A chronology of twentieth-century operatic premieres

Nigel Simeone

This chronology is necessarily selective, but I have tried to include as many major operatic works as possible, especially those with any hold on the repertoire, as well as lesser-known operas which have particular national or other significance (Catalan, Finnish, Flemish, Greek, Latvian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian and Slovak operas, for instance). Some composers have established themselves firmly in the opera-going public’s estimation as great exponents of the genre (notably Strauss, Puccini, Janá ek, Berg, Weill and Britten), while others have written outstanding operas which are only rarely performed (Hindemith and Roussel, for example). Since the 1960s, the works of Birtwistle and Maxwell Davies, then Casken, Turnage, Macmillan, Adès and others have demonstrated that new opera in Britain is flourishing; and the same can be said of Adams and Glass in the United States, of Rihm in Germany, and so on. Earlier in the century, composers whose work is rarely seen in theatres today enjoyed immense success: the likes of Braunfels, Bruneau, Klenau, Korngold, Schreker and Wolf-Ferrari were performed widely, but of these only Korngold and Schreker are staged at all regularly now – and only then after decades of neglect.

A few works are listed here because of their originality, or their oddness: Zillig’s Das Opfer (about Scott of the Antarctic) is written in a rigorously serial language but features a dance chorus of penguins; Pratella’s L’aviatore Dro is a rare example of an Italian Futurist opera; Redolfi’s Crysallis is the first sub-aquatic opera (for soprano and amphibious percussion); Blomdahl’s Aniara is innovative – as the first ‘space opera’ – but it is also a work of lasting quality. Two operas have been listed because of their connections with much more famous works by Strauss: Gnecchi’s Cassandra (1905) was at the centre of a scandal in 1909 when the Italian critic Giovanni Tebaldini drew attention to the striking similarities between Gnecchi’s work and Strauss’s Elektra , which was composed in 1906–8, after the premiere of Cassandra . Another work with a Strauss connection is Mariotte’s Salomé (1908), which set the original French text of Wilde’s play and was composed before Strauss’s work even though it was first performed three years later. Monleone’s Cavalleria rusticana brought about a lawsuit, since Mascagni was worried that another opera of the same name might damage the earning potential of his own Cav (1890). Opera is full of such strange coincidences and odd quirks of history: two operas called Fedra performed in Italy within a fortnight of each other in 1915, and the famous case of the two Wozzeck s: Berg’s in 1925 and Gurlitt’s the following year. What became of Gurlitt? He was a pupil of Humperdinck’s who settled in Japan in 1939, where he spent the rest of his life promoting German opera.

Compiling a list of this kind is a curiously fascinating activity, since the same year, or even the same month, could produce such a bewildering diversity of styles. Taking an example more or less at random, 1920 included Der Schatzgräber , one of Schreker’s biggest successes at the time; Janá ek’s The Excursions of Mr Brou ek , a stunningly original work, but one which took its composer the best part of a decade to finish; the first successful Latvian opera (Banuta ); an Italian Futurist opera (L’aviatore Dro ); the veteran Bruneau’s Le Roi Candaule ; and Die tote Stadt by Korngold. While he was still only in his early twenties, Korngold already had two significant operatic successes behind him, and Die tote Stadt was to be performed all over Europe and in New York within less than a decade of its simultaneous premieres in Hamburg and Cologne.

