Today in History: Metropolitan Opera House

The Metropolitan Opera House and Its Predecessors - Social Features of Opening Night
Today in History–October 22–the Library of Congress features New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, which opened its doors on this day in 1883. In addition to staging operas, the Met and other opera houses also hosted charity events, community dances, fairs, plays, vaudeville shows, and even funerals. Find out more about this prestigious cultural institution by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access more primary sources related to the Met and opera. Be sure not to miss this Library treasure, The Victrola Book of the Opera, an interactive digital book that describes 110 operas and allows you to listen to nearly every recording referenced in the book!

The First Metropolitan Opera House – Topics in Chronicling America

More Metropolitan Opera House historical newspaper coverage

Metropolitan Opera House image set

Metropolitan Opera House printed ephemera

A Night at the Opera online exhibition

#Opera Before Instagram: Portraits, 1890–1955 online exhibition

Opera song recordings

Opera sheet music

Justice by Composer Roger Reynolds article

Justice streaming video of opera performance

Opera printed ephemera, articles & books

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Victrola Book of the Opera

Articles

Library blog posts about Opera

Related resources