Operabase 410.000 performances on file since 1996; Seasons of 900+ opera companies, around 25,000 performances each year
The five seasons 2011/12 to 2015/16 Works from 1281 different composers were played, of whom more than half (664) are living A total of 2662 different works were given, including 543 world premieres over the 5 seasons
The 2015/16 season Over 22700 performances The most operatic countries: Germany (6795 performances) Cities with the most opera: Moscow (582 performances)
Total number of performances by country, for the 2015/16 season. In brackets, the national populations in millions.
1
de
Germany
6795
(81.758m)
2
us
United States
1657
(308.746m)
3
ru
Russia
1490
(141.927m)
4
it
Italy
1393
(60.419m)
5
at
Austria
1163
(8.356m)
6
fr
France
1020
(65.822m)
7
uk
United Kingdom
989
(62.042m)
8
cz
Czech Republic
818
(10.675m)
9
ch
Switzerland
652
(7.786m)
10
pl
Poland
638
(38.192m)
11
hu
Hungary
521
(9.942m)
12
es
Spain
488
(46.030m)
13
se
Sweden
404
(9.354m)
14
au
Australia
275
(22.560m)
15
ua
Ukraine
233
(44.854m)
16
be
Belgium
231
(10.828m)
17
nl
Netherlands
224
(16.648m)
18
dk
Denmark
219
(5.558m)
19
sk
Slovakia
207
(5.430m)
20
ro
Romania
206
(21.959m)
The number of performances per million citizens. In brackets, the total number of performances and the population in millions.
1
at
Austria
139.2
(1163 /
8.356m)
2
ch
Switzerland
83.7
(652 /
7.786m)
3
de
Germany
83.1
(6795 /
81.758m)
4
cz
Czech Republic
76.6
(818 /
10.675m)
5
ee
Estonia
70.9
(95 /
1.340m)
6
si
Slovenia
55.6
(114 /
2.049m)
7
hu
Hungary
52.4
(521 /
9.942m)
8
se
Sweden
43.2
(404 /
9.354m)
9
lv
Latvia
42.8
(95 /
2.218m)
10
dk
Denmark
39.4
(219 /
5.558m)
11
sk
Slovakia
38.1
(207 /
5.430m)
12
lt
Lithuania
35.5
(115 /
3.244m)
13
no
Norway
32.4
(160 /
4.938m)
14
bg
Bulgaria
26.3
(199 /
7.577m)
15
lu
Luxembourg
23.9
(12 /
0.502m)
16
hr
Croatia
23.6
(106 /
4.486m)
17
it
Italy
23.1
(1393 /
60.419m)
18
be
Belgium
21.3
(231 /
10.828m)
19
fi
Finland
17.1
(92 /
5.375m)
20
pl
Poland
16.7
(638 /
38.192m)
The number of performances in each city, in the 2015/16 season. The figure given in brackets is the urban population in millions.
1
ru (#1)
Moscow
582
(10.56m)
2
at (#1)
Wien
535
(2.00m)
3
de (#1)
Berlin
527
(3.44m)
4
uk (#1)
London
427
(8.28m)
5
ru (#2)
St Petersburg
422
(4.88m)
6
hu (#1)
Budapest
400
(2.52m)
7
cz (#1)
Praha
357
(1.25m)
8
de (#2)
Hamburg
297
(1.77m)
9
us (#1)
New York
284
(18.22m)
10
de (#3)
Dresden
261
(0.78m)
11
fr (#1)
Paris
245
(10.20m)
12
de (#4)
München
224
(2.61m)
13
se (#1)
Stockholm
205
(1.25m)
14
ch (#1)
Zurich
201
(0.37m)
15
de (#5)
Frankfurt
193
(2.29m)
16
de (#6)
Stuttgart
165
(1.80m)
17
au (#1)
Sydney
161
(3.64m)
18
dk (#1)
København
154
(1.18m)
19
de (#7)
Hannover
149
(0.53m)
20
es (#1)
Madrid
148
(3.26m)
Composers ranked by the number of performances of their operas over the five seasons 2011/12 to 2015/16
The top of the list is dominated by Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, each with over 2000 performance runs. Globally, one opera performance in three is by one of these composers
A second trio of Rossini, Wagner, Donizetti each has over 1000 runs.
Richard Strauss, at position 10, is the highest ranked composer of works premiered in the 20th century.
Benjamin Britten, at position 16, is the highest ranked composer born in the 20th century.
The first 40 places are all DWEMs, Dead White European Males.
Philip Glass, at position 41, is the highest ranked living composer, and the first American native
Elisabeth Naske is the highest ranked female composer, at position 108
Living composers ranked by the number of performances of their operas over the five seasons 2011/12 to 2015/16
664 living composers have had at least one opera performed in the last five seasons, which means that more than half of our 1281 composers are alive now.
The US continues to dominate the top of the table, with three Americans in the top five.
Operas: 25 (Productions: 10496, Performances: 48623) [c] : Works for children/youths (1)
Operabase produces an annual New and Rare listing, highlighting about 600 of the more unusual titles in the season. It is available online, at New&Rare
2014/15 