Wikipedia:WikiProject Opera/Article styles and formats

This page contains a detailed guide to the style and formatting of opera articles and is a supplement to the Article guide page. These recommendations have been developed over the years via consensus of WikiProject Opera's members through discussions on our talk page. Like all recommendations, they should be used with common sense and if necessary adapted for the needs of particular articles.

Opera (title) articles

Sections

For stub and start class articles:

Introduction also called "Lead section"	name, language, composer, librettist, general historical and musical context
==Performance history==	from premiere(s) to the present day
==Roles==	possibly in tabular form giving name, description, voice type and creator of each role; see Role tables below.
==Synopsis==	including noted arias formatted as in Un ballo in maschera, without title translation, or Turandot, with title translation
==Recordings==	divided into audio and video (with catalogue numbers when possible). It is recommended that where possible references be provided for listings such as their appearance in books such as The Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Disc‎. It is also recommended that extensive recording lists should be made as separate pages. See Tosca discography for a model. For guidance on which recordings to exclude see Article guidelines#Recordings.
==References==	Sub-sections: *Notes in boldface (see below), *Sources in boldface, (including ISBN when possible) and online works (including access date).
==External links==	For online resources providing extra information not included in the article and/or official web sites. See WP:EL for further guidance.

For articles that are aiming at either good article or featured article status, the following extra sections are recommended:

==Context and analysis==	Puts the work in context and provides a certain degree of sourced analysis.
==Recording history==	Recommended for particularly well-known operas (and articles on specific composers).
==References==	Footnotes for inline citations depending on which citing format is being used. Provides full details of the sources used for the article, with ISBNs where possible Two or more sections will be created with footnotes appearing under the main heading as "Notes". They may just include author, page number where full ref. exists below. For further details, see: Shortened footnotes. The main heading of the section embraces "Notes", "Cited Sources", "Online sources" etc. Example: Notes (in boldface) Cited sources (in boldface) Other sources (in boldface)

Dates (general)

Opera articles use the Day-Month-Year format for indicating the dates of premieres, performances, etc.

Day is written numerically but without the use of a leading "0" before a single digit day, 1 to 9. Months are written out in full and not abbreviated. The year always uses four digits.

Dates of premieres

References may be linked to 'Year in music' pages, for example "The opera was first performed in Prague on 31 March 1928", coded as "The opera was first performed in [[Prague]] on 31 March [[1928 in music#Opera|1928]]."

The day and month should not be wikilinked; see Manual of Style (dates and numbers).

Role tables

• Over-categorization of voice types in role tables should be avoided, e.g. use tenor instead of tenore di grazia, use soprano instead of coloratura soprano. The voice types specified in the printed score should normally be the ones used in the role table. Finer distinctions and differing performance practices (if any) should be discussed in the text of the article itself.
• In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, role tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.

Roles, voice types, and premiere cast

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 2 January 1843 Conductor: Richard Wagner
The Dutchman	baritone	Johann Michael Wächter
Senta, Daland's daughter	soprano	Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Daland, a Norwegian sailor	bass	Friedrich Traugott Reinhold
Erik, a huntsman	tenor	Carl Risse
Mary, Senta's nurse	contralto	Thérèse Wächter
Daland's steersman	tenor	Wenzel Bielezizky
Norwegian sailors, the Dutchman's crew, young women

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable"
|+Roles, voice types, and premiere cast
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 2 January 1843<br />[[Conducting|Conductor]]: [[Richard Wagner]]
|-
|The Dutchman
|[[baritone]]
|[[Johann Michael Wächter]]
|-
|Senta, ''Daland's daughter''
|[[soprano]]
|[[Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient]]
|-
|Daland, ''a Norwegian sailor''
|[[bass (voice type)|bass]]
|[[Friedrich Traugott Reinhold]]
|-
|Erik, ''a huntsman''
|[[tenor]]
|Carl Risse
|-
|Mary, ''Senta's nurse''
|[[contralto]]
|Thérèse Wächter
|-
|Daland's steersman
|tenor
|Wenzel Bielezizky
|-
| colspan="3" |''Norwegian sailors, the Dutchman's crew, young women''
|}

