List of Christmas operas

Because of the ban on secular theatrical works during the season of Advent, these early Christmas operas, while elaborately staged, were based on religious themes relating to the Nativity.

Several operas have been inspired by Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, including works by composers Bernard Herrmann and Thea Musgrave.

In the 21st century, composer Kevin Puts' Silent Night (2011) achieved critical success and won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2012.

At various times well into the 19th century, public theatres in Italy and other Catholic countries were closed during the season of Advent, the four weeks up to and including Christmas Eve.

[3] The first opera written specifically for television, it was immensely popular at its premiere and was dubbed by Life magazine as a Christmas Classic in 1952.

[6] Although Amahl and the Night Visitors has enjoyed a measure of success, no Christmas opera to date has been able to achieve the same wide popularity as Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker or Handel's Messiah.

The Metropolitan Opera at Christmas time with a large poster for Humperdinck 's opera Hansel and Gretel displayed in the window
Mr. Fezziwig's Ball , from the first edition of Charles Dickens 's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol , the inspiration for numerous Christmas operas
Stage setting for the Prologue of Per la festività del Santo Natale in its first performance (Rome, 1727)
Oleg Videman as Vakula in a 2005 performance of Tchaikovsky's Cherevichki at La Scala , Milan
Vocal score for Leroux's opera Les cadeaux de Noël which premiered in Paris on Christmas Day 1915
Final scene of Pavel Helebrand 's 1996 opera Jesličky svatého Františka (The Nativity Scene of Saint Francis ) in one of its many performances in Ostrava
Frederic Villiers ' depiction of the 1914 Christmas truce , the setting for Kevin Puts ' 2011 opera Silent Night