swap_horiz Akhnaten Alternatives

1

Nixon in China

John Adams’ “Nixon in China” is a contemporary opera exploring the complex political relationship between the United Sta...

American Contemporary Political 1987

8.5 Great

2

Doctor Atomic

John Adams's 2005 opera focuses on the intense moral panic and scientific events leading up to the first atomic bomb tes...

American Contemporary Historical 2005

8.0 Great

3

Einstein on the Beach

Philip Glass composed this 1976 minimalist opera, an avant-garde masterpiece that completely revolutionized modern music...

American Contemporary Minimalist Glass

8.0 Great

4

The Consul

Gian Carlo Menotti's 1950 opera portrays the harrowing struggles of a woman desperately trying to escape a totalitarian...

Modern American Dramatic 1950

7.8 Good

5

Satyagraha

Composed by Philip Glass in 1980, this opera depicts Mahatma Gandhi's early years in South Africa and his non-violent ph...

American Contemporary Minimalist Glass

7.8 Good

6

The Ghosts of Versailles

John Corigliano's 1991 grand opera is a fictional sequel to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, commissioned by the Metropo...

American Contemporary Comedy 1991

7.8 Good

7

Vanessa

Samuel Barber composed this 1958 American opera, which won the Pulitzer Prize, exploring themes of romance and lingering...

Lyric Modern American Barber

7.7 Good

8

Susannah

Carlisle Floyd's 1955 American opera boldly adapts the biblical story of Susannah to the rigid rural American South of t...

Lyric Modern American 1955

7.7 Good

9

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Gian Carlo Menotti composed this 1951 Christmas opera, notably the first opera specifically commissioned for television...

Modern American Christmas 1951

7.5 Good

10

The Medium

Gian Carlo Menotti's 1946 tragic opera explores the psychological unraveling of a fraudulent psychic during a terrifying...

Modern American Supernatural Menotti

7.5 Good

11

The Death of Klinghoffer

John Adams's 1991 controversial opera dramatizes the real-life 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro b...

American Contemporary Political 1991

7.5 Good

12

Moby-Dick

Jake Heggie's 2010 American opera is a sweeping, critically acclaimed adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel abou...

Epic American Contemporary 2010

7.5 Good

13

The Ballad of Baby Doe

Douglas Moore's 1956 American opera is based on the true story of Elizabeth Doe and her scandalous marriage to a wealthy...

Modern American Historical 1956

7.3 Good

14

The Voyage

Philip Glass composed this 1992 science fiction opera, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera to commemorate Christopher...

American Contemporary Minimalist Glass

7.0 Good

15

Antony and Cleopatra

Samuel Barber's opera (1966), commissioned to inaugurate the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York...

Modern American Barber Shakespearean

6.8 Fair

16

Emmeline

Tobias Picker's opera (1996) based on Judith Rossner's novel about incest in 19th-century New England mill towns, premie...

American Contemporary 1996 Tragic

6.5 Fair

17

The Perfect American

Philip Glass's opera (2013) imagining Walt Disney's final days, with a libretto by Christopher Hampton, premiered at the...

American Contemporary Glass Biographical

6.5 Fair

18

The Telephone

Gian Carlo Menotti's one-act comic opera (1947) depicting a man unable to propose marriage to a woman perpetually distra...

Modern American Comedy 1947

6.4 Fair

19

An American Tragedy

Tobias Picker's opera (2005) based on Theodore Dreiser's novel, the first opera on that subject to be premiered at the M...

American Contemporary 2005 Tragic

6.3 Fair

20

Un re in ascolto

Luciano Berio's opera (1984) developed partly in collaboration with Italo Calvino, exploring a theater director's inner...

Italian Contemporary Experimental 1984

6.1 Fair