1900

14 Jan., Rome

Puccini: Tosca

22 Jan., Vienna

Zemlinsky: Es war einmal

2 Feb., Paris

Charpentier: Louise

22 Feb., Venice

Wolf-Ferrari: Cenerentola

27 Aug., Béziers

Fauré: Prométhée

24 Oct., Barcelona

Vives: Euda d’Uriach

3 Nov., Moscow

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan

10 Nov., Milan

Leoncavallo: Zazà

14 Nov., Bucharest

Caudella: Petru Rares

1901

15 Feb., Paris

Leroux: Astarté

31 March, Prague

Dvo ák: Rusalka

29 April, Paris

Bruneau: L’Ouragon

29 May, Dresden

Paderewski: Manru

9 Nov., Elberfeld

Pfitzner: Die Rose vom Liebesgarten

20 Nov., Paris

Massenet: Grisélidis

21 Nov., Dresden

Strauss: Feuersnot

1902

15 Feb., Leipzig

Weingartner: Orestes

18 Feb., Paris

Massenet: Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame

2 April, London

German: Merrie England

30 April, Paris

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

6 Nov., Milan

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur

28 Nov., Copenhagen

Nielsen: Saul og David

9 Dec., St Petersburg

Nápravník: Francesca da Rimini

25 Dec., Moscow

Rimsky-Korsakov: Kaschey The Immortal

1903

7 Jan., Brussels

D’Indy: L’Etranger

9 Feb., Nice

Massenet: Marie-Magdeleine

1 Oct., Dresden

Blech: Alpenkönig und Menschenfreund

10 Oct., Antwerp

Gilson: Prinses Zonnenschijn

15 Nov., Prague

D’Albert: Tiefland

27 Nov., Munich

Wolf-Ferrari: Le donne curiose

30 Nov., Brussels

Chausson: Le Roi Arthus

3 Dec., Barcelona

Mánen: Acté

19 Dec., Milan

Giordano: Siberia

23 Dec., Paris

Leroux: La Reine Fiammette

1904

21 Jan., Brno

Janá ek: Jen fa

29 Jan., Hamburg

S. Wagner: Der Kobold

17 Feb., Milan

Puccini: Madama Butterfly

18 Feb., Monte Carlo

Saint-Saëns: Hélène

25 March, Prague

Dvo ák: Armida

30 March, Elberfeld

Delius: Koanga

16 Oct., St Petersburg

Rimsky-Korsakov: Pan Voyevoda

30 Nov., Turin

Alfano: Risurrezione

1905

14 Feb., Monte Carlo

Massenet: Chérubin

3 March, Paris

Bruneau: L’Enfant Roi

16 March, Monte Carlo

Mascagni: Amica

14 April, Berlin

Humperdinck: Die Heirat wider Willen

16 April, Prague

Foerster: Jessika

5 Dec., Bologna

Gnecchi: Cassandra

9 Dec., Dresden

Strauss: Salome

26 Dec., Paris

Widor: Les Pêcheurs de Saint-Jean

30 Dec., Vienna

Lehár: Die lustige Witwe

1906

24 Jan., Moscow

Rakhmaninov: The Miserly Knight and Francesca da Rimini

31 Jan., Boston

Converse: The Pipe of Desire

19 March, Munich

Wolf-Ferrari: I Quattro Rusteghi

27 March, Paris

C. Erlanger: Aphrodite

31 Oct., Paris

Massenet: Ariane

11 Nov., Leipzig

Smyth: The Wreckers

11 Nov., Copenhagen

Nielsen: Maskerade

1907

2 Feb., Paris

Bruneau: Naïs Micoulin

5 Feb., Amsterdam

Monleone: Cavalleria rusticana

7 Feb., Monte Carlo

Massenet: Thérèse

20 Feb., St Petersburg

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh

21 Feb., Berlin

Delius: A Village Romeo and Juliet

10 May, Paris

Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-bleue

5 June, Paris

Messager: Fortunio

2 Nov., Vienna

Fall: Die Dollarprinzessin

6 Nov., Paris

Leroux: Le Chemineau

1908

2 Jan., Vienna

Goldmark: Ein Wintermärchen

18 June, Viipuri

Merikanto: Pohjan Neito

30 Oct., Lyon

Mariotte: Salomé

4 Nov., Hamburg

Blech: Versiegelt

14 Nov., Vienna

O. Straus: Der tapfere Soldat

1909

10 Jan., Paris

H. Février: Monna Vanna

25 Jan., Dresden

Strauss: Elektra

9 Feb., Nice

Nougès: Quo Vadis

25 March, Stuttgart

Braunfels: Prinzessin Brambilla

7 Oct., Moscow

Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel

4 Dec., Munich

Wolf-Ferrari: Il segreto di Susanna

8 Dec., Paris

Séverac: Le Coeur du moulin

1910

23 Jan., Karlsruhe

S. Wagner: Banadietrich

19 Feb., Monte Carlo

Massenet: Don Quichotte

12 April, Vienna

Bittner: Der Musikant

17 Nov., Helsinki

Merikanto: Elinan Surma

30 Nov., Paris

Bloch: Macbeth

2 Dec., Vienna

Zemlinsky: Kleider machen Leute

10 Dec., New York

Puccini: La fanciulla del West

28 Dec., New York

Humperdinck: Königskinder

1911

26 Jan., Dresden

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier

3 March, Boston

Converse: The Sacrifice

19 May, Paris

Ravel: L’Heure espagnole

2 June, Buenos Aires

Mascagni: Isabeau

14 Oct., Milan

Zandonai: Conchita

9 Nov., Vienna

Bittner: Der Bergsee

23 Nov., Vienna

Kienzl: Der Kuhreigen

15 Dec., Paris

Magnard: Bérénice

23 Dec., Berlin

Wolf-Ferrari: I gioielli della Madonna

1912

18 Jan., Frankfurt

Waltershausen: Oberst Chabert

1 Feb., Nancy

Ropartz: Le Pays

7 Feb., Paris

Lazzari: La Lépreuse

17 Feb., Monte Carlo

Massenet: Roma

14 March, New York

Parker: Mona

13 April, Hamburg

Busoni: Die Brautwahl

15 June, London

Holbrooke: The Children on Don

18 Aug., Frankfurt

Schreker: Der ferne Klang

16 Sept., London

Leoncavallo: Zingari

25 Oct., Stuttgart

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (first version)

1913

22 Jan., Dresden

Dohnányi: Tante Simona

4 March, Monte Carlo

Fauré: Pénélope

15 March, Vienna

Schreker: Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin

1 April, Nice

Falla: La vida breve

10 April, Milan

Montemezzi: L’amore di tre Re

4 June, Paris

Charpentier: Julien ou La Vie du Poète

5 June, Paris

Mussorgsky: Khovanschina (rev. Stravinsky and Ravel)

4 Dec., Dresden

Wolf-Ferrari: L’amore medico

15 Dec., Milan

Mascagni: Parisina

1914

10 Feb., Milan

Smareglia: L’abisso

19 Feb., Turin

Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini

1 April, Vienna

Schmidt: Notre Dame

19 April, Dessau

Sinding: Der heilige Berg

15 May, Paris

Rabaud: Mârouf, Savetier du Caire

17 May, Darmstadt

Weingartner: Kain und Abel

26 May, Paris

Stravinsky: Le Rossignol

11 June, Leipzig

Graener: Don Juans letztes Abenteuer

4 July, London

Holbrooke: Dylan, Son of the Wave

26 Aug., Glastonbury

Boughton: The Immortal Hour

1915

20 March, Milan

Pizzetti: Fedra

3 April, Rome

Romani: Fedra

1 July, Los Angeles

Parker: Fairyland

26 Sept., Stuttgart

Schillings: Mona Lisa

10 Oct., Prague

Novák: The Imp of Zvíkov

1916

14 Jan., London

Stanford: The Critic or An Opera Rehearsed

28 Jan., London

Smyth: The Boatswain’s Mate

28 Jan., New York

Granados: Goyescas

23 Feb., Darmstadt

Weingartner: Dame Kobold

5 March, Dresden

D’Albert: Die toten Augen

11 March, Athens

Kalomiris: The Master Builder

28 March, Munich

Korngold: Violanta and Der Ring des Polykrates

4 Oct., Vienna

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (revised version)

