08/01/2026
@подписчики As many are no doubt aware, the Operabase portal annually publishes a global opera performance ranking. First of all, it lists the top ten operas most performed in theaters worldwide, and if you scroll back through the years of theater seasons, it becomes clear that thise 'hot ten' have remained virtually unchanged over the past two decades. Sometimes La Traviata takes the top spot, sometimes La Bohème or Die Zauberflöte; occasionally, an opera from the next ten climbs there, for example, Le nozze di Figaro can change place with Rigoletto. The list of popular operas also varies depending on the specific country. Nevertheless, overall, the ranking of world opera hits looks stable.
The picture becomes quite different if we expand the number of positions in the ranking as much as the Operabase website currently allows and then compare the results over the past 30 years or so. Then we will see that the list of less popular, but still regularly staged operas changes from year to year, not in the direction of expansion, but in the opposite direction. Many classic operas of the 19th century, such as Andrea Chénier, Werther, Adriana Lecouvreur, La Favorite, Fidelio and other, which were once very popular, are gradually becoming rare guests on theatre stages.
These changes are reflected in the recent decision by Operabase to cut its ranking of most performed operas in half—from 100 to 50.
And here's the interesting thing: in recent years, virtually all works created in the 20th century have disappeared from the 50 of most popular operas, with the exception of Puccini's late operas and Richard Strauss's early operas. Here you will no longer find Prokofiev's opera The Love for Three Oranges or Stravinsky's The Love for Three Oranges, which previously demonstrated high performance rates. And even with Britten's operas, the situation is rather dismal (remember, we're talking about global ranking of the Operabase).
What conclusion can be drawn from all this? Everyone can probably figure that out for themselves. But in any case, I don't think it will make us happy.
