The opera film or opera-film is a film genre in which an opera is the subject of the entire film, as opposed to a film which only incorporates opera scenes or elements. It is a subgenre of the musical film. Opera films are usually based on established, well-known works; less frequently they showcase new operas, such as Tommy (1975), which is based on The Who's 1969 rock opera album Tommy.
The idea of presenting operas on film goes back to the very beginnings of cinema; Thomas Edison, who made major contributions to the making and making available to the public films in the infancy of moviemaking, told The New York Times in 1893 that his goal was "to have such a happy combination of photography and electricity that a man can sit in his own parlor, see depicted upon a curtain the forms of the players in opera upon a distant stage and hear the voices of the singers."
The first opera film was a two-minute production of La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), based on the 1840 work by Gaetano Donizetti, which premiered in New York City in July 1898. In the silent film era, music was performed live by orchestras and pianists. Major opera singers appeared in these films; for example Enrico Caruso and Pol Plançon appeared in a 1911 short, a scene from Lucia di Lammermoor, as Edgardo and Raimundo.
In July 1930, German and Austrian film companies agreed to divide up the opera field, with the former receiving exclusive rights to works by Richard Wagner and the latter receiving everything else.
The first sound opera film was Pagliacci (1931). Films about operas in general lost some popularity in the 1930s, but revived in the '40s and more so in the '50s.
Selected filmography Film Film year Opera Composer Director Aida 1953 Aida Giuseppe Verdi Clemente Fracassi Andrea Chénier 1955 Andrea Chénier Umberto Giordano Clemente Fracassi The Barber of Seville 1947 The Barber of Seville Gioachino Rossini Mario Costa The Barber of Seville 1948 The Barber of Seville Gioachino Rossini Jean Loubignac The Bartered Bride 1932 The Bartered Bride Bedřich Smetana Max Ophüls La Bohème 1965 La bohème Giacomo Puccini Franco Zeffirelli La Bohème 1988 La bohème Giacomo Puccini Luigi Comencini Carmen 1984 Carmen Georges Bizet Francesco Rosi Cavalleria rusticana 1982 Cavalleria rusticana Pietro Mascagni Franco Zeffirelli Don Giovanni 1979 Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Joseph Losey The Force of Destiny 1950 La forza del destino Giuseppe Verdi Carmine Gallone The Lady of the Camellias 1947 La traviata Giuseppe Verdi Carmine Gallone Madame Butterfly 1954 Madama Butterfly Giacomo Puccini Carmine Gallone The Magic Flute 1975 The Magic Flute Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Ingmar Bergman The Magic Flute 2006 The Magic Flute Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Kenneth Branagh The Magic Flute 2022 The Magic Flute Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Florian Sigl Otello 1986 Otello Giuseppe Verdi Franco Zeffirelli Pagliacci 1948 Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo Mario Costa Pagliacci 1982 Pagliacci Ruggero Leoncavallo Franco Zeffirelli Parsifal 1904 Parsifal Richard Wagner Edwin S. Porter Porgy and Bess 1959 Porgy and Bess George Gershwin Otto Preminger Rigoletto 1982 Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi Jean-Pierre Ponnelle The Tales of Hoffmann 1951 The Tales of Hoffmann Jacques Offenbach Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger Tosca 1956 Tosca Giacomo Puccini Carmine Gallone La Traviata 1982 La traviata Giuseppe Verdi Franco Zeffirelli
See also List of films based on operas
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Further reading