Famous opera masterpieces | Featuring many great opera singers
Opera is fairly familiar in Japan, even being included in school textbooks.
Still, many people may recognize the melodies without knowing much about the famous opera pieces themselves.
For those readers, we’ve selected a number of renowned opera masterpieces.
In addition to introducing the works, we explain them from various angles—the background of their creation, the appeal of the opera singers performing them, and more—so both regular opera listeners and those less familiar with opera can enjoy the content.
Please take your time and enjoy it to the very end.
- Famous pieces recommended for opera beginners. Recommended opera songs.
- [Masterpiece Classics] A special showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears
- [Baroque Music] A Curated Selection of Timeless Masterpieces and Famous Works
- [Orchestra] Introducing famous and popular pieces
- Cello Masterpieces: A comprehensive introduction to exquisite classical works that let you savor its profound timbre
- Masterpieces of the bolero. Recommended popular pieces in bolero form and outstanding performances.
- Mozart: An Introduction to His Signature and Popular Works
- Oskar Merikanto Popular Song Rankings [2026]
- [Unrequited Love] Heart-wrenching Love Songs | A Roundup of Tear-Inducing Crush and Breakup Tracks
- Debussy’s masterpiece. Popular classical music.
- Vivaldi’s masterpiece. Popular classical music.
- [Christmas] Classical music to listen to at Christmas: recommended sacred Christmas songs
- Masterpieces of the Romantic Era: A sweeping introduction to soul-stirring, celebrated gems!
Famous Opera Masterpieces | Featuring Many Great Opera Singers (61–70)
Ranko Edogawa (soprano) Lehár: from the operetta “The Merry Widow,” “The Merry Widow Waltz” (“Vilja Song”/“On the High, High Mountain”)Franz Lehar

This is the Waltz from The Merry Widow, a work by Franz Lehár, a composer born in 1870 who was active mainly in Austria and Germany.
The Merry Widow is a three-act operetta and a highly popular piece performed around the world.
Its waltz melody is particularly beautiful and has also been arranged for wind ensemble.
From the opera ‘Carmen’: ‘Toreador Song’ by G. Bizet — ‘I gladly accept your toast’ (Akiyama Takanori) Bizet: Carmen — Toreador Song ‘Votre toast’Georges Bizet

Born in 1838, French 19th-century composer Georges Bizet’s work, Toreador Song, from the opera Carmen.
The opera Carmen was praised by composers such as Tchaikovsky and Debussy.
In Japan, it is one of the opera works famous enough to be included in school textbooks.
Pavarotti: Nessun dorma (Puccini: from the opera Turandot)Giacomo Puccini

Nessun dorma from Turandot by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, born in 1858.
Turandot was left unfinished due to Puccini’s death in 1924, but his friend Franco Alfano completed it in 1926.
G. C. MENOTTI | Amelia al Ballo: FinaleGian Carlo Menotti

The work is The Consul’s Ball (La festa a la americana) by Gian Carlo Menotti, an opera composer and librettist born in Italy in 1911 who was active in the United States.
This was Menotti’s first opera, and it was so well received that NBC commissioned him to write two operas for radio.
O, how many timesGraziella Sciutti

Julietta’s aria, despairing over an unwanted marriage.
Compared with fellow Romantics Donizetti and Rossini, it may not be considered mainstream, but you can hear Bellini’s characteristically graceful melodies.
Although the opera itself is rarely performed, the aria is often presented on its own.
My daughter or my cute wifeHermann Prey

From Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Papageno’s aria in Act 2.
With bells in hand, he sings of wanting Papagena.
The German lyric baritone, Fischer-Dieskau, has a bright, free-spirited voice that’s perfect for the bird-catcher Papageno.
As a side note, the bells take various forms depending on the production.
Winter storms have yielded to the blissful moon.Klaus Florian Vogt/ Kurausu Furorian Fōkuto: uta, The Bavarian State Orchestra/ Baiyerun Kokuritsu Kangen Gakudan

This is a piece from the opera Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), which begins with a forbidden love between a long-separated twin brother and sister who reunite and are drawn to each other.
It is the song in which the brother, Siegmund, proposes marriage to his sister, Sieglinde, celebrating the joy of their reunion; it is sweet and passionate.