15 Oct., Darmstadt

Bittner: Das höllisch Gold

18 Nov., Prague

Novák: Karlstejn

5 Dec., London

Holst: S vitri

6 Dec., Vienna

Kienzl: Das Testament

25 Dec., Paris

Bruneau: Les Quatre journées

1917

20 Jan., Vienna

Oberleithner: Der eiserne Heiland

30 Jan., Stuttgart

Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie

8 March, New York

De Koven: The Canterbury Pilgrims

27 March, Monte Carlo

Puccini: La rondine

30 April, Rome

Mascagni: Lodoletta

11 May, Zurich

Busoni: Turandot and Arlecchino

12 June, Munich

Pfitzner: Palestrina

8 Dec., Athens

Kalomiris: The Mother’s Ring

11 Dec., Dresden

Pfitzner: Das Christelflein

1918

25 April, Frankfurt

Schreker: Die Gezeichneten

24 May, Budapest

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle

28 Sept., Lausanne

Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat

5 Nov., Karlsruhe

S. Wagner: Schwarzschwanenreich

11 Dec., Berne

Wehrli: Das heisse Eisen

14 Dec., New York

Puccini: Il tabarro , Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (‘Il Trittico’)

1919

7 April, Birmingham

Messager: Monsieur Beaucaire

16 April, Zurich

Schoeck: Don Ranudo

10 Oct., Vienna

Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten

21 Oct., Frankfurt

Delius: Fennimore and Gerda

1920

2 Jan., New York

De Koven: Rip van Winkle

21 Jan., Frankfurt

Schreker: Der Schatzgräber

29 Jan., Darmstadt

Reznicek: Ritter Blaubart

30 Jan., Helsinki

Merikanto: Regina von Emmeritz

23 April, Prague

Janá ek: The Excursions of Mr Brou ek

13 May, Vienna

Weingartner: Die Dorfschule and Meister Andrea

29 May, Riga

Kalnins: Banuta

1 July, Frankfurt

R. Stephan: Die ersten Menschen

10 July, Paris

Malipiero: Sette canzoni

4 Sept., Lugo di Romagna

Pratella: L’aviatore Dro

1 Dec., Paris

Bruneau: Le Roi Candaule

4 Dec., Cologne and Hamburg

Korngold: Die tote Stadt (simultaneous premieres)

4 Dec., Munich

Braunfels: Die Vögel

9 Dec., London

Somerville: David Garrick

1921

16 Feb., Kaunas

Petrauskas: Birute

14 March, Paris

Dupont: Antar

15 May, Hanover

Wellesz: Die Prinzessin Girnara

4 June, Stuttgart

Hindemith: Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen and Das Nusch-Nuschi

11 June, Mézières

Honegger: Le Roi David

23 Nov., Brno

Janá ek: Kát’a Kabanová

10 Dec., Bologna

Alfano: La leggenda di Sakuntala

30 Dec., Chicago

Prokofiev: The Love for Three Oranges

1922

14 Feb., Rome

Zandonai: Giulietta e Romeo

26 March, Frankfurt

Hindemith: Sancta Susanna

10 May, Zurich

Schoeck: Venus

13 May, Warsaw

Szymanowski: Hagith

18 May, Paris

Stravinsky: Renard

28 May, Cologne

Zemlinsky: Der Zwerg

3 June, Paris

Stravinsky: Mavra (stage premiere)

11 June, London

Vaughan Williams: The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains

16 Dec., Milan

Pizzetti: Dèbora e Jaéle

19 Dec., Berlin

Schmidt: Fredigundis

29 Dec., Paris

Cras: Polyphème

1923

23 March, Seville

Falla: El retablo de Maese Pedro (concert performance)

26 April, Milan

Respighi: Belfagor

29 April, Düsseldorf

Gál: Die heilige Ente

13 May, Prague

Novák: Lucerna

14 May, London

Holst: The Perfect Fool

1 June, Paris

Roussel: Padmâvatî

4 June, Birmingham

Smyth: Fête galante

25 June, Paris

Falla: El retablo de Maese Pedro (private stage premiere)

27 Oct., Berlin

Reznicek: Holofernes

10 Nov., Budapest

Hubay: Anna Karenina

15 Nov., Prague

Foerster: The Heart

8 Dec., Paris

Milhaud: La Brebis égarée

1924

19 March, Paris

Tournemire: Les Dieux sont morts

20 March, Mannheim

Wellesz: Alkestis

27 March, Cologne

Schreker: Irrelohe

24 April, Paris

Berners: Le Carosse du Saint-Sacrement

1 May, Milan

Boito: Nerone

6 June, Prague

Schoenberg: Erwartung

9 June, Frankfurt

K enek: Der Sprung über den Schatten

4 July, London

Vaughan Williams: Hugh the Drover

21 Aug., Glastonbury

Boughton: The Queen of Cornwall

27 Sept., Birmingham

Bantock: The Seal Woman

14 Oct., Vienna

Schoenberg: Die glückliche Hand

21 Oct., Berlin

K enek: Zwingburg

25 Oct., Helsinki

Madetoja: Pohjalaisia

4 Nov., Dresden

Strauss: Intermezzo

6 Nov., Brno

Janá ek: The Cunning Little Vixen

1925

23 Jan., Stockholm

Atterberg: Bäckahästen

19 Feb., Venice

Wolf-Ferrari: Gli amanti sposi

7 March, Milan

Zandonai: I cavalieri di Ekebù

21 March, Monte Carlo

Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges

3 April, Manchester

Holst: At the Boar’s Head

21 May, Dresden

Busoni: Doktor Faust

1 June, Paris

Roussel: La Naissance de la lyre

30 Oct., Düsseldorf

Malipiero: L’Orfeide

11 Nov., Brno

Janá ek: Sarka

14 Dec., Berlin

Berg: Wozzeck

1926

13 Feb., Monte Carlo

Honegger: Judith

27 March, Dresden

Weill: Der Protagonist

22 April, Bremen

Gurlitt: Wozzeck

25 April, Milan

Puccini: Turandot

4 May, Venice

Castelnuovo-Tedesco: La Mandragola

7 May, Brussels

Milhaud: Les Malheurs d’Orphée

19 June, Warsaw

Szymanowski: King Roger

16 Oct., Budapest

Kodály: Háry János

9 Nov., Dresden

Hindemith: Cardillac

14 Nov., Frankfurt

D’Albert: Der Golem

27 Nov., Kassel

K enek: Orpheus und Eurydike

18 Dec., Brno

Janá ek: The Makropulos Affair

1927

8 Jan., Dresden

Schoeck: Penthesilea

28 Jan., Paris

Ibert: Angélique

10 Feb., Leipzig

K enek: Jonny spielt auf

17 Feb., Dresden and Breslau

Graener: Hanneles Himmelfahrt (simultaneous premieres)

