Dafne is performed in Florence, becoming the first example of a new art form - opera

Claudio Monteverdi presents Orfeo, the first opera to win a lasting place in the international repertory

The first public opera house, the Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice

Young gentlewomen in Chelsea give the first performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

Handel's success in London with his opera Rinaldo prompts him to settle in Britain

The Italian poet Metastasio produces, in Vienna, opera libretti which are used by almost every composer of the day

The intensely dramatic music of Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice introduces a much needed reform in the conventions of opera

Mozart's Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna and then has a huge success in Prague

The emperor Joseph II is reported to have told Mozart that his opera The Marriage of Figaro has 'too many notes'

Mozart's opera Don Giovanni has its premiere in Prague

Mozart's opera Così fan Tutte has its premiere in Vienna, in the court theatre of Joseph II

Mozart's opera The Magic Flute has its premiere in Vienna in a popular theatre run by the librettist, Emanuel Shikaneder

The first version of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, is performed in Vienna under the title Leonore

The final version of Beethoven's opera Fidelio has its premiere in Vienna

Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville has its premiere in Rome

Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischutz has its premiere in Berlin

Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini moves to Paris, where he becomes director of the Théatre Italien

Carl Maria von Weber's opera Oberon has its premiere (in London, at Covent Garden)

Gioacchino Rossini's opera William Tell has its premiere in Paris

Gaetano Donizetti's opera L'elisir d'amore has its premiere in Milan

Gaetano Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor has its premiere in Naples

The success of the opera Nabucco, premiered in Milan, is a turning point in the fortunes of Giuseppe Verdi

The Flying Dutchman is the first of Richard Wagner's major operas to be staged, with its premiere in Dresden

Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, based on a play by Victor Hugo, is a huge success at its premiere in Venice

Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore is a success at its premiere in Rome