World Opera Day Date in the current year: October 25, 2024

Opera is a form of theater in which music is a fundamental component. It incorporates signing, acting (done by singers), and sometimes also dance or ballet. Most operas are a collaboration between a composer who writes the music and a librettist who writes the text. The relationship between the composer and the librettist and the creative process have varied over the centuries.

Opera is closely related to musical theater (musicals), but the two theatrical forms have a number of differences: musicals usually include more spoken dialogue and dancing, as well as use various genres of popular music. Some forms of opera (for example, operettas) are closer to musicals because they contain spoken dialogue and are “lighter” than traditional opera.

Music has been a part of theatrical performances since antiquity, but opera in its modern form originated in late 16th-centuty Italy. The earliest known work that could be considered an opera by modern standards is Dafne by Jacopo Peri and Jacopo Corsi, with the libretto by Ottavio Runuccini. It was first performed in Florence in 1598.

However, most of Dafne is lost; the first opera score to have survived until the present day is Peri’s Euridice, and the first opera that is still regularly performed is L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi. Originally confined to court audiences, opera started to be performed publicly in the first half of the 17th century. It quickly spread throughout Europe and became an integral part of Western classical music tradition.

World Opera Day was launched in 2019 by three opera organizations: OPERA America, Opera Europa, and Ópera Latinoamérica. It is supported by a number of international partners (Creative Europe, the European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Ballet, the International Artist Managers’ Association, International Theatre Institute, Opera for Peace, and RESEO – European Network for Opera, Music & Dance Education) and national opera and musical theater organizations from Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Germany, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

The main goal of World Opera Day is to show how opera helps to develop understanding and tolerance, connecting people with the power of art. The date of the holiday, October 25, was chosen to commemorate the birthdays of two outstanding composers: Georges Bizet (best know for his opera Carmen) and Johann Strauss II (known for his operettas Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Der Zigeunerbaron).

World Opera Day unites opera companies, opera professionals, and opera lovers in celebrating opera as an art form. Live and online events are held around the world to introduce as many people as possible to the wonders of opera. You can join the celebration by attending one of these events, watching opera videos online, learning more about famous operas, composers, opera houses and opera singers, and sharing your favorite opera videos online with the hashtag #WorldOperaDay.