17 Feb., New York

D. Taylor: The King’s Henchman

2 March, Berlin

Weill: Royal Palace

17 March, Baku

Glière: Shakh-Senem

7 April, Paris

Gaubert: Naïla

27 April, Prague

Weinberger: Schwanda the Bagpiper

5 May, Turin

Alfano: Madonna Imperia

30 May, Paris

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex (concert performance)

17 July, Baden-Baden

Milhaud: L’Enlèvement d’Europe Toch: Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse Hindemith: Hin und zurück

18 July, Berlin

Weill: Mahagonny-Songspiel

7 Oct., Hamburg

Korngold: Das Wunder der Heliane

18 Nov., Hamburg

Respighi: La campana sommersa

5 Dec., Paris

Samuel-Rousseau: Le Bon Roi Dagobert

16 Dec., Paris

Milhaud: Le Pauvre matelot

28 Dec., Brussels

Honegger: Antigone

29 Dec., Milan

Wolf-Ferrari: Sly

1928

16 Jan., Paris (Opéra)

Lazzari: La Tour de feu

16 Jan., Paris (Opéra-Comique)

Bruneau: Angelo, Tyran de Padoue

31 Jan., Weimar

A. Tcherepnin: Ol-Ol

18 Feb., Leipzig

Weill: Der Zar lässt sich photographieren

23 Feb., Vienna

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex (stage premiere)

8 March, Mainz

Malipiero: Il finto Arlecchino

24 March, Antwerp

Lilien: Beatrix

31 March, Prague

Malipiero: Filomela e l’Infatuato

20 April, Wiesbaden

Milhaud: L’Abandon d’Ariane and La Délivrance de Thésée

5 May, Brno

Martin : The Soldier and the Dancer

6 May, Wiesbaden

K enek: Schwergewicht , Der Diktator and Das geheime Königreich

15 May, Bucharest

Dragoi: Napasta

16 May, Milan

Pizzetti: Fra Gherardo

6 June, Dresden

Strauss: Die ägyptische Helena

9 June, Lisbon

Coelho: Belkiss

28 July, Baden-Baden

Hindemith: Lehrstück

31 Aug., Berlin

Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper

8 Oct., Prague

Jeremias: The Brothers Karamazov

27 Oct., Barcelona

Toldrá: El Giravolt de Maig

1 Dec., Leipzig

D’Albert: Die schwarze Orchidee

19 Dec., Copenhagen

Høffding: The Emperor’s New Clothes

1929

1 Feb., Huddersfield

Holbrooke: Bronwen

9 Feb., Budapest

Dohnányi: The Tenor

21 March, London

Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love

3 April, Paris

Canteloube: Le Mas

13 April, Duisburg

Brand: Maschinist Hopkins

23 April, Edinburgh

Tovey: The Bride of Dionysus

29 April, Brussels

Prokofiev: The Gambler

7 May, Ljubljana

Kogoj: Black Masks

8 June, Berlin

Hindemith: Neues vom Tage

25 June, London

Goossens: Judith

2 Sept., Berlin

Weill: Happy End

27 Nov., Brno

K i ka: Bílý Pán

1930

15 Jan., Paris

Ibert: Le Roi d’Yvetot

18 Jan., Leningrad

Shostakovich: The Nose

19 Jan., Leipzig

K enek: Leben des Orest

1 Feb., Frankfurt

Schoenberg: Von heute auf morgen

9 March, Leipzig

Weill: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny

12 April, Brno

Janá ek: From the House of the Dead

19 April, Naples

Alfano: L’ultimo Lord

29 April, Rome

Pizzetti: Lo straniero

5 May, Berlin

Milhaud: Christophe Colomb

24 May, Gera

Zádor: X-mal Rembrandt

25 May, Frankfurt

Antheil: Transatlantic

2 June, Paris

Delannoy: Le Fou de la Dame Rosenthal: Rayons de Soieries

8 June, Königsberg

Toch: Des Fächer

21 June, Berlin

Hindemith: Wir bauen eine Stadt

23 June, Berlin Radio

Weill: Der Jasager

3 Oct., Dresden

Schoeck: Vom Fischer un syner Fru

11 Nov., Dresden

Reznicek: Spiel oder Ernst?

Lothar: Lord Spleen

29 Nov., Brno

Gotovac: Morana

10 Dec., Berlin

Rathaus: Fremde Erde

10 Dec., Chicago

Forest: Camille

12 Dec., Paris

Honegger: Les Aventures du Roi Pausole

1931

7 Jan., Paris

Bruneau: Virginie

26 Feb., Budapest

Hubay: The Mask

28 Feb., Munich

Weinberger: Die geliebte Stimme

4 March, Liège

Ysaÿe: Piér le Houïeu

5 March, Rome

Wolf-Ferrari: La vedova scaltra

17 May, Munich

Hába: The Mother

20 June, Vienna

Wellesz: Die Bakchantinnen

23 June, Paris

Honegger: Amphion

12 Nov., Berlin and Munich

Pfitzner: Das Herz (simultaneous premieres)

13 Nov., Schwerin

Graener: Friedmann Bach

19 Nov., New York

Gruenberg: Jack and the Beanstalk

1932

5 Jan., Paris

Milhaud: Maximilien

27 Jan., Brno

Schulhoff: Flames

14 Feb., Mannheim

Goldschmidt: Der gewaltige Hahnrei

10 March, Berlin

Weill: Die Bürgschaft

17 March, Rome

Casella: La donna serpente

8 April, Munich

Heger: Der Bettler Namenlos

24 April, Budapest

Kodály: The Spinning Room

6 Sept., Venice

Casella: La favola d’Orfeo

29 Sept., Dresden

D’Albert: Mister Wu

29 Oct., Berlin

Schreker: Der Schmied von Gent

1933

7 Jan., New York

Gruenberg: Emperor Jones

16 Feb., Kaunas

Karnavicius: Grazina

18 Feb., Leipzig, Magdeburg, Erfurt

Weill: Der Silbersee (simultaneous premieres)

17 March, Vienna

A. Tcherepnin: Die Hochzeit der Sobeide

13 June, Amsterdam

Pijper: Halewijn

26 June, Paris

Canteloube: Vercingétorix

1 July, Dresden

Strauss: Arabella

9 Sept., Riga

Kalnins: The Country’s Awakening

14 Oct., Zurich

Zemlinsky: Der Kreidekreis

4 Nov., Stuttgart

Klenau: Michael Kohlhaas

1934

13 Jan., Braunschweig

Malipiero: La favola del figlio cambiato

22 Jan., Leningrad

Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

23 Jan., Rome

Respighi: La fiamma

27 Jan., Stockholm

Atterberg: Fanal

8 Feb., Hartford, Conn.

Thomson: Four Saints in Three Acts (New York premiere 20 Feb.)

