best known for his collaboration with Giacomo Puccini on the operas ''La rondine'' (1917), ''Il tabarro'' (1918) and ''Turandot'' (1926 ...
) * for Francesco Cilea: ''Il ritorno dell'amore'' Montagu Slater (1902–1956) *for
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
: ''Peter Grimes'' Temistocle Solera (1815–1878) *for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Oberto (opera), Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio'', ''Nabucco'', ''I Lombardi alla prima crociata'', ''Giovanna d'Arco'', ''Attila (opera), Attila'' Antonio Somma (1809–1864) *for Giuseppe Verdi, Verdi: ''Un ballo in maschera'' Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) *for Virgil Thomson: ''Four Saints in Three Acts'', ''The Mother of Us All'' B. C. Stephenson (1838–1906) *for
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
: ''The Zoo'' *for Frederic Clay: ''The Bold Recruit'', ''Out of Sight'', ''The Pirates Isle'' *for Alfred Cellier: ''Charity Begins at Home'', ''Doris (opera), Doris'', ''Dorothy (opera), Dorothy'', ''The Masque of Pandora'' Cesare Sterbini (1784–1831) *for
Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
: ''The Barber of Seville'', ''Torvaldo e Dorliska'' Richard Strauss (1864–1949) *for his own music: ''Guntram (opera), Guntram'', ''Intermezzo (opera), Intermezzo'', ''Salome (opera), Salome'' (adapted from Oscar Wilde)
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
(1882–1971) *for his own music: ''Renard (Stravinsky), Renard'', ''The Nightingale (opera), Le rossignol'' Alessandro Striggio (ii), Alessandro Striggio (1573–1630) *for Claudio Monteverdi, Monteverdi: ''L'Orfeo'' John Millington Synge (1871–1909) *used by Ralph Vaughan Williams: ''Riders to the Sea (opera), Riders to the Sea''


T

Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (1863–1934) *for Adriano Biagi: ''La sposa di Nino'' *for
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina ...
: ''Regina Diaz'' *for
Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...
: ''Amica (opera), Amica'', ''Cavalleria rusticana'', ''Nerone (Mascagni), Nerone'', ''Pinotta'', ''I Rantzau'', ''Silvano (opera), Silvano'', ''Zanetto'' Nahum Tate (1652–1715) *for Henry Purcell, Purcell: ''Dido and Aeneas'' Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1850–1916) *for Eduard Nápravník: ''Dubrovsky (opera), Dubrovsky'' *for Sergei Rachmaninoff: ''Francesca da Rimini (Rachmaninoff), Francesca da Rimini'' *for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: ''Iolanta'', ''The Queen of Spades (opera), The Queen of Spades'' Emmanuel Théaulon (1787–1841) *with **for Luigi Cherubini: ''Blanche de Provence'' **for Ferdinando Paer: ''Blanche de Provence'' **for Franz Liszt: ''Don Sanche'' Michael Tippett (1905–1998) *for his own music: ''The Ice Break'', ''King Priam'', ''The Knot Garden'', ''The Midsummer Marriage'', ''New Year (opera), New Year'' Andrea Leone Tottola (?–1831) *for Vincenzo Bellini, Bellini: ''Adelson e Salvini'' *for Gaetano Donizetti, Donizetti: ''Alfredo il grande'', ''Il castello di Kenilworth'', ''Gabriella di Vergy'', ''Imelda de' Lambertazzi'', ''La zingara'' *for Giovanni Pacini: ''Alessandro nelle Indie'' *for Gioachino Rossini, Rossini: ''La donna del lago'', ''Ermione'', ''Mosè in Egitto'', ''Zelmira'' Étienne Tréfeu (1821–1903) *with
Adolphe Jaime Adolphe Jaime, called Jaime fils, (1825 in Paris – 1901 in Asnières-sur-Seine) was a 19th-century French vaudevillist and librettist. He was the son of Ernest Jaime (1804–1884), also a playwright. Works *1845: ''Le Diable à quatre'', va ...
and Hector-Jonathan Crémieux **for Jacques Offenbach, Offenbach:
Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...