When updating existing tables the caption can be added by placing +Roles, voice types, and premiere cast as the second line in the table code, e.g.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Roles, voice types, and premiere cast
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, 2 January 1843<br />[[Conducting|Conductor]]: [[Richard Wagner]]

Note also that the screen reader only template {{sronly}} may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

If visible output is not desired, the caption can be hidden with {{sronly}}:
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}

Multiple premieres

For a format with multiple notable premieres, refer to Don Carlos or the boiler plate below:

Roles, voice types, and premiere casts

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 27 April 1720 Conductor: –	Revised version Premiere cast, 28 December 1720 Conductor: –	Revised version Premiere cast, Day Month Year Conductor: –

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable"
|+Roles, voice types, and premiere casts
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast,<br />27 April 1720<br />[[Conducting|Conductor]]: –
!Revised version<br />Premiere cast,<br />28 December 1720<br />Conductor: –
!Revised version<br />Premiere cast,<br />Day Month Year<br />Conductor: –
|}

Synopsis format

For the numbering of acts, always use Arabic numerals: 1, 2, 3 etc., not the Roman: I, II, III. The words act and scene are not proper nouns and are not capitalized, except when sentence case applies.

Articles such as I masnadieri or La fanciulla del West illustrate the format:

I masnadieri:

==Synopsis==

Setting: Germany, between 1755 and 1757.

===Act 1===

Scene 1: A tavern on the borders of Saxony

During a break from his studies at Dresden University, Carlo, [etc]

or from La fanciulla del West:

==Synopsis==

Time: 1849 to 1850

Place: A mining camp in the high Sierra Madre Mountains in California

=== Act 1 ===

Inside the Polka Saloon.

At the saloon, Sheriff Rance is playing solitaire, while [etc]

Line 1: In each case, the word "Act" is in bold face and forms a sub-heading of the section's title for editing purposes.

Line 2: If an act has several scenes, the scene number, then colon (:), then description of the setting follows on a separate line in italics.

If there are no scenes, a description of the setting for the act follows in italics.

Lines 3+: Text of synopsis follows.

Recordings (short style)

Krenek: Jonny spielt auf, Vienna State Opera Orchestra

• Conductor: Heinrich Hollreiser
• Principal singers: Lucia Popp, Gerd Feldhoff, Thomas Stewart, Leo Heppe, Evelyn Lear
• Recording date: 4 January 1994
• Label: Vanguard Classics, B0000023F7 (CD)

Recordings (table style)

• In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.
• The layout reflects one singer per line with <br /> (line breaks) after each name. To ensure that there will be no line breaks per name, enclose the longest name with the template {{Nowrap}}: {{Nowrap|suitably long name}}.
• "Conductor<br />Opera house and orchestra": Name(s) of house, orchestra and chorus/choral group(s) follow without line breaks
• "Label": Type of recording (e.g. "CD", "DVD") is followed by ":" (colon), then name of releasing company, followed by <br /> (line break)
• Catalogue number (using abbreviation "Cat:"); if available, should follow the name of the recording company

Aida discography

Year	Cast (Radames, Aida, Amneris)	Conductor, Opera house and orchestra	Label
1986	Luciano Pavarotti, Maria Chiara, Ghena Dimitrova	Lorin Maazel, La Scala orchestra and chorus	DVD: Image Entertainment Cat: (catalogue number appears here)
1989	Plácido Domingo, Aprile Millo, Dolora Zajick	James Levine, Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus	DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat:

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable"
|+''Aida'' discography
!Year
!Cast<br />(Radames,<br />Aida,<br />Amneris)
!Conductor,<br />Opera house and orchestra
!Label
|-
| 1986 ||{{Nowrap| [[Luciano Pavarotti]] }},<br />[[Maria Chiara]],<br />[[Ghena Dimitrova]] || [[Lorin Maazel]],<br />[[La Scala]] orchestra and chorus || DVD: Image Entertainment<br />Cat: ''(catalogue number appears here)''
|-
| 1989 || [[Plácido Domingo]],<br />[[Aprile Millo]],<br />[[Dolora Zajick]] || [[James Levine]],<br />[[Metropolitan Opera]] orchestra and chorus ||DVD: [[Deutsche Grammophon]]<br />Cat:
|}