10 Feb., New York

Hanson: Merry Mount

28 Feb., New York

Antheil: Helen Retires

13 March, Brno Radio

Janá ek: Fate

30 April, Paris

Stravinsky: Perséphone

1935

16 Jan., Milan

Mascagni: Nerone

17 Feb., Helsinki

Madetoja: Juha

20 Feb., Dresden

Wagner-Régeny: Der Günstling

23 Feb., Brno

Martin : Plays about Mary

21 March, Paris

Hahn: Le Marchand de Venise

22 May, Frankfurt

Egk: Die Zaubergeige

24 June, Dresden

Strauss: Die schweigsame Frau

28 June, London

Weill: A Kingdom for a Cow

30 Sept., Boston

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (New York premiere 10 Oct.)

22 Oct., Leningrad

Dzerzhinsky: Quiet Flows the Don

1936

22 Jan., Rome

Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac

8 Feb., Genoa

Malipiero: Giulio Cesare

12 Feb., Milan

Wolf-Ferrari: Il campiello

10 March, Paris

Enesco: Oedipe

18 May, London

Vaughan Williams: The Poisoned Kiss

26 May, Frankfurt

Reutter: Doktor Johannes Faust

15 Oct., Berne Radio

Sutermeister: Die schwarze Spinne

14 Nov., Olomouc

Roussel: Le Testament de la Tante Caroline

19 Nov., New York

Weill: Johnny Johnson

1937

4 Jan., New York

Weill: The Eternal Road

23 Jan., Berlin

Klenau: Rembrandt van Rijn

24 Feb., Milan

Respighi: Lucrezia

2 March, Dresden

Schoeck: Massimilla Doni

10 March, Monte Carlo

Honegger and Ibert: L’Aiglon

18 March, Prague Radio

Martin : Comedy on the Bridge

1 April, Philadelphia

Menotti: Amelia goes to the Ball (New York premiere 11 April)

21 April, New York

Copland: The Second Hurricane

24 April, Rome

Ghislanzoni: Re Lear

19 May, Florence

Casella: Il deserto tentato

2 June, Zurich

Berg: Lulu

8 June, Frankfurt

Orff: Carmina Burana

16 June, New York

Blitzstein: The Cradle will Rock

24 June, London

Goossens: Don Juan de Mañara

12 Nov., Hamburg

Zillig: Das Opfer

18 Nov., Vienna

Weinberger: Wallenstein

24 Nov., Kassel

J. Haas: Tobias Wunderlich

1 Dec., London

Vaughan Williams: Riders to the Sea

1938

1 Feb., Paris

Milhaud: Esther de Carpentras (stage premiere)

13 Feb., Paris

Honegger and Ibert: Les Petites Cardinal

21 Feb., London

Holst: The Wandering Scholar

22 Feb., Leningrad

Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon

16 March, Prague

Martin : Julietta

2 April, Brno

P. Haas: The Charlatan

28 May, Zurich

Hindemith: Mathis der Maler

15 June, Prague

K enek: Karl V.

24 July, Munich

Strauss: Friedenstag

15 Oct., Dresden

Strauss: Daphne

24 Nov., Berlin

Egk: Peer Gynt

1939

28 Jan., Berlin

Wagner-Régeny: Die Bürger von Calais

1 Feb., Milan

Wolf-Ferrari: La dama boba

5 Feb., Munich

Orff: Der Mond

16 March, Paris

Sauguet: La Chartreuse de Parme

29 March, Berlin

Klenau: Elisabeth von England

22 April, NBC Radio

Menotti: The Old Maid and the Thief

18 May, New York

Moore: The Devil and Daniel Webster

7 Oct., Antwerp

Milhaud: Médée

7 Oct., Stockholm

Korngold: Die Kathrin

9 Dec., Bologna

Pratella: La leggenda di San Fabiano

1940

6 April, Rio de Janeiro

Villa-Lobos: Izaht (concert performance)

13 April, Dresden

Sutermeister: Romeo und Julia

18 May, Florence

Dallapiccola: Volo di notte

23 June, Moscow

Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko

1941

5 Feb., Wuppertal

Blacher: Fürstin Tarakanowa

4 April, Vienna

Wagner-Régeny: Johanna Balk

5 May, New York

Britten: Paul Bunyan

1942

28 March, Zurich

Martin: Le Vin herbé (concert performance)

15 April, Strasbourg

Bresgen: Dornröschen

30 April, Dresden

Sutermeister: Die Zauberinsel

25 July, Paris

Delannoy: Ginevra

7 Oct., Frankfurt

Reutter: Odysseus

28 Oct., Munich

Strauss: Capriccio

18 Nov., Parma

Rota: Ariodante

1943

31 Jan., Göttingen

Bresgen: Das Urteil des Paris

20 Feb., Frankfurt

Orff: Die Kluge

23 Sept., Theresienstadt

Krása: Brundibár

6 Nov., Leipzig

Orff: Catulli Carmina

1944

2 July, Dresden

J. Haas: Die Hochzeit des Jobs

4 July, Paris

Sauguet: La Gageure imprévue

16 Oct., Moscow

Prokofiev: War and Peace (concert performance)

