The Genres
20 operatic forms catalogued, ranked by number of works.
Operatic genres are imperfect categories · composers from Mozart to Strauss took deliberate pleasure in confounding them · but they remain the most useful first orientation for any reader approaching an unfamiliar work. Each genre entry below collects the works in our catalogue sharing a particular generic label, sets out the principal composers and houses associated with the form, and offers a short editorial introduction to its conventions and historical development.
The list runs from the most populous genres · opera buffa, opera seria, opéra comique, tragédie lyrique · down through more specialised categories. We have included every genre with two or more catalogued works.