1600    Jacopo Peri's ''Euridice'', the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance in Florence, signifying the beginning of the Baroque Period

1607    ''L'Orfeo'' by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.

1711    The London première of ''Rinaldo'' by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

1786    Opening night of the opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Vienna, Austria.

1787    Mozart's opera ''Don Giovanni'' receives its first performance in Prague.

1853    Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Il Trovatore'' receives its premiere performance in Rome.

1853    Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''La Traviata'' receives its premiere performance in Venice.

1869    Richard Wagner's opera ''Das Rheingold'' premieres in Munich.

1966    The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, ''Antony and Cleopatra''.