1945

7 June, London

Britten: Peter Grimes

8 Sept., Prague

I. Krej í: Scandal in Ephesus

18 Dec., Athens

Kalomiris: Anatoli

1946

5 May, Prague

Prokofiev: The Betrothal in a Monastery

8 May, New York

Menotti: The Medium

12 July, Glyndebourne

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

16 Dec., Philadelphia

Weill: Street Scene (New York premiere 9 Jan. 1947)

1947

2 Jan., Milan

Pizzetti: L’Orò

18 Feb., New York

Menotti: The Telephone

7 May, New York

Thomson: The Mother of Us All

3 June, Paris

Poulenc: Les Mamelles de Tirésias

15 June, Stuttgart

Orff: Die Bernauerin

20 June, Glyndebourne

Britten: Albert Herring

6 Aug., Salzburg

Einem: Dantons Tod

2 Nov., Moscow

Kabalevsky: Taras and His Family

1948

25 Jan., Göttingen

Reutter: Der Weg nach Freudenstadt

24 May, Cambridge

Gay arr. Britten: The Beggar’s Opera

15 July, Bloomington, Indiana

Weill: Down in the Valley

26 July, Los Angeles

Villa-Lobos: Magdalena

15 Aug., Salzburg

Martin: Le Vin herbé (stage premiere)

14 Oct., Stockholm

Sutermeister: Raskolnikoff

3 Dec., Leningrad

Prokofiev: The Story of a Real Man (private performance)

18 Dec., Berlin

Egk: Circe

1949

29 Jan., Strasbourg

Delannoy: Puck

23 Feb., BBC Radio

Gerhard: The Duenna (concert performance)

14 June, Aldeburgh

Britten: The Little Sweep

9 Aug., Salzburg

Orff: Antigonae

29 Sept., London

Bliss: The Olympians

30 Oct., New York

Weill: Lost in the Stars

31 Oct., New York

Blitzstein: Regina

1 Dec., RAI broadcast

Dallapiccola: Il prigioniero

10 Dec., Bratislava

Sucho : The Whirlpool

1950

29 Jan., Strasbourg

Arrieu: Noé

1 March, Philadelphia

Menotti: The Consul (New York premiere 15 March)

12 May, Paris

Milhaud: Bolivar

20 May, Florence

Dallapiccola: Il prigioniero (stage premiere)

9 Aug., Salzburg

Blacher: Romeo und Julia (stage premiere)

30 Oct., Rome

Dallapiccola: Job

1951

9 March, Paris

Tailleferre: Il était un petit navire

11 April, Monte Carlo

Tailleferre: Parfums

26 April, London

Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim’s Progress

1 June, Paris

Bondeville: Madame Bovary

11 Sept., Venice

Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress

22 Nov., Stockholm

Sutermeister: Der rote Stiefel

1 Dec., London

Britten: Billy Budd

24 Dec., NBC TV

Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors

1952

17 Feb., Hanover

Henze: Boulevard Solitude

26 March, Basle

Liebermann: Leonore 40/45

12 June, Waltham, Mass.

Bernstein: Trouble in Tahiti

14 Aug., Salzburg

Strauss: Die Liebe der Danae (original premiere cancelled in 1944)

1953

13 Feb., Milan

Orff: Trionfo di Afrodite

8 June, London

Britten: Gloriana

28 June, Frankfurt Radio

Blacher: Abstrakte Oper No. 1

1954

1 April, New York

Copland: The Tender Land

1 June, Jerusalem

Milhaud: David

17 June, Aldeburgh

Berkeley: A Dinner Engagement

20 June, Frankfurt

Reutter: Die Brücke von San Luis Rey

17 Aug., Salzburg

Liebermann: Penelope

14 Sept., Venice

Britten: The Turn of the Screw

22 Sept., London

Berkeley: Nelson

3 Dec., London

Walton: Troilus and Cressida

27 Dec., New York

Menotti: The Saint of Bleecker Street

1955

27 Jan., London

Tippett: The Midsummer Marriage

11 March, Brussels

Tansman: Le Serment

21 April, Palermo

Rota: Il cappello di paglia di Firenze

17 Aug., Salzburg

Egk: Irische Legende

14 Sept., Venice

Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel (first complete staged performance)

17 Oct., Hamburg

K enek: Pallas Athene weint

26 Nov., Moscow

Kabalevsky: Nikita Vershinin

3 Dec., Louisville

Liebermann: The School for Wives

1956

1 Feb., Nancy

Landowski: Le Fou

24 Feb., Tallahassee

Floyd: Susannah

17 June, Vienna

Martin: Der Sturm

23 Sept., Berlin

Henze: König Hirsch

2 Oct., London

Berkeley: Ruth

29 Oct., Boston

Bernstein: Candide (New York premiere 1 Dec.)

1957

26 Jan., Milan

Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites (in Italian; French premiere Paris, 21 June)

9 May, Schwetzingen

Egk: Der Revisor

6 June, Zurich

Schoenberg: Moses und Aron

8 June, Cologne

Fortner: Bluthochzeit

11 Aug., Munich

Hindemith: Die Harmonie der Welt

1958

15 Jan., New York

Barber: Vanessa

1 March, Milan

Pizzetti: Assassinio nella cattedrale

18 June, Aldeburgh

Britten: Noye’s Fludde

3 Oct., Berlin

Milhaud: Fiesta

13 Dec., Rio de Janeiro

Villa-Lobos: Izaht (stage premiere)

1959

24 Jan., Moscow

Shostakovich: Moscow, Cheryomushki

6 Feb., Paris

Poulenc: La Voix humaine

9 March, New York

Blitzstein: Juno

31 May, Stockholm

Blomdahl: Aniara

10 June, Swiss Television

Sutermeister: Seraphine

17 June, Spoleto

Barber: A Hand of Bridge

11 Dec., Stuttgart

Orff: Oedipus der Tyrann

15 Dec., Moscow

Prokofiev: War and Peace (first staged performance in relatively complete form)

