The Venues

The history of opera is, among other things, the history of the houses that brought it into being. From the Venetian playhouses that produced the first commercial opera seasons in the 1640s, through the great national theatres of Paris, Vienna, Milan, and Saint Petersburg, to the festival stages of the twentieth century, a small number of buildings have served disproportionately as the laboratories of the form. The index below catalogues every venue at which two or more operas currently in our records received their premieres.

Each entry below links to a full venue page that sets out the chronology of premieres there, the principal composers associated with the house, the languages in which they wrote, and the cross-references to the broader era and language catalogues. The list is ordered by premiere count: houses with the most prolific premiere histories appear first, but every entry is full and equal in editorial terms.