Classical Instrumental Works for Orchestra

Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan by Gottfried von St...

Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan by Gottfried von St...

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) drew from several Norse and Germanic legends as plot material for the second opera in his Ring cycle. DIE WALKÜRE, completed in March 1856, premiered at the Bayreuth Festspi...

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) griff für die Handlung der zweiten Oper seines Ring-Zyklus auf mehrere nordische und germanische Sagen zurück. DIE WALKÜRE, fertiggestellt im März 1856, wurde am 14. August...

Premiering on May 22, 1813 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, L'italiana in Algeri by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) was a success, with subsequent performances in Vicenza, Milan, and Naples. It w...

LA TRAVIATA (THE FALLEN WOMAN), an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The opera was originall...

LA TRAVIATA (THE FALLEN WOMAN), an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), is based on La Dame aux camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. The opera was originall...

Norma is a two-act lyric tragedy by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). A leading example of the bel canto genre, the opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on December 26th, 1831. The story tells of a love t...

Norma is a two-act lyric tragedy by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). A leading example of the bel canto genre, the opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on December 26th, 1831. The story tells of a love t...

In 1890, Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) wrote an assortment of songs for a play written by Adelheid Wette, his sister, as a gift to her children. Spurred by his friend Richard Strauss, he took some...

In 1890, Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) wrote an assortment of songs for a play written by Adelheid Wette, his sister, as a gift to her children. Spurred by his friend Richard Strauss, he took some...

IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO (THE SECRET MARRIAGE) by Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801) is his only work still to be regularly performed today and arguably among the greatest 18th century opera buffa. The dramma...

One of the most popular ballets, Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) composed Swan Lake in 1875-76. Tchaikovsky borrowed from the Russian and German folk tales to tell the of story a princess, Odette,...

Composed by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) in 1830, the two-act opera I CAPULETTI E I MONTECCHI (THE CAPULETS AND THE MONTAGUES) stands as one of only two successful opera adaptations of Shakespeare's R...

Composed by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) in 1830, the two-act opera I CAPULETTI E I MONTECCHI (THE CAPULETS AND THE MONTAGUES) stands as one of only two successful opera adaptations of Shakespeare's R...

The fourth and final opera of Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG, or THE RING CYCLE for short), the three-act drama GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (TWILIGHT OF THE GODS) p...

The fourth and final opera of Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG, or THE RING CYCLE for short), the three-act drama GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (TWILIGHT OF THE GODS) p...

Zaïs by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) was first performed on February 29, 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. It is a pastorale héroïque, a form of the opéra-ballet genre of French Baroque opera that draws...

Carl Nielsen's (1865-1931) three-act opera buffa MASKARADE (MASQUERADE) was written between 1904 and 1906, though Nielsen had first begun to consider an opera based on Ludvig Holberg's play of the sam...

Carl Nielsen's (1865-1931) three-act opera buffa MASKARADE (MASQUERADE) was written between 1904 and 1906, though Nielsen had first begun to consider an opera based on Ludvig Holberg's play of the sam...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote the two-act opera DON GIOVANNI, K. 527, in 1787 following a commission from Prague impresario Pasquale Bondini. With the success of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Mo...

Ariane et Barbe-bleue: Act III, Introduction forms part of Paul Dukas' (1865-1935) only completed opera, composed between 1899 and 1906, and premiered on May 10, 1907, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. D...

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) originally wrote Ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) in 1910 as a piano duet for the Godebski children, Mimi (6) and Jean (7). In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the work into a five-piece...

The ballet Romeo and Juliet was originally written by Sergei Sergejewitsch Prokofjew (1891-1953) in 1935. However, running afoul of the Soviet censors who disliked the happier ending (departing from S...

MADAMA BUTTERFLY, one of the most popular operas of Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), is the story of the conflicting expectations of Lieutenant Pinkerton, an American naval officer, and Madame Butterfly (...