The Top 55 Most Performed Operas

[Homo Aestheticus]

This evening I was browsing  Operabase.com  and came across the following:

Composer                  Opera                                 Performances              Productions             Cities  

1. Mozart                    Die Zauberflote                           1083                           167                     115 
2. Mozart                    Don Giovanni                                 855                          147                      115 
3. Verdi                       La Traviata                                  867                             116                     94 
4. Mozart                    Le nozze di Figaro                         717                            129                        104 
5. Puccini                    La Boheme                                  644                              108                       87 
6. Mozart                    Cosi fan tutte                               640                             99                          74 
7. Bizet                       Carmen                                       637                             112                     89 
8. Puccini                    Madama Butterfly                          623                             102                         81 
9. Puccini                   Tosca                                         597                              111                           83 
10. Rossini                    Il barbiere di Siviglia                      585                                89                          76 
11. Verdi                      Rigoletto                                     478                                82                          65 
12. Mozart                   Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serial         373                                 66                             60 
13. Puccini                   Turandot                                     293                                  57                           47 
14. Donizetti                 Lucia di Lammermoor                     291                                  53                           47 
15. Donizetti                 L'elisir d'amore                             297                                   52                            46 
16. Verdi                      Macbeth                                     266                                  51                            35 
17. Wagner                  Der fliegende Holländer                  251                                50                           38 
18. Verdi                      Aida                                          248                                 51                           43 
19. Verdi                      Un Ballo in Maschera                    229                                   38                             35 
20. Leoncavallo             Pagliacci                                   213                                     44                             37 
21. Tchaikovsky            Eugene Onegin                           210                                   43                               35 
22. Verdi                      Il Trovatore                               204                                  36                              34 
23. Puccini                   Manon Lescaut                           203                                   35                                                                       
24. Verdi                      Falstaff                                     202                                 34
25. Verdi                      La Forza del destino                      197                        33                                25 
26. Beethoven               Fidelio                                        195                         37                                   30 
27. Gounod                   Faust                                         192                        44                               38 
28. Verdi                      Otello                                         191                     33                                  30 
29. Mascagni                Cavalleria rusticana                      188                      39                                   33 
30. Strauss                  Die Rosenkavalier                          182                     35                                 30 
31. Rossini                   La Cenerentola                              180                     35                                      33 
32. Gounod                  Romeo et Juliette                          180                        27                                    26 
33. Offenbach              Les contes d'Hoffmann                   177                      35                                   32 
34. Bellini                    Norma                                         172                      34                                     29 
35. Verdi                     Don Carlo                                     171                     36                                 29 
36. Wagner                 Das Rheingold                                171                      49                                     42 
37. Strauss                 Salome                                         160                      38                                    28
38. Janacek                Jenufa                                           134                      28                                     24 
39. Strauss                 Ariadne auf Naxos                           132                      27                                   24 
40. Wagner                Die Walkure                                    130                    44                                  38 
41. Wagner                Tristan und Isolde                          125                     34                                  25 
42. Massenet              Werther                                      123                      29                                25 
43. Rossini                  L'Italiana in Algeri                         120                      25                                  24 
44. Dvorak                  Rusalka                                      119                        21                                    17 
45. Wagner                 Parsifal                                       116                      31                                     21 
46. Strauss                  Elektra                                      114                     27                                  22 
47. Handel                  Giulio Cesare                                109                     21                               19 
48. Weber                  Der Freischutz                              107                    22                                18 
49. Wagner                Lohengrin                                    106                    18                               16 
50. Puccini                 Gianni Schicchi                             101                   22                                21 
51. Donizetti              Don Pasquale                                101                     24                                 22 
52. Tchaikovsky          The Queen of Spades                     101                    23                              15 
53. Mussorgsky            Boris Godunov                             99                       23                                20 
54. Berg                    Wozzeck                                      98                       21                                20 
55. Wagner                Tannhauser                                  94                    24                                     21 


***************

I seriously need to go and lay down.

   

Pelleas et Melisande  didn't even make the list for crying out loud and yet  Wozzeck  managed to sneak in there at  54.



What is going on here ? ? ?  Somebody please tell me there is a technical glitch in there somewhere.

   

[Brian]

Maybe they knew that Pelleas was #56. 

[Sarastro]

What an odd list. Can't believe Madama is more performed than Tosca.

[Homo Aestheticus]

What an odd list. Can't believe Madama is more performed than Tosca.

Yeah, and  Falstaff  more than  Otello, although it is of course Verdi's best opera... (Falstaff that is)

[knight66]

Rusalka and Tristan come out with almost the same number of performances, I find that hard to accept.

Mike

[T-C]

Rusalka and Tristan come out with almost the same number of performances, I find that hard to accept.

I am not entirely surprised. Tristan is not an easy opera to cast.

Rusalka is a lovely opera. Good to know it is now performed relatively frequently.

