The Fiery Angel (Russian: Огненный ангел — Ognenny angel in transliteration) is an opera in five acts by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer, based on the novel The Fiery Angel (1908) by Valery Bryusov. The opera treats the dark arts in a largely sarcastic and humorous manner. The music is dark and imposing, and the singing, especially that of Renata, is chillingly histrionic.

Genoveva (Op. 81) is an opera in four acts by Robert Schumann in the genre of German Romanticism with a libretto by Robert Reinick and the composer. The only opera Schumann ever wrote, it received its first performance on 25 June 1850 at the Stadttheater in Leipzig, with the composer conducting. It received only three performances during the premiere, and the negative criticism it received in the press played a decisive role in Schumann's decision to not write a second opera. Genoveva has never won a large popular audience, but it continues to be revived at regular intervals throughout the world and has been recorded several times.

Puccini's great opera with Leonard Bernstein and a cast of young american singers. 1988 live recorded in Rome

In terms of vocal power, lyrical beauty, and idiomatic authenticity, the casting for this 1992 live recording of the Kirov production of Pique Dame ("The Queen of Spades") could hardly be bettered. Gegam Grigorian (Herman) hits his fearsome, anguished high notes with the accuracy of a laser, and Maria Gulegina (Liza) has a huge voice but uses it with great subtlety--her opening duet with Pauline floats like gossamer, and her declarations of love for Herman at the end of Act 1 are spine tingling. Kirov superstars Sergei Leiferkus (Tomsky) and the rich-toned Olga Borodina (Pauline) also sound divine. In the pit Valery Gergiev renders every nuance of Tchaikovsky's score with clarity and drives the strings to produce an almost unbearably tense atmosphere of foreboding.

A Quiet Place is an American opera in three acts, with music by Leonard Bernstein to a libretto by Stephen Wadsworth. The work is a sequel to Bernstein's earlier short opera Trouble in Tahiti. In its initial form, A Quiet Place was in one act, and followed Trouble in Tahiti after the intermission. The first performance was on 17 June 1983 by the Houston Grand Opera.

West Side Story is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical is based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Set in New York in the mid-1950s, the musical explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The young protagonist, Tony, who belongs to the Anglo gang, falls in love with Maria, the sister of the rival Puerto Rican gang's leader. The dark theme, sophisticated music, extended dance scenes, and focus on social problems marked a turning point in American musical theatre. Bernstein's score for the musical has become extremely popular; it includes "Something's Coming," "Maria," "America," "Somewhere," "Tonight," "Jet Song," "I Feel Pretty," "One Hand, One Heart," and "Cool."

A Life for the Tsar (Russian: Жизнь за царя, Zhizn' za tsarya), as it is known in English, although its original name was Ivan Susanin (Russian: Иван Сусанин) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in five acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. The original Russian libretto, based on historical events, was written by Nestor Kukolnik, Yegor Fyodorovich Rozen, Vladimir Sollogub and Vasily Zhukovsky. It was one of the first Russian operas to be known outside Russia.

The Stone Guest (Каменный гость in Cyrillic, Kamennyj gost' in transliteration) is an opera in three acts by Alexander Dargomyzhsky. The libretto was taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's like-named play in blank verse (part of his collection Little Tragedies), with slight changes in wording and the interpolation of two songs indicated in the play. It was first performed at the Maryinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, 16 February 1872 (Old Style).

The Tsar's Bride (Russian: Царская невеста, Tsarskaya nevesta) is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the composer's tenth opera. The libretto, by Il’ya Tyumenev, is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mey. Mey's play was first suggested to the composer as an opera subject in 1868 by Mily Balakirev. (Alexander Borodin, too, once toyed with the idea.) However, the opera was not composed until thirty years later, in 1898. The first performance of the opera took place in 1899 at the Moscow theater of the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontov. Rimsky-Korsakov himself said of the opera that he intended it as a reaction against the ideas of Richard Wagner, and to be in the style of "cantilena par excellence". The Tsar's Bride is a repertory opera in Russia, although it is not part of the standard operatic repertoire in the West.

1957, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Vera Firsova (Snow Maiden), Larisa Avdeyeva (Lel), Galina Vishnevskaya (Kupava), Vera Borisenko (Spring), Valentina Petrova (Bobilichka), Andrey Sokolov (Wood Spirit), L. Sverdlova (Page), Ivan Kozlovsky (Tsar Berendey), Yuriy Galkin (Mizgir), Alexey Krivchenya (Grandfather Frost), A. Khosson (Bobil), Mikhail Skazin (Maslenitsa The Snow Maiden–A Spring Fairy Tale (Russian: Снегурочка–Весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–Vesennyaya Skazka) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed during 1880-1881. The Russian libretto, by the composer, is based on the like-named play by Alexandr Ostrovsky (which had premiered in 1873 with incidental music by Tchaikovsky)

Kashchey the Deathless (Russian: Кащей бессмертный, Kashchey bessmertnïy), aka Kashchey the Immortal, is a one-act opera in three scenes (styled a "little autumnal fairy tale") by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by the composer, and is based on a Russian fairy tale about Koschei the Deathless, an evil, ugly old wizard, who menaced principally young women. A similar fairy tale was also used by Igor Stravinsky (Rimsky-Korsakov's pupil) and Vaslav Nijinsky to create their iconic ballet, The Firebird. The opera was composed during 1901-1902 and the work was completed in 1902. It was first performed the same year in Moscow.

Gogol's poem Dead Souls formed a compulsory part of the school literature programme. Pupils were tormented by writing essays on the characters of Chichikov, Plyushkin and Nozdryov, serfdom, or rather the lawless state of the Russian people prior to the Bolshevist revolution. In a word, instead of joy, the writer was burdened by enmity and boredom. And he was even forced to cut the text of the lyrical deviation "Eh, a troika, a troika-bird..." This text contained a literary interpretation of the belief of the writer in the bright future of his people. And that future was our Soviet life... And so when I took to considering the libretto for the opera, the first thing I resolved was the following: not to include the text of the "Troika-Bird", to do without it. That was, probably, my first impulse in creating the idea of the opera Dead Souls. This dream lived within me for ten whole years. First consideration, then reading and rereading the great book, notes of the most important things for the musical dramaturgy of the text, sketching the music. And, lastly, the joys and the tortures of working every single day. No contracts, promises, guaranteed theatres or production dates - absolutely nothing of that kind at all.
Rodion Shchedrin. Autobiographical Notes

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (Russian: Сказание о невидимом граде Китеже и деве Февронии, Skazaniye o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii) is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on a combination of two Russian legends: that of St. Fevroniya of Murom, and the city of Kitezh, which became invisible when attacked by the Tatars. The opera was completed in 1905, and the premiere performance took place at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, on February 7, 1907.