Opera
When opera turns dark: ten eerily unforgettable masterpieces
Ashutosh Khandekar explores how the supernatural in opera has served to express both our deepest fears and darkest desires
Best Mozart operas: his 11 greatest stage works, ranked
We choose some of the finest operas by the legendary composer, Mozart
Here are the 20 greatest operas of all time – and the must-hear recordings that bring them to life
From Monteverdi to Berg via Mozart and Puccini, we count down the 20 best operas of all time. Did we miss your favourite?
Knights, swans, dwarves and valkyries: the 10 most famous Wagner operas. How many do you know?
Over a life of exile and debt, scandalous affairs and high-level adulation, Wagner wrote operas that not only remain unmatched for drama, controversy and spectacle but also utterly transformed the art form itself...
Tosca: the story behind Puccini's dramatic tale of sex, violence, politics and lies
Early audiences were perplexed by Tosca, Puccini's thrilling opera about lust, jealousy and corruption - but it's now an operatic staple
Jenny Lind: the 19th century megastar featured in The Greatest Showman
Worshipped by Mendelssohn and promoted on a sell-out US tour by PT Barnum, Jenny Lind enjoyed unrivalled popularity for a singer. George Hall traces the remarkable story of the ‘Swedish Nightingale’
Opera's greatest death scenes: six unforgettable operatic demises
Stabbings, suicides and even death by guillotine punctuate the gore-spattered pages of operatic history.
Bumblebee princes, murderous genies and singing dragons: 15 forgotten operas ripe for rediscovery
Robert Thicknesse names fifteen fabulous but forgotten operas
Parsifal: a guide to Wagner's most grippingly transcendent experience
We tell the story of Wagner's last opera Parsifal, based on a 13th-century epic poem about an Arthurian knight on a quest for the Holy Grail
'Nessun Dorma' lyrics: Puccini's great aria - and the key role it played in football's renaissance
Do you remember when 'Nessun Dorma' suddenly became a cultural icon? Here are the lyrics to Puccini's great aria, and the story of its 1990 renaissance
They were a phenomenally successful musical duo. Then they split up - over a carpet
Did an argument over a carpet really cause Gilbert and Sullivan to go their different ways?
The greatest opera composers of all time
Here are the best opera composers of all time, from the 16th century to the modern day
What is a leitmotif?
Most associated with the operas of Wagner, a leitmotif is a brief musical device signifying a character, location or idea, as Charlotte Smith explains
Tristan und Isolde: everything you need to know about Wagner's legendary opera
We tell the story of Wagner's opera, Tristan und Isolde, based on the 12th-century romance Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg
Peter Grimes: the best recordings of Britten's famous opera
Daniel Jaffé fishes out the finest recordings of Britten’s deeply unsettling but utterly gripping opera, Peter Grimes
Jake Heggie: a life less ordinary
American composer Jake Heggie is best known for his operas, which tackle painful and difficult topics – and his path to success has been anything but ordinary, writes Kate Wakeling
What is the difference between a musical and an opera?
Musicals and operas both feature singing at their core, but what is it that divides the two art forms?
Here's why opera singers use so much vibrato, according to science
What's the difference between opera singers and musical theatre performers? We explain why, thanks to the art form's long history, opera singers' voices are so distinctive and powerful
Puccini's La bohème: the best recordings of this masterful opera
Christopher Cook braces himself against the Parisian winter cold as he selects the best recordings of Puccini’s most heart-wrenching, ‘perfectly constructed’ opera, La bohème
St Pancras Station to host premieres of seven new operas by female composers on International Women's Day
Mini operas commissioned by the Royal Opera House are inspired by trains, time, motion, meetings and farewells
Opera's monstrous mothers
Here are six maternal horrors from the musical stage
Irish National Opera to release first official recordings with Signum Records
The first release in the recording partnership will be the premiere recording of Gerald Barry's opera Alice's Adventures Underground
Why are Gilbert and Sullivan operettas so popular?
Why are the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan so beloved? G&S veteran Daniel Jaffé explains their brilliance
The best Puccini operas, as chosen by 7 leading singers and directors
Seven of the world's top opera singers and directors choose the Puccini operas they could never live without