[Wendell_E]

Pelleas et Melisande  didn't even make the list for crying out loud and yet  Wozzeck  managed to sneak in there at  54.



What is going on here ? ? ?  Somebody please tell me there is a technical glitch in there somewhere.

   

Face it, man.  Pelléas et Mélisande is just too modernist for most folks.  They prefer operas more in the German Romantic mainstream, like Wozzeck and Tannhäuser.   

[marvinbrown]

I am not entirely surprised. Tristan is not an easy opera to cast.

  Agreed ! I mean how often does a singer like Kristen Flagstaad come along  0:)!  It does not surprise me that Wagner's operas are not topping the list, the vocal demands and the length make them difficult to cast and stage.  Also I think box office success  yes money (the root fo all evil) governs how many performances operas get.  Need i remind everyone here that at one point in the history of opera Gonoud's Faust was the most performed opera ever  - when in doubt perform Faust- I think Wagner just turned in his grave!!

  marvin   

[Wendell_E]

I think that the fact that there are a lot of opera houses in smaller German towns that aren't really on the international circuit, but have a rather adventurous (and Germanic) repertory probably skews this list somewhat.  So upcoming performances of Wozzeck are listed for Gera, Innsbruck (I know, it's in Austria, not Germany.  Still), Koblenz, Mainz, Meiningen, and Regensburg with singers and conductors that probably never get mentioned here.  The only "major" house with an upcoming Wozzeck is Munich.

I think this also explains Die Zauberflöte being no. 1.  Sure, it's popular, but no. 1??

[marvinbrown]

  WHAT?? There is no mention of Wagner's Die Meistersinger  . This is upsetting  most upsetting  !

  Am I to believe that the average opera goer is so musically simple minded so as to necessitate so many productions of the Magic Flute  yes I love the Magic Flute but technically speaking is this  lighthearted (admittedly great) sing-speil really an opera I ask you??

    marvin

[Homo Aestheticus]

I hear you Marvin, but it is hard to compete with a work such as 'Die Zauberlote' that appeals to both children and adults and which has so many catchy melodies, no ?

[ChamberNut]

Looks like people like their saccharine Puccini. 

[Homo Aestheticus]

Looks like people like their saccharine Puccini. 

It is disappointing to see so many performances of  Tosca  but don't knock Mr. Puccini; he wrote some mighty fine operas.   

[Homo Aestheticus]

Face it, man.  Pelléas et Mélisande is just too modernist for most folks. 

They prefer operas more in the German Romantic mainstream, like Wozzeck and Tannhäuser.   

Too modernist   

If you were to take a group of opera newbies and expose them to both  Wozzeck  and  Pelleas  I would assume that 99 percent of them would gravitate towards  P&M  if only for its harmonic textures.

[Homo Aestheticus]

  WHAT?? There is no mention of Wagner's Die Meistersinger   This is upsetting   most upsetting 

  Am I to believe that the average opera goer is so musically simple minded so as to necessitate so many productions of the Magic Flute  yes I love the Magic Flute but technically speaking is this  lighthearted (admittedly great) sing-speil really an opera I ask you??

On the other hand :

"I don't think it's such a great loss to Israeli audiences," he added. "I still conduct Wagner in other places around the world, but there are many other things that are worthwhile to conduct here"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335355844034825.html

[Tsaraslondon]

I'm surprised Norma comes in as high as 34. There was a whole topic dedicated to casting this opera on the board recently, and the conclusion was that it was uncastable today. Much more difficult to cast than either Tristan or The Ring.

[zamyrabyrd]

"I don't think it's such a great loss to Israeli audiences," he added. "I still conduct Wagner in other places around the world, but there are many other things that are worthwhile to conduct here"

Speaking of Wagner, I happen to agree after taking a course on him quite a few years ago. My term paper was the "Plagarization of Christian Symbolism in Parsifal". After delving deeply into that, I don't have much sympathy for its "purity of the blood" and lesser races including women that are supposed to "serve" (dienen). In a word, I think it is perverse. Music might be beautiful but it is connected to not only words but ideas here. And Wagner himself put them together.

But more than that, the question of having to spend so much money on intricate, lavish operas in countries that can ill afford it, oh well, this must satisfy someone's need for a cultural fix and/or pomp and ceremony. A friend of mine went to see Boito's "Mephistophele" and also questioned the absolute need for such extravaganzas.

About the list, it looks like the Italians account for about 50% and are more represented in the upper half.

ZB

[Josquin des Prez]

My term paper was the "Plagarization of Christian Symbolism in Parsifal". After delving deeply into that, I don't have much sympathy for its "purity of the blood" and lesser races including women that are supposed to "serve" (dienen). In a word, I think it is perverse.

Ho wow, so this is what Wagner subjects are all about? I never delved too deep into his dramatic side, i only focused on the music up to now. Please, tell me more.

[(poco) Sforzando]

  WHAT?? There is no mention of Wagner's Die Meistersinger  . This is upsetting  most upsetting  !