1960

10 March, Bratislava

Sucho : Svätopluk

22 May, Hamburg

Henze: Der Prinz von Homburg

11 June, Aldeburgh

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

15 Aug., Salzburg

Martin: Le Mystère de la Nativité

30 Sept., Paris RFT broadcast

Tailleferre: La Petite sirène

13 Nov., BBC Radio

Britten: Billy Budd (premiere of revised version in two acts)

1961

25 Feb., Bielefeld

Mihalovici: Krapp ou La dernière bande

3 March, Paris

Tansman: Sabbataï Zévi

9 June, Zurich

Martin : The Greek Passion

17 Dec., Mannheim

Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner

1962

29 May, Coventry

Tippett: King Priam

14 June, CBS (TV broadcast)

Stravinsky: The Flood

18 June, Milan

Falla: Atálantida (stage premiere)

1963

23 April, Geneva

Martin: Monsieur de Pourceaugnac

6 May, Milan

Berio: Passaggio

2 July, London

Williamson: Our Man in Havana

1964

11 June, Aldeburgh

Williamson: English Eccentrics

12 June, Orford

Britten: Curlew River

24 July, Buenos Aires

Ginastera: Don Rodrigo

6 Sept., ZDF (TV broadcast)

Sutermeister: Das Gespenst von Canterville

17 Sept., Hamburg

Einem: Der Zerrissene

12 Nov., London

Maw: One Man Show

1965

15 Feb., Cologne

Zimmermann: Die Soldaten

24 Feb., London

R. R. Bennett: The Mines of Sulphur

7 April, Berlin

Henze: Der junge Lord

11 April, New York

Rorem: Miss Julie

22 May, Farnham

Williamson: The Happy Prince

22 July, Nice

Tansman: L’Usignolo di Boboli

1966

4 Feb., Hamburg

Blacher: Zwischenfälle bei einer Notlandung

9 June, Orford

Britten: The Burning Fiery Furnace

13 June, Geneva

Milhaud: La Mère coupable

7 July, Cheltenham

Crosse: Purgatory

6 Aug., Salzburg

Henze: The Bassarids

16 Sept., New York

Barber: Antony and Cleopatra

8 Oct., Berlin

Haubenstock-Ramati: Amerika

15 Nov., Berlin

Dessau: Puntila

29 Nov., London

Williamson: The Violins of Saint-Jacques

1967

5 March, Hamburg

Goehr: Arden muss sterben

19 May, Washington

Ginastera: Bomarzo

26 May, Zurich

Sutermeister: Madame Bovary

3 June, Aldeburgh

Walton: The Bear

Berkeley: Castaway

31 Oct., London

R. R. Bennett: A Penny for a Song

30 Nov., London

Musgrave: The Decision

1968

14 Jan., Naples

Rota: Aladino e la lampada magica

5 Feb., Paris

Ohana: Syllabaire pour Phèdre

4 March, Hamburg

Searle: Hamlet

8 June, Aldeburgh

Birtwistle: Punch and Judy

10 June, Orford

Britten: The Prodigal Son

29 Sept., Berlin

Dallapiccola: Ulisse

21 Dec., Hamburg

Menotti: Help, Help, The Globolinks!

1969

15 Jan., Milan

Pousseur: Votre Faust

24 Jan., Marseille

Daniel-Lesur: Andrea del Sarto

28 March, Coventry

R. R. Bennett: All The King’s Men

8 May, Brighton

Birtwistle: Down by the Greenwood Side

7 June, Aldeburgh

Crosse: The Grace of Todd

20 June, Hamburg

Penderecki: The Devils of Loudun

18 Dec., London

Williamson: Lucky Peter’s Journey

1970

16 Jan., Marseille

Saguer: Mariana Pinéda

22 Jan., Seattle

Floyd: Of Mice and Men

13 April, London

R. R. Bennett: Victory

19 July, Glyndebourne

Maw: The Rising of the Moon

12 Aug., Santa Fe

Berio: Opera

2 Dec., London

Tippett: The Knot Garden

1971

28 Jan., London

Brian: Agamemnon

25 April, Hamburg

Kagel: Staatstheater

16 May, BBC (TV broadcast)

Britten: Owen Wingrave

29 April, Schwetzingen

Reimann: Melusine

23 May, Vienna

Einem: Der Besuch der alten Dame

16 June, Brno

Martin : Three Wishes

20 June, Kiel

Yun: Geisterliebe

12 Aug., Santa Fe

Villa-Lobos: Yerma

10 Sept., Washington

Ginastera: Beatrix Cenci

1972

12 July, London

Maxwell Davies: Taverner

23 Oct., Berlin

Fortner: Elisabeth Tudor

1973

7 Feb., Brussels

Nabokov: Love’s Labour’s Lost

16 June, Snape

Britten: Death in Venice

20 Aug., Salzburg

Orff: De temporum fine comedia

1974

13 March, London

Crosse: The Story of Vasco

16 March, Stirling

Hamilton: The Cataline Conspiracy

11 June, Snape

Musgrave: The Voice of Ariadne

25 July, Sarlat-le-Canéda

Tansman: Georges Dandin

1975

4 Aug., Avignon

Jolas: Le Pavillon au bord de la rivière

16 Dec., Amsterdam

Ullmann: Der Kaiser von Atlantis (composed 1943, Theresienstadt)

1976

12 July, London

Henze: We Come to the River

25 July, Avignon

Glass: Einstein on the Beach

1977

2 Feb., London

Hamilton: The Royal Hunt of the Sun

29 April, Mannheim

Rihm: Faust und Yorick

6 June, Bath

Tavener: A Gentle Spirit

7 June, Moscow

Schedrin: Dead Souls

18 June, Kirkwall

Maxwell Davies: The Martyrdom of St Magnus

22 June, Spoleto

Rota: Napoli milionaria

7 July, London

Tippett: The Ice Break

16 July, BBC Radio

Alwyn: Miss Julie

6 Sept., Edinburgh

Musgrave: Mary Queen of Scots

29 Sept., London

Blake: Toussaint

1978

12 April, Stockholm

Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre

9 July, Munich

Reimann: Lear

29 Nov., Chicago

Penderecki: Paradise Lost

1979

24 Feb., Paris

Berg: Lulu (three-act version completed by erha)

