Opera
- Malcolm Arnold – The Open Window, Op. 56 (opera in one act, libretto by S. Gilliat, after Saki), premiered on December 14, 1956 on BBC TV
- Leonard Bernstein – Candide (comic operetta in two acts, libretto by Lillian Hellman, R. Wilbur, J. La Touche, D. Parker, and Bernstein, after Voltaire)
- William Bergsma – The Wife of Martin Guerre (opera in three acts, libretto by J. Lewis)
- Wolfgang Fortner – Bluthochzeit (opera in two acts, after Federico García Lorca)
- Arnold Franchetti – The Game of Cards (opera in one act, libretto by the composer)
- Kenneth Gaburo – Blur (opera in one act, libretto by the composer)
- Hans Werner Henze – König Hirsch (opera in three acts, libretto by H. von Cramer, after Carlo Gozzi)
- Ben Johnston – Gertrude, or Would She Be Pleased to Receive It? (chamber opera in two acts, libretto by W. Leach)
- Leonard Kastle – The Swing (thirteen-minute television opera, broadcast at noon on Sunday, June 10, 1956 on NBC television)
- Frank Martin – Der Sturm (opera in three acts, libretto after William Shakespeare, in a German translation by A.W. von Schlege)
- Douglas Moore – The Ballad of Baby Doe
- Gino Negri – Vieni qui, Carla (opera in one act, after Alberto Moravia's Gli indifferenti)
- Elie Siegmeister – Miranda and the Dark Young Man (opera in one act, libretto by Edward Eager)
- Robert Ward – He Who Gets Slapped (libretto by Bernard Stambler), staged under the title Pantaloon
Read more about this topic: 1956 In Music
Famous quotes containing the word opera:
“The real exertion in the case of an opera singer lies not so much in her singing as in her acting of a role, for nearly every modern opera makes great dramatic and physical demands.”
—Maria Jeritza (1887–1982)
“To survive there, you need the ambition of a Latin-American revolutionary, the ego of a grand opera tenor, and the physical stamina of a cow pony.”
—Billie Burke (1885–1970)
“The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)