It is probably his most expensive opera to produce, but I would have expected a higher standing. Maybe it was 57.

But the list is meaningless unless it tells you the time frame involved, and you have some indication of the opera houses covered.

By comparison, this is a list of the Top 55 from the Metropolitan Opera since its inception, with dates of first and last performance:

1200 La Bohème 11/09/1900 04/18/2008
1103 Aida 11/12/1886 11/08/2007
945 Carmen 01/05/1884 03/01/2008
943 La Traviata 11/05/1883 03/22/2008
891 Tosca 02/04/1901 12/02/2006
818 Madama Butterfly 02/11/1907 10/27/2007
815 Rigoletto 11/16/1883 12/22/2006
733 Faust 10/22/1883 06/22/2007
705 Pagliacci 12/11/1893 02/10/2007
665 Cavalleria Rusticana 12/04/1891 02/10/2007

618 Lohengrin 11/07/1883 05/06/2006
599 Il Trovatore 10/26/1883 02/21/2003
574 Il Barbiere di Siviglia 11/23/1883 02/29/2008
569 Lucia di Lammermoor 10/24/1883 03/13/2008
518 Die Walküre 01/30/1885 02/09/2008
500 Don Giovanni 11/28/1883 06/23/2006
470 Tannhäuser 11/17/1884 12/18/2004
449 Tristan und Isolde 12/01/1886 03/28/2008
441 Le Nozze di Figaro 01/31/1894 12/01/2007
408 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 01/04/1886 03/13/2007

387 Die Zauberflöte 03/30/1900 11/24/2007
369 Der Rosenkavalier 12/09/1913 04/02/2005
322 Roméo et Juliette 04/16/1884 12/31/2007
314 Otello 11/23/1891 03/08/2008
288 Parsifal 12/24/1903 05/18/2006
287 Un Ballo in Maschera 12/11/1889 04/23/2008
282 La Gioconda 12/20/1883 10/21/2006
270 Turandot 11/16/1926 05/08/2007
264 Boris Godunov 03/19/1913 02/14/2004
257 Manon 01/16/1895 04/08/2006

252 Siegfried 11/09/1887 05/06/2004
252 L'Elisir d'Amore 01/23/1904 05/20/2006
248 Hänsel und Gretel 11/25/1905 01/31/2008
240 Les Contes d'Hoffmann 01/11/1913 01/08/2005
230 La Forza del Destino 11/15/1918 03/23/2006
230 Fidelio 11/19/1884 04/13/2006
226 Samson et Dalila 02/08/1895 03/02/2006
221 Götterdämmerung 01/25/1888 05/08/2004
215 Manon Lescaut 01/18/1907 02/23/2008
209 Die Fledermaus 02/16/1905 01/07/2006

190 Don Carlo 12/23/1920 12/23/2006
179 Andrea Chénier 03/01/1921 04/18/2007
175 Falstaff 02/04/1895 10/22/2005
171 Così Fan Tutte 03/24/1922 01/28/2006
150 Salome 01/22/1907 04/10/2004
149 Das Rheingold 01/04/1889 05/03/2004
147 Norma 02/27/1890 12/07/2007
147 Der Fliegende Holländer 11/27/1889 12/20/2000
131 Gianni Schicchi 12/14/1918 05/12/2007
129 Les Huguenots 03/19/1884 04/26/1915

128 Simon Boccanegra 01/28/1932 03/09/2007
128 Eugene Onegin 03/24/1920 03/03/2007
124 Don Pasquale 12/23/1899 04/28/2006
116 Martha 01/04/1884 02/03/1968
110 Mignon 10/31/1883 05/18/1949


Wozzeck is #83, with 60 performances between 03/05/1959 and 01/06/2006 (but note the time frame). Wanna know what 56 is? I swear I'm not making this up:

109 Pelléas et Mélisande 03/21/1925 02/08/2005 

[zamyrabyrd]

Ho wow, so this is what Wagner subjects are all about? I never delved too deep into his dramatic side, i only focused on the music up to now. Please, tell me more.

So as not to risk infuriating the Wagnerites here, I would probably have to PM you about the source material. I don't know if I still have a book written by a woman on Parsifal that connects up his racial diatribes with "purity of the blood" in that opera and most of the other symbolism. Wagner didn't exactly disguise his intentions, although, at times he embedded them deeply enough so even the Metropolitan Opera for years staged Parsifal on Good Friday!!! I don't know if ignorance is an excuse but a monastic devotion to "purity of blood" is an abomination which of course completely perverts the idea of Christian communion.

In my readings back then (1993), I came across Cosima's probable role in pushing Wagner to even greater extremes than he may have gone by himself. She was the one who disapproved of the conductor Levi. She seemed to be a real piece of work. I also read that she refused to see her father, Liszt, for an extended period of time, I think, for two years. It seems she more than aided and abetted any cultism around her husband and his works.

ZB