Best 1870s
Die Fledermaus is a comedic operetta by Johann Strauss II, composed in 1874. It’s notable for its lively melodies, intricate ballroom scenes, and witty storyline set in Vienna during the 1870s. The work remains a cornerstone of Viennese operetta tradition and is frequently performed by opera compani...
Charles Lecocq’s *La fille de Madame Angot* is a significant French operetta from 1872. The work, premiered in Brussels, achieved immense popularity and remains one of the most successful opéra-comiques of its time. Set during the French Revolution, it features comedic storytelling and music by Leco...
Franz von Suppé’s Boccaccio, premiered in 1879, is a Viennese operetta adapted from Boccaccio's *Decameron*. The work features comedic storytelling and musical elements characteristic of the period. It remains notable for Suppé’s skillful composition and its enduring popularity within the genre. Pri...
La fille du tambour-major is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach premiered in 1879. It’s notable for being one of his final works and a significant achievement within his prolific career as a composer of opéra comique. The story, set during the Napoleonic era, blends military themes with romantic intri...
Le voyage dans la lune is an opéra-féerie by Jacques Offenbach, with a French libretto by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier, and Arnold Mortier. Premiered at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris in 1875, it loosely draws on lunar-travel ideas associated with Jules Verne while presenting them as comic fant...
Les Noces d'Olivette is an 1879 French operetta by Edmond Audran that achieved international success, including a year-long London run as Olivette.
"Le petit duc" is an opéra-comique in three acts composed by Charles Lecocq, with a French libretto written by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru. The piece premiered in 1878 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris, where it achieved considerable commercial success. Its original production notably ran f...
"Fantasio" is an opéra comique in three acts composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a French libretto by Paul Boisselot based on an 1834 play by Alfred de Musset. Premiering in 1872 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, the work initially struggled to find success during the composer's lifetime. It features a...
Giroflé-Girofla is an opéra-bouffe by French composer Charles Lecocq, premiered in Brussels in 1874 with a libretto by Eugène Leterrier and Albert Vanloo. The plot centers on twin sisters and their complicated marital situations, employing the popular theatrical device of mistaken identity. The work...
Le roi Carotte is an opéra bouffe féerie by Jacques Offenbach, with a French libretto by Victorien Sardou. First performed in Paris in 1872, it combines comic opera, fantasy spectacle, and political satire in a story involving the magical rise of the vegetable King Carrot. The original production wa...
"Critique of the Gotha Programme" is an 1875 political document by Karl Marx that analyzed and criticized the draft program of the United Workers' Party of Germany. In this text, Marx outlined his vision for the transition from capitalism to communism and introduced the famous principle "From each a...
Fatinitza is a three-act operetta composed by Franz von Suppé that premiered in 1876 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. The libretto, written by Camillo Walzel and Richard Genée, was based on a vaudeville by Eugène Scribe and features a military and romance theme set during the Crimean War. As Su...
Cagliostro in Wien is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II, featuring a libretto by F. Zell and Richard Genée. It premiered in 1875 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. The plot is a comedic fictionalization of the 18th-century occultist Alessandro Cagliostro, weaving together histori...
Madame Favart is an opéra comique in three acts by Jacques Offenbach, with a French libretto by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot, premiered in 1878 at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques in Paris. The plot concerns the real-life 18th-century actress Justine Favart and her adventures during the Wars of th...
The Civil War in France is a pamphlet written by Karl Marx in 1871 as an address to the General Council of the International Working Men's Association (the First International). It analyzes the Paris Commune, the radical government that controlled Paris from March to May 1871, presenting it as a his...
"Le docteur Ox" is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach, with a French libretto by Arnold Mortier and Philippe Gille. It is based on the 1872 science fiction short story "Dr. Ox's Experiment" by Jules Verne. The comic opera premiered at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris on January 26,...
La jolie parfumeuse is Offenbach's 1873 opéra comique, premiered at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and marking his first major post-Empire Paris success.
Le Grand Mogol is an 1877 operetta by Edmond Audran, with a libretto by Henri Chivot and Alfred Duru, whose Marseille premiere established his reputation.
Prinz Methusalem is a three-act operetta by Johann Strauss II, premiered at Vienna's Carltheater in 1877. Its first run reached roughly 80 performances, an unusually strong record for a Viennese operetta of the period, though the work later received fewer revivals than Strauss's Die Fledermaus or De...
Founded in the 1870s, Mme. Rentz's Female Minstrels was a pioneering American burlesque troupe that popularized the all-female minstrel show format.
Der Teufel auf Erden is a three-act fantastical operetta by Franz von Suppé, first performed at Vienna's Carltheater on 5 January 1878.
Les cent vierges is an 1872 opérette by Charles Lecocq, premiered in Brussels and built around a comic scheme to send brides to a colony.
Evangeline, or The Belle of Acadia is an 1874 American musical extravaganza by Edward E. Rice and J. Cheever Goodwin, based on Longfellow's poem.
La petite mademoiselle is an 1879 opéra-comique by Charles Lecocq, with Meilhac and Halévy's libretto for the Théâtre de la Renaissance.
Whittington is Offenbach's 1874 grand opera bouffe féerie based on Dick Whittington, his only major work to premiere in London.
