83 articles
Pagliacci
Pagliacci (Clowns) is Ruggero Leoncavallo's 1892 two-act verismo opera, premiered at Milan's Teatro Dal Verme under Toscanini, about troupe leader Canio murdering his unfaithful wife Nedda on stage, famous for "Vesti la giubba" and its Cav/Pag double bill with Cavalleria rusticana.
Peking opera
Peking opera (京剧, jingju), also called Beijing or Jingxi opera, is a stylised Chinese total theatre combining singing, reciting, dance-acting, and combat; formed from Anhui troupes after 1790, with xipi/erhuang music, sheng-dan-jing-chou roles, and UNESCO inscription in 2010.
Peter Grimes
Peter Grimes is Benjamin Britten's three-act opera (1945) with a libretto by Montagu Slater after George Crabbe's poem The Borough, about a fisherman suspected of killing his apprentices; premiered at Sadler's Wells with Peter Pears, famous for its Four Sea Interludes.
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Metastasio, born Pietro Trapassi (1698–1782), was an Italian poet and librettist whose opera seria libretti were set by at least 300 composers.
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's 1935 American folk opera with libretto by DuBose Heyward and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, premiered at the Alvin Theatre; based on Heyward's novel Porgy, set in Catfish Row, famous for Summertime.
Prima donna
Prima donna, Italian for "first lady", is the chief female singer in an opera company; also called prime donne assolute. Known for its 1782 English adoption, 1815–1930 stage dominance after the castrati, and by-1834 shift to a pejorative meaning a temperamental person.
Rap opera
Rap opera, also called hip hopera or rapera, is a rap or hip-hop work in operatic form, spanning stage shows, TV films like Carmen: A Hip Hopera (MTV, 2001), and narrative concept albums such as R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet.
Rigoletto
Rigoletto: Verdi's three-act opera (1851), libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse, premiered at La Fenice, Venice; jester Rigoletto, daughter Gilda, Duke of Mantua, "La donna è mobile."
Rock opera
Rock opera: a rock album or stage work telling a coherent story through connected songs, with characters and narrative. Key works: The Who's Tommy (1969), Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), Quadrophenia, American Idiot; distinct from concept albums and rock musicals.
Shi Pei Pu (时佩璞)
Shi Pei Pu (时佩璞, 1938–2009) was a Chinese Peking opera singer and spy who obtained French embassy documents from Bernard Boursicot during a 20-year affair in which he posed as a woman; the case inspired M. Butterfly.
Soprano
Soprano, the highest standard singing voice type above mezzo-soprano, defined by tessitura rather than range; Fach subtypes (coloratura, lyric, dramatic) arose in 19th-century Germany; extreme soprano range reaches 1000–1600 Hz.
Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini
Sri Krishna Leela Tarangini is a Sanskrit musical opera on Krishna's life by Narayana Theerthar, in twelve sections called tarangams, from Krishna's birth to his marriage with Rukmini.
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, WWV 70) is Wagner's three-act romantic opera, premiered in Dresden in 1845, infamous for the 1861 Paris Jockey Club fiasco, and existing in Dresden, Paris, and Vienna versions.
Tenor
Tenor: the highest standard male classical voice type, about C3–C5, classified by tessitura and passaggio. Subtypes include lyric, spinto, dramatic, and heldentenor; famous roles span Rodolfo, Calaf, and Wagner's Siegfried.
The Legend of the Purple Hairpin
The Legend of the Purple Hairpin (紫钗记) is a 1957 Cantonese opera by Tong Dik-sang, adapted from Tang Xianzu's Ming drama about the lovers Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu.
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe) is Franz Lehár's three-act operetta of 1905, libretto by Léon and Stein after Meilhac, premiered at the Theater an der Wien, a global hit that opened the Silver Age of Viennese operetta.
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is an 1885 two-act comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, premiered at London's Savoy Theatre (672 performances), set in a fictional Japan that satirizes Victorian Britain.
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is an 1879 two-act Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta, premiered in Paignton, New York, and London to defeat copyright piracy; famous for the Major-General patter song and Frederic's leap-year birthday paradox.
The Purple Hairpin
The Purple Hairpin (紫钗记) is a Ming dynasty chuanqi play by Tang Xianzu, written in 1587, telling the love story of the scholar Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu.
The Tales of Hoffmann
Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), Offenbach's unfinished opéra fantastique in five acts on a Barbier libretto after the 1851 Carré–Barbier play, premiered posthumously at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, 10 February 1881, completed by Guiraud and surviving in multiple editions including Kaye-Keck.
The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors: José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti, whose 1990 Rome concert with Zubin Mehta on World Cup eve produced the best-selling classical album of all time and defined classical crossover.
Toreador Song
The Toreador Song, also known as the Toreador March, is the aria sung by the matador Escamillo in Act II of Bizet's Carmen, premiered in Paris in 1875.
Voice type
A voice type, also called vocal classification, is a category for a singing voice, based on range, tessitura, and timbre, with six broad types in classical singing.