V

Albert Vanloo (1846–1920) *for Edmond Audran :*with William Busnach: ''L'oeuf rouge'' *for Emmanuel Chabrier :*with Eugène Letterier: ''L'étoile (opera), L'étoile'', ''Une éducation manquée'' *for Alexandre Charles Lecocq :*with William Busnach: ''Ali-Baba'' :*with Georges Duval: ''La belle au bois dormant'' :*with Eugène Letterier: ''La Camargo'', ''Giroflé-Girofla'', ''La jolie persane'', ''Le jour et la nuit (opera), Le jour et la nuit'', ''La marjolaine'', ''La petite mariée'' *for André Messager :*with Georges Duval: ''Les dragons de l'impératrice'', ''Les p'tites Michu'', ''Véronique (operetta), Véronique'' *for Jacques Offenbach, Offenbach :*with Eugène Letterier: ''Mam'zelle Moucheron'' :*with Leterrier and A Mortier: ''Le voyage dans la lune (operetta), Le voyage dans la lune'' Giambattista Varesco (1735–1805) *for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart: ''Idomeneo'', ''L'oca del Cairo'' Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) *for his own music: ''The Pilgrim's Progress (opera), The Pilgrim's Progress'', ''Sir John in Love'' Royce Vavrek *for Du Yun: ''Angel's Bone'' *for Ricky Ian Gordon: ''27 (opera), 27'' *for David T. Little: ''JFK (opera), JFK'', ''Dog Days (opera), Dog Days'', ''Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera'' *for Missy Mazzoli: ''Breaking the Waves (opera), Breaking the Waves'' :*with the composer: ''Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt'' *for Gregory Spears: ''O Columbia'' Paul Verlaine *for Emmanuel Chabrier: ''Fisch-Ton-Kan''
Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges (7 November 1799 – 23 December 1875) was a French playwright, who was born and died in Paris. He was one of the most prolific librettists of the 19th century, often working in collaboration with others. Sa ...
(1799–1875) – see above under #S, S Voltaire (1694–1778) *for Jean-Philippe Rameau, Rameau: ''La princesse de Navarre'', ''Le temple de la gloire'', ''Les fêtes de Ramire'', ''Lost operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Samson'' (lost)


W

Richard Wagner (1813–1883) *for his own music: ''Die Feen'', ''The Flying Dutchman (opera), The Flying Dutchman'', ''Götterdämmerung'', ''Die Hochzeit'', ''Das Liebesverbot'', ''Lohengrin (opera), Lohengrin'', ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', ''Parsifal'', ''Das Rheingold'', ''Rienzi'', ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', ''Siegfried (opera), Siegfried'', ''Tannhäuser (opera), Tannhäuser'', ''Tristan und Isolde'', ''Die Walküre'' Camillo Walzel (1829–1895) pseudonym F Zell *with Richard Genée *for Carl Millöcker: ''Der Bettelstudent'' *for Johann Strauss II: ''Cagliostro in Wien'', ''Der lustige Krieg'', ''Eine Nacht in Venedig'' Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) *for Paul Hindemith: ''The Long Christmas Dinner (opera), The Long Christmas Dinner'' Albert Willemetz (1887–1964) *for
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...
'': Les aventures du roi Pausole'' *for Henri Christiné: ''Phi-Phi'' *for André Messager: ''Coups de roulis'' *for Maurice Yvain: ''Ta bouche'', ''Là-Haut'', ''Yes !'' Ernst von Wolzogen (1855–1934) *for Richard Strauss: ''Feuersnot''


Y

Arthur Yorinks (born 1953) *for
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
: ''The Fall of the House of Usher'', ''The Juniper Tree (opera), The Juniper Tree''


Z

(1873–1943) * for
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...
: ''
La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...
'' (with ) Franco Zeffirelli (1923–2019) *for Samuel Barber: ''Antony and Cleopatra (opera), Antony and Cleopatra'' Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942) *for his own music: ''Der König Kandaules'' Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750) *used by George Frideric Handel, Handel: ''Faramondo'' *used by Hasse: ''Antioco'' *used by Hasse and Ignaz Holzbauer, Holzbauer: ''Lucio Papirio'' *used by Ignaz Holzbauer, Holzbauer: ''Il Don Chisciotte'', ''Sesostri, re d'Egitto'', ''Vologeso'' *used by Alessandro Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi: ''Griselda (A. Scarlatti), Griselda'' Julius Zeyer (1841–1901) *for Leoš Janáček: ''Šárka (Janáček), Šárka'' Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970) *for his own music: ''Die Soldaten'' Peter Zinovieff *for
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include ''Th ...
: ''The Mask of Orpheus'' Émile Zola (1840–1902) *for Alfred Bruneau: ''Messidor'', ''L'ouragan'' Stefan Zweig (1881–1942) *for Richard Strauss: ''Die schweigsame Frau''


General sources

*''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) *''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, *


See also

*Literaturoper {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Opera Librettists Opera-related lists, Librettists Opera librettists,