Major Female Opera Composers
A number of reasons, including the high cost of production and high status of opera, have been suggested to explain the relatively few women who have been composers of opera, and no woman composer met the criteria for inclusion above. However, some experts in our sample disagreed, and named one or both of the women below as comparable to those already listed:
- Francesca Caccini (1587 – after 1641) was one of the best-known and most influential female European composers before the 19th century. Her stage work, La liberazione di Ruggiero, has been widely considered the first opera by a woman composer.
- Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) is perhaps most famous for her work for the suffragettes; however, she also wrote several operas of note, including The Wreckers.
- Judith Weir (born 1954) began composing full-length operas in 1987 with A Night at the Chinese Opera.
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