Operas known by English names
editThe following is a list of operas, written in the main western European languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish), which have well-known English titles:
The Barber of Seville, The Gypsy Baron, The Land of Smiles, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, The Merry Widow, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Orpheus in the Underworld, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, The Seven Deadly Sins, The Tales of Hoffmann, The Threepenny Opera, William Tell
It is proposed that these operas should be listed under their English names with redirects from their original titles. Other operas should be listed under their original titles, with redirects from any known (but not invented) English names.
We hope this will be a practical arrangement that satisfies existing Wikipedia policies, while avoiding too many editorial pitfalls, anomalies and ambiguities.
English names are normally preferred for eastern European, Russian and Scandinavian operas unless the title is a simple proper name. This is for practical reasons.
Here are some examples (with original titles in parentheses):
- Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (A kékszakállú herceg vára)
- Antonín Dvořák: The Devil and Kate (Cert a Kaca)
- Mikhail Glinka: A Life for the Tsar (Zhizn za tsarya)
- Leoš Janáček: The Cunning Little Vixen (Prihody Lisky Bystrousky), Destiny (Osud), The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century (Výlet pana Broučka do XV století/Výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce), From the House of the Dead (Z mrtvého domu), The Makropulos Affair (Vec Makropulos)
- Bohuslav Martinů: Comedy on the Bridge (Veselohra na moste), The Greek Passion (Recké pasije), The Marriage (Zenitba), The Plays of Mary (Hry o Marii), The Voice of the Forest (Hlas lesa), What Men Live By (Čím člověk žije)
- Stanisław Moniuszko: The Haunted Manor (Straszny dwór)
- Modest Mussorgsky: The Fair at Sorochyntsi (Sorochinskaya Yarmarka)
- Sergei Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery (Obrucheniye v monastyre), The Fiery Angel (Ognenniy angel), The Gambler (Igrok), The Love for Three Oranges (Lyubov k tryem apelsinam), The Story of a Real Man (Povest' o nastoyashchem cheloveeke), War and Peace (Voyna i mir)
- Poul Ruders: The Handmaid's Tale (Tjenerindens Fortælling)
- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel (Zolotoy petushok), Kashchey the Deathless (Kashchey bessmertnïy), The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (