Which operas did Britten compose?įind out more about Britten and his works here He has emerged as one of the major figures of 20th-century opera. The premiere of Peter Grimes secured Britten a place on the international opera stage, and from then, Britten was able to flex his operatic muscles and wrote a tranche of stellar works for the stage.

Five essential works by Benjamin Britten.

After giving the US premiere of Paul Bunyan, written to a libretto by WH Auden, the pair withdrew the opera – despite its deft use of American musical, country and blues idioms. The operas of Benjamin Britten manage to straddle traditional and avant-garde soundworlds and appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Read our reviews of the latest Puccini recordings here Britten Which operas did Puccini compose?įind out more about Puccini and his works here How many times have we heard ‘O mio babbino caro’ from Gianni Schicchi or seen various adaptations of La bohemeperformed on stages across the world?Ĭertainly, there’s something questionable about the way Puccini and his librettists treat women, with many of his female protagonists taking their own lives, but elsewhere in his operas he touches on progressive subjects such as cultural imperialism.

Pucciniis the founding father of Italian opera, whose music has stood the test of time. We named Wagner one of the greatest composers ever Puccini Read more reviews of the latest Wagner recordings hereįind out more about Wagner and his works here The festival provided a platform for Wagner to showcase his own works, including The Ring Cycleand Parsifal. Later in his life, he founded the Bayreuth Festival, his very own opera gala. Which are Wagner’s best and most famous operas?.

Its opening opera, Das Rheingold, is, at two and a half hours, the longest single stretch of unbroken music in the classical music canon. Its four comprising operas are Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, and are intended to be heard in a series. His Ring Cycle perfectly indicates his grasp of the form, made up of four full-length operas – a cycle of unprecedented scale and grandeur. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) truly was opera’s colossus, revolutionising the form and popularising the use of leitmotifs – musical phrases corresponding to specific characters – in operas of the 19th century. Six of the best operas about Roman leaders.Italian operas: 5 of the best to explore after Tosca.

Famous opera music