Treasured Titles: Exploring the Most Performed Operas of the Last 25 Years

The Vienna State Opera House

Where does opera stand in the 21st century?

Some consider today a golden era for new opera, but do opera companies themselves agree? Certainly, more new works are being commissioned and performed by major opera companies than in the past. And there is a renewed focus on early and Baroque opera, and not just within specialist early music ensembles! But to what extent do the canonical operas, the classic titles, still dominate the world’s great opera houses? And how much do they draw audiences?

To learn more, we turned to Operabase, which maintains performance statistics from opera companies and classical ensembles from around the world. Looking at performance data from 2000 to today, we explored the most frequently performed operas of the 21^st century so far, both in the US and the world.

Explore the top 20 US and worldwide titles below!

What strikes you as you read this? Here’s what we notice.

1. Top 10 Consensus

Fascinatingly, the exact same titles make up the top 10 worldwide and in the US (albeit in slightly different orders). This is surprising given that the works are in different languages and tell vastly different stories.

There is more variety outside of the top 10. For instance, Verdi’s Nabucco is #17 worldwide, but the Italian master’s 1841 work doesn’t even crack the top 50 in the US!

Conversely, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet is cherished in the US but ranks 48 worldwide.

2. Italian Reigns Supreme

In both lists, 16 out of the 20 top operas are sung in the Italian language. Worldwide and in the US, two top 20 operas are sung in German. In the US, two French titles round out the top 20, where worldwide, it’s one French title (Carmen) and one Russian (Eugene Onegin).

3. 19th Century Standouts

Most of the US and Worldwide top 20 are from the 19^th century. The outliers here are a quartet of 18^th-century Mozart operas and trio of 20^th-century Puccini works (Turandot, 1926, being the most recent). When zooming out to the top 50 titles, Turandot remained the most recent worldwide.

Whereas in the US, Porgy and Bess (1935) and Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951) are also in the Top 50.

So even if new opera is on the rise, individual titles have yet to take hold. Worldwide, the newest Top 50 work is almost a century old, and in the US, it’s 75 years old!

4. A Composer Big Three

Three hugely favored composers dominate the list of Top 20 titles, both in the US and worldwide. Verdi edges out all others when looking at performances from around the globe; his five titles make up a quarter of the top 20 list! Mozart and Puccini follow close behind, with four apiece.

Meanwhile in the US, where, as we’ve discussed, Nabucco is less sought after, Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi all have four titles within the top 20.

In both lists, this trio makes up between 50% and 60% of the top 20!

At this inflection point in opera and the arts, it’s fascinating to understand which titles have staying power, which are sought after, and what the common themes are.

In a moment where companies feel a need to bring in new audiences, they have renewed their efforts to lift-up and introduce newer works. It will be interesting to see how the canon grows and changes.

Will there be 21^st century titles making up this list in 5 or 25 years? Will more 20^th-century operas have graduated into canon status? Or will audiences renew calls for the classics (as we know them today)? Will other titles from the 19^th century come into prominence? Will the US and worldwide tastes remain largely in alignment, or will they drift apart? How will digital technologies change the audience experience and expectations?

We can’t answer any of these questions for sure, but we can’t wait to see where the next decades of opera take us!