Note also that the screen reader only template {{sronly}} may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

If visible output is not desired, the caption can be hidden with {{sronly}}:
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}

Special alternative table

In special cases, where the cast list is longer than about five or six major characters or where one singer takes on several roles in one recording and several singers divide those roles in other recordings, the following example from The Tales of Hoffmann discography may be used:

Tales of Hoffmann discography

1948: André Cluytens, Theatre National de l'Opéra-Comique orchestra and chorus, EMI France
Hoffmann: Raoul Jobin Olympia: Renée Doria Giulietta: Vina Bovy Antonia: Géori Boué Dapertutto: Charles Soix	Coppélius: André Pernet Lindorf: Louis Musy Miracle: Roger Bourdin Nicklausse: Fanély Revoil Frantz: Bourvil
1971: Richard Bonynge, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, 1971: Du Brassus Chorus, Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus, Radio Suisse Romande Chorus, Decca
Hoffmann: Plácido Domingo Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia: Joan Sutherland Coppélius, Dapertutto, Lindorf, Miracle: Gabriel Bacquier	Nicklausse: Huguette Tourangeau Frantz: Hugues Cuénod

Wiki code for the table above

{| class=wikitable
|+''Tales of Hoffmann'' discography
!colspan=2|<div style="text-align:left;">1948: [[André Cluytens]], Theatre National de l'[[Opéra-Comique]] orchestra and chorus, EMI France</div>
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;border-right:none;"|<poem>Hoffmann: [[Raoul Jobin]]
Olympia: [[Renée Doria]]
Giulietta: Vina Bovy
Antonia: [[Géori Boué]]
Dapertutto: Charles Soix</poem>
|style="vertical-align:top;border-left:none;"|<poem>Coppélius: [[André Pernet]]
Lindorf: [[Louis Musy]]
Miracle: [[Roger Bourdin]]
Nicklausse: Fanély Revoil
Frantz: [[Bourvil]]</poem>
|-
!colspan=2|<div style="text-align:left;">1971: [[Richard Bonynge]], [[Orchestre de la Suisse Romande]],<br />{{0|1971: }}Du [[Le Brassus|Brassus]] Chorus, [[Lausanne]] Pro Arte Chorus, [[Radio Suisse Romande]] Chorus, [[Decca Records|Decca]]</div>
|-
|style="vertical-align:top;border-right:none;"|<poem>Hoffmann: [[Plácido Domingo]]
Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia: [[Joan Sutherland]]
Coppélius, Dapertutto, Lindorf, Miracle: [[Gabriel Bacquier]]</poem>
|style="vertical-align:top;border-left:none;"|<poem>Nicklausse: [[Huguette Tourangeau]]
Frantz: [[Hugues Cuénod]]</poem>
|}

Lists of operas by composers

In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below. The recommended table format is based on the List of operas by Gioachino Rossini:

List of operas by Gioachino Rossini

Title	Genre	Sub­divisions	Libretto	Première date	Place, theatre
La cambiale di matrimonio	farsa comica	1 act	Gaetano Rossi, after Camillo Federici and Giuseppe Checcherini	3 November 1810	Venice, Teatro San Moisè

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+List of operas by Gioachino Rossini
!Title!!Genre!!Sub­divisions!!Libretto!!Première date!!Place, theatre
|-
|{{Hs|cambiale}}''[[La cambiale di matrimonio]]''||farsa comica||1 act||{{Hs|Rossi}}[[Gaetano Rossi]], after [[Camillo Federici]] and Giuseppe Checcherini||{{Hs|1810-11-03}}3 November 1810||Venice, [[Teatro San Moisè]]
|}

Note also that the screen reader only template {{sronly}} may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

