1689
Premiere
World premiere of Henry Purcell's tragic opera "Dido and Aeneas" at Josias Priest's Boarding School for Girls in Chelsea, London.
December 1 — On This Day in Opera
This page lists notable events in opera history that happened on December 1, including world premieres, composer births, deaths, and important milestones.
Premieres & milestones
1854
Premiere
St. Petersburg premiere of Verdi's opera "Macbeth" at the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theatre, performed by the Imperial Italian Opera Company under the title "Siward Saxon."
1951
Premiere
World premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera "Billy Budd" (original four-act version) by the Covent Garden Opera Company at the Royal Opera House, London.
1999
Premiere
World premiere of Louis Andriessen and Peter Greenaway's opera "Writing to Vermeer" at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.
2016
Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki makes her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, conducting Saariaho's "L'Amour de loin."
2018
Premiere
Chelsea Opera presents New York premieres of Tom Cipullo's chamber operas "Josephine" and "After Life."
2024
Premiere
World premiere of Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s opera "Fanny and Alexander" at La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels.
Births & deaths
1823
Born
Birth of French opera composer and critic Louis Étienne Ernest Reyer in Marseille, later known for operas such as "Sigurd" and "Salammbô."
1898
Born
Birth of French-born American soprano Yvonne D'Arle (Eugenie Marguerite Patet) in Lyon, later a member of the Metropolitan Opera company in the 1920s.
1917
Born
Birth of American operatic tenor Thomas T. Hayward (Thomas Albert Tibbett) in Kansas City, Missouri.
1952
Born
Birth of American opera singer and voice actress Ellen McLain in Nashville, Tennessee.
1960
Born
Birth of Romanian soprano Leontina Văduva in Roșiile, celebrated for performances in major European opera houses.
2016
Died
Death of American soprano Elisabeth Carron, known for Puccini roles and for originating the Young Woman in Menotti's "The Saint of Bleecker Street."
Browse by date
January 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
February 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
March 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
April 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
May 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
June 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
July 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
August 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
September 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
October 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031
November 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
December 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031