swap_horiz Kaija Saariaho Alternatives

1

Richard Wagner

Influential German Romantic composer who revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, notably in the...

German Romantic Opera Music Drama

9.2 Excellent

2

Giuseppe Verdi

Preeminent Italian Romantic composer who dominated the 19th-century opera scene with beloved masterpieces like "La Travi...

Romantic Opera Italian Dramatic

9.2 Excellent

3

Giacomo Puccini

Leading Italian opera composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, celebrated for timeless works like "La Bohème"...

Opera Italian Melodic Verismo

9.1 Excellent

4

Claudio Monteverdi

Italian composer who bridged the Renaissance and Baroque eras, composing L'Orfeo (1607), among the earliest surviving op...

Baroque Opera Italian Pioneer

9.0 Excellent

5

George Frideric Handel

German-British Baroque composer renowned for the oratorio Messiah (1741), Italian operas, and his influential role in En...

Baroque Opera Concerto Oratorio

9.0 Excellent

6

Georg Friedrich Händel

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) was a German-born British Baroque composer celebrated for his operas, oratorios, and...

Baroque Opera Concerto Oratorio

9.0 Excellent

7

Ennio Morricone

Italian composer (1928–2020) who scored over 500 films, including Sergio Leone's Westerns such as The Good, the Bad and...

Italian Contemporary Film Orchestral

8.9 Great

8

Richard Strauss

Leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, famous for his groundbreaking operas and the symphon...

German Opera Orchestral Late Romantic

8.8 Great

9

Bernard Herrmann

American composer (1911–1975) best known for his film scores for Alfred Hitchcock, including Psycho (1960) and Vertigo (...

Opera Modern American Film

8.8 Great

10

Henry Purcell

English Baroque composer considered the greatest of his era, known for the opera Dido and Aeneas (c. 1689) and his cerem...

Baroque Opera English Sacred

8.8 Great

11

Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten was a leading English composer of the 20th century, celebrated for revitalizing British opera with mast...

Opera Modern Chamber English

8.7 Great

12

Howard Shore

Canadian composer (born 1946) best known for his Academy Award-winning score for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (200...

Opera Contemporary Canadian Film

8.2 Great

13

Thomas Adès

British composer (born 1971) known for operas such as The Tempest (2004) and his virtuosic orchestral and chamber writin...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Piano

7.9 Good

14

George Benjamin

British composer (born 1960) whose opera Written on Skin (2012) has been widely performed and acclaimed internationally.

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Chamber

7.8 Good

15

Unsuk Chin

South Korean composer (born 1961) whose acclaimed works include the opera Alice in Wonderland (2007) and Akrostichon-Wor...

Korean Opera Contemporary Modernist

7.7 Good

16

Tan Dun

Chinese-born composer (born 1957) known for scores including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and the opera The Fir...

Opera Contemporary Film Chinese

7.7 Good

17

Gérard Grisey

Gérard Grisey (1946–1998) was a French composer and founding figure of spectral music, which derives musical structure f...

French Contemporary Orchestral Chamber

7.7 Good

18

Magnus Lindberg

Finnish composer (born 1958) known for dense, complex orchestral works such as Kraft (1985) and his tenure with the New...

Contemporary Modernist Orchestral Chamber

7.6 Good

19

Tristan Murail

Tristan Murail (b. 1947) is a French composer and co-founder of the spectral music movement, known for computer-assisted...

French Contemporary Electronic Orchestral

7.5 Good

20

Bright Sheng

Chinese-American composer (born 1955) who blends Chinese and Western traditions in works like the opera Dream of the Red...

Opera Contemporary Orchestral Cross Cultural

7.3 Good