If visible output is not desired, the caption can be hidden with {{sronly}}:
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, and premiere cast}}

This is an empty template for such tables:

List of operas by

Op.	Title	Genre	Sub­divisions	Libretto	Première date	Place, theatre	Notes
nn	title title title title title title title	genre genre	n acts	librettist librettist librettist	dd monthmonth yyyy	place place, theatre theatre	notes notes notes notes

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+List of operas by 
!Op.!!Title!!Genre!!Sub­divisions!!Libretto!!Première date!!Place, theatre!!class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|nn||''title title title title title title title''||genre genre||n acts||librettist librettist librettist||dd monthmonth yyyy||place place, theatre theatre||notes notes notes notes
|}

A specialised version of a list of operas can be seen at List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and at List of operas by George Frideric Handel:

Mozart operas

List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Köchel No.	Year composed	Title	Type of opera	Librettist	Voice parts	First performance details
K. 35	1767	Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots Part I Eng: The Obligation of the First Commandment	Sacred Singspiel	Ignaz von Weiser	3 soprano, 2 tenor	Archbishop's Palace, Salzburg, 12 March 1767

Wiki code for the table above

{| Class = wikitable
|+List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
!Köchel No.
!Year composed
!Title
!Type of opera
!Librettist
!Voice parts
!First performance details
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |[[K. 35|K. 35]]
| style="text-align:center;" |1767
|''[[Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots]]'' Part I
<small>''Eng'': The Obligation of the First Commandment</small>
|Sacred [[Singspiel]]
|Ignaz von Weiser
|<small>3 soprano, 2 tenor</small>
|Archbishop's Palace, [[Salzburg]], 12 March [[1767 in music#Opera]]
|}

Handel operas

List of operas by George Frideric Handel

HWV	Title	Libretto	Première date	Première place, theatre	Modern revival	Notes
1	Almira (Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Alimira, Königin von Castilien)	Friedrich Christian Feustking, after Giulio Pancieri	8 January 1705	Hamburg, Theater am Gänsemarkt	4 June 1994, Halleschen Händelfestspiele, Bad Lauchstädt	Some music lost; announced as a Singspiel but has no spoken dialogue

Wiki code for the table above

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+List of operas by George Frideric Handel
![[Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis|HWV]]!!Title!!Libretto!!Première date!!Première place, theatre!!Modern revival!!class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|1||''[[Almira]]'' (''Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Alimira, Königin von Castilien'')||{{Hs|Feustking}}Friedrich Christian Feustking, after Giulio Pancieri||{{Hs|1705-01-08}}8 January 1705||Hamburg, [[Hamburg State Opera|Theater am Gänsemarkt]]||{{Hs|1994-06-05}}4 June 1994, Halleschen Händelfestspiele, [[Bad Lauchstädt]]||''Some music lost''; announced as a ''[[Singspiel]] but has no spoken dialogue
|}

Sources and references layout

Articles may differ in their requirements and the suggested layout should be applied with common sense, particularly in the case of altering the existing layout in Featured Articles. For more on this subject see Wikipedia:Citing sources, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (layout), and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility See also this discussion for examples of various other referencing formats used in opera-related Featured articles which may be more suitable depending on the circumstances.

Layout

• The overall heading "References" (==References==) includes a variety sub-heading titles.
• Notes ('''Notes''') – designates footnotes or direct in-line citations above. The template {{Reflist}} appears below Notes.
• Sources ('''Sources''') – includes specific online sources (with access date), articles, or books which appear in the footnotes (ideally with ISBN in the case of books), as well sources used to write the article but not currently cited in footnotes. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order of author, last name first.

Note: The format with a leading semicolon is no longer recommended because of compatibility issues with screen readers.

See the example of a typical format below using these citations: . These example footnotes are formatted according to WP:CITESHORT.

References

Notes

Sources

• Ashbrook, William (1982). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052123526X.
• Budden, Julian (1984). The Operas of Verdi. Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-310581.
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Artaxerxes, 2 February 1762". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869164-5.