Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Opera

The 19th century saw a huge expansion in the world of opera with the vast stage works of Verdi and Wagner, and the establishment of opera houses throughout the Western world, often accompanying the establishment of a national identity of opera. By the turn of the twentieth century, Giacomo Puccini was turning out his beautiful verismo masterpieces and Richard Strauss was in the middle of his career.

One of the biggest catalysts for the development of all forms of art in the Western world was the First World War (1914-1918), as artists, composers, and writers tried to understand the catastrophic events that had just occurred. By the advent of the Second World War in 1939, the face of opera had changed distinctly and the experiences of yet another devastating war was to lead to further division and expansion. This guide will explore the development of opera in the Western world from 1900 onwards.

Terminology

• Atonal: Not written in any key or mode.
• Chromatic Harmony: Chords that build on or include notes that aren't part of the key.
• Realism: A theatrical movement developed alongside naturalism, which aimed to be more truthful to real life through texts and performances.
• Surrealism: A literary, artistic and revolutionary movement, founded in Paris during the 1920s.

Key Dates & Events

• 1900 - Tosca is first performed.
• 1902 - Pelleas et Melisande is first performed.
• 1903 - Der Wald is the first opera written by a female composer performed at The Metropolitan Opera, New York.
• 1905 - Salome is first performed.
• 1906 - The Wreckers is first performed.
• 1909 - Elektra is first performed.
• 1911 - Treemonisha is written.
• 1913 - The Sun Danceis first performed, the first opera by a Native American composer.
• 1914-1918 - The First World War.
• 1918 - Bluebeard’s Castle is first performed.
• 1925 - Wozzeck is first performed.
• 1937 - Lulu is first performed.
• 1937 - Riders to the Sea is first performed.
• 1939 - The first television is seen at the New York World Fair.
• 1938-1945 - The Second World War.
• 1945 - The first Atomic Bomb is detonated.
• 1948 - Street Scene is first performed
• 1950 - The Consul is first performed.
• 1957 - Dialogues des Carmelites is first performed.
• 1969 - The first moon-landing.
• 1972 - Treemonisha is first performed.
• 1980 - Satyagraha is first performed.
• 1984 - Akhnaten is first performed.
• 1986 - X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X is first performed.
• 1990 - The Vanishing Bridegroom is first performed.
• 1991 - The Death of Klinghoffer is first performed.
• 2000 - L’amour de loin is first performed.
• 2005 - Armida is first performed.
• 2005 - Doctor Atomic is first performed.
• 2011 - L’amour de loin becomes the first opera by a female composer to be performed at The Metropolitan Opera in over 100 years.
• 2011 - Mansfield Park is first performed.
• 2011 - Anna Nicole is first performed.
• 2020 - The Covid-19 Pandemic begins, closing theatres and opera houses worldwide, forcing artists to produce works specifically for online performance.