The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since the 3rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since the 4th Annual Grammy Awards in 1962.
Prior to 1961 the awards for operatic and choral performances were combined in a single award for Best Classical Performance, Operatic or Choral. This award was given at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards and 2nd Annual Grammy Awards.
According to the list of nominees for the 2026 Grammy season, the award goes to the conductor, album producer(s) and principal soloists, and also to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere opera recording only.
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.
Note: Performers and artists who did not receive a nomination and/or an award (such as orchestras, choruses, composers, librettists etc.) are listed between brackets.
Recipients Year Recipient(s) Work Performing artist(s) (did not receive an award)NomineesRef. 1961 Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Birgit Nilsson, Giorgio Tozzi, Jussi Björling, Renata Tebaldi Puccini: Turandot Rome Opera Orchestra 1962 Gabriele Santini (conductor), Victoria de los Ángeles, Jussi Björling, Miriam Pirazzini, Mario Sereni Puccini: Madama Butterfly Rome Opera Orchestra 1963 Georg Solti (conductor), Robert Merrill, Leontyne Price, Giorgio Tozzi, Jon Vickers Verdi: Aida Rome Opera House Orchestra 1964 Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Rosalind Elias, Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker Puccini: Madama Butterfly RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra 1965 Herbert von Karajan (conductor) Franco Corelli, Mirella Freni, Robert Merrill, Leontyne Price Bizet: Carmen Vienna Philharmonic 1966 Karl Böhm (conductor), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, Fritz Wunderlich Berg: Wozzeck German Opera Orchestra and Chorus 1967 Georg Solti (conductor), Régine Crespin, Hans Hotter, James King, Christa Ludwig, Birgit Nilsson Wagner: Die Walküre Vienna Philharmonic 1968 Thomas Z. Shepard (producer), Pierre Boulez (conductor), Walter Berry, Ingeborg Lasser, Isabel Strauss, Fritz Uhl Berg: Wozzeck Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus 1969 Richard Mohr (producer), Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Ezio Flagello, Sherrill Milnes, Leontyne Price, Judith Raskin, George Shirley, Tatiana Troyanos Mozart: Così fan tutte New Philharmonia Orchestra 1970 Otto Gerdes (producer); Herbert von Karajan (conductor); Helga Dernesch, Gerhard Stolze, Jess Thomas Wagner: Siegfried Berlin Philharmonic 1971 Erik Smith (producer); Colin Davis (conductor) Berlioz: Les Troyens Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus 1972 Richard Mohr (producer); Erich Leinsdorf (conductor); Grace Bumbry, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Leontyne Price, Ruggero Raimondi Verdi: Aida John Aldis Choir and London Symphony Orchestra 1973 Erik Smith (producer); Colin Davis (conductor) Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini BBC Symphony Orchestra 1974 Tom Mowrey (producer); Leonard Bernstein (conductor), Marilyn Horne, Tom Krause, Adriana Maliponte, James McCracken Bizet: Carmen Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus 1975 Richard Mohr (producer); Georg Solti (conductor), Judith Blegen, Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Ruggero Raimondi Puccini: La bohème London Philharmonic Orchestra 1976 Erik Smith (producer); Colin Davis (conductor), Richard Van Allan, Janet Baker, Montserrat Caballé, Ileana Cotrubaș, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Nicolai Gedda Mozart: Così fan tutte Royal Opera House Orchestra 1977 Michael Woolcock (producer); Lorin Maazel (conductor), Leona Mitchell, Willard White Gershwin: Porgy and Bess Cleveland Orchestra 1978 Thomas Z. Shepard (producer); John DeMain (conductor), Donnie Ray Albert, Carol Brice, Clamma Dale Gershwin: Porgy and Bess Houston Grand Opera Orchestra 1979 George Sponhaltz, John Coveney (producers); Julius Rudel (conductor), Beverly Sills, Alan Titus Lehár: The Merry Widow New York City Opera Orchestra 1980 Vittorio Negri (producer); Colin Davis (conductor), Heather Harper, Jonathan Summers, Jon Vickers Britten: Peter Grimes Royal Opera House Orchestra 1981 Gunther Breest, Michael Horwath (producers), Pierre Boulez (conductor), Toni Blankenheim, Franz Mazura, Hanna Schwarz, Yvonne Minton, Teresa Stratas Berg: Lulu Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris 1982 James Mallinson (producer), Charles Mackerras (conductor), Jiri Zahradnicek, Ivo Žídek, Václav Zítek (soloists) Janáček: From the House of the Dead Vienna Philharmonic 1983 Andrew Kazdin (producer), Pierre Boulez (conductor), Jeannine Altmeyer, Hermann Becht, Peter Hofmann, Siegfried Jerusalem, Gwyneth Jones, Manfred Jung, Donald McIntyre, Matti Salminen, Ortrun Wenkel, Heinz Zednik (soloists) Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen Bayreuth Festival Orchestra 1984Jay David Saks, Max Wilcox (producers), James Levine (conductor), Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Teresa Stratas
Christopher Raeburn (producer), Georg Solti (conductor), Thomas Allen, Kurt Moll, Lucia Popp, Samuel Ramey, Kiri Te Kanawa & Frederica von Stade Verdi: La traviata
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro Metropolitan Opera Orchestra