8 March, Hamburg

Rihm: Jakob Lenz

1 Oct., London

Tavener: Thérèse

1980

2 Sept., Edinburgh

Maxwell Davies: The Lighthouse

5 Sept., Rotterdam

Glass: Satyagraha

28 Nov., Brussels

Knussen: Where the Wild Things Are (first version; premiere of definitive version 9 Jan. 1984, London)

6 Dec., Hamburg

Reutter: Hamlet

1981

3 April, Milan

Stockhausen: Donnerstag aus Licht

7 May, London

Hamilton: Anna Karenina

1982

9 March, Milan

Berio: La vera storia

30 May, Amsterdam

Glass: The Photographer

14 Sept., BBC Radio

Musgrave: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

1983

2 June, Stuttgart

Henze: The English Cat

17 June, Houston

Bernstein: A Quiet Place

28 Nov., Paris

Messiaen: Saint-François d’Assise

1984

24 March, Stuttgart

Glass: Akhnaten

25 May, Milan

Stockhausen: Samstag aus Licht

7 Aug., Salzburg

Berio: Un re in ascolto

13 Oct., Glyndebourne

Knussen: Higgelty Piggelty Pop! (incomplete; premiere of definitive version 5 June 1990, Los Angeles)

1985

1 Feb., Toulouse

Landowski: Montségur

16 Feb., Milan

Donatoni: Atem

22 July, Munich

Sutermeister: Le Roi Bérenger

6 Dec., Cambridge, Mass.

Glass: The Juniper Tree

1986

6 Jan., London

Osborne: Hell’s Angels

1 March, Adelaide

Meale: Voss

15 March, Paris

Denisov: L’Ecume des jours

21 May, London

Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus

27 July, Avignon

Jolas: Le Cyclope

15 Aug., Salzburg

Penderecki: Die schwarze Maske

11 Nov., Washington

Menotti: Goya

1987

25 March, Mannheim

Rihm: Die Hamletmaschine

8 July, Cheltenham

Weir: A Night at the Chinese Opera

21 Aug., Gibellina, Sicily

Xenakis: Oresteia (stage premiere)

4 Oct., Berlin

Rihm: Oedipus

5 Oct., Glyndebourne

Osborne: The Electrification of the Soviet Union

22 Oct., Houston

Adams: Nixon in China

1988

7 May, Milan

Stockhausen: Montag aus Licht

18 May, Cambridge, Mass.

Glass: The Fall of the House of Usher

17 June, Munich

Turnage: Greek

8 July, Houston

Glass: The Making of the Representative for Planet 8

15 July, Vienna (Airport)

Glass: 1000 Airplanes on the Roof

16 Sept., Seoul

Menotti: The Wedding

18 Sept., Darmstadt

Maxwell Davies: Resurrection

1989

20 May, Paris

Höller: Der Meister und Margarita

25 May, London

Blake: The Plumber’s Gift

28 June, London

Casken: Golem

27 Oct., Houston

Tippett: New Year

1990

5 May, Berlin

Henze: Das verratene Meer

18 May, London

Holloway: Clarissa

7 Oct., Glasgow

Weir: The Vanishing Bridegroom

30 Oct., Vienna

Einem: Tulifant

1991

19 March, Brussels

Adams: The Death of Klinghoffer

30 May, London

Birtwistle: Gawain

6 July, Munich

Penderecki: Ubu Rex

1992

9 Feb., Hamburg

Rihm: Die Eroberung von Mexico

13 April, Amsterdam

Schnittke: Life with an Idiot

19 June, Aldeburgh

Tavener: Mary of Egypt

2 Sept., Berlin

Reimann: Das Schloss

12 Oct., New York

Glass: The Voyage

4 Dec., Grenoble

Redolfi: Crysallis: opéra subaquatique

1993

28 May, Leipzig

Stockhausen: Dienstag aus Licht (stage premiere)

1994

20 April, London

Weir: Blond Ekbert

8 July, London

Firsova: The Nightingale and the Rose

10 Sept., Magdeburg

Goldschmidt: Beatrice Cenci (composed 1949–50)

24 Oct., Glyndebourne

Birtwistle: The Second Mrs Kong

14 Dec., Stockholm

Schedrin: Lolita

1995

20 Jan., Norfolk, Va.

Musgrave: Simón Bolívar

26 May, Vienna

Schnittke: Gesualdo

22 June, Hamburg

Schnittke: Historia von D. Johann Fausten

1 July, Cheltenham

Adès: Powder Her Face

15 Sept., London

Goehr: Arianna

1996

17 March, Lyon

Landowski: Galina

20 July, Llandudno

Maxwell Davies: The Doctor of Myddfai

23 Aug., Edinburgh

Macmillan: Ines de Castro

12 Sept., Leipzig

Stockhausen: Freitag aus Licht

2 Nov., Milan

Berio: Outis

1997

11 Jan., Munich

Henze: Venus and Adonis

10 May, Heidelberg

Glass: Marriages between Zones 3, 4 and 5

15 Oct., Norwich

Alwyn: Miss Julie (stage premiere)

8 Nov., New York

Tan Dun: Marco Polo

12 Dec., London

Brian: The Cenci (concert performance)

1998

7 March, Kansas City

Mollicone: Coyote Tales

13 March, Houston

Adamo: Little Women

15 June, London

Bryars: Dr Ox’s Experiment

1999

24 July, Salzburg

Berio: Cronaca del luogo

16 Sept., Berlin

Carter: What Next?

1 Dec., Amsterdam

Andriessen: Writing to Vermeer

20 Dec., New York

Harbison: The Great Gatsby

2000

16 Feb., London

Turnage: The Silver Tassie

23 Feb., Madrid

C. Halffter: Don Quijote

6 March, Copenhagen

Ruders: The Handmaid’s Tale

18 April, Berlin

Birtwistle: The Last Supper

15 Aug., Salzburg

Saariaho: L’Amour de loin

15 Sept., Helsinki

Sallinen: King Lear

17 Sept., Seattle

Glass: In the Penal Colony

20 Nov., Brussels

Casken: God’s Liar

15 Dec., Paris

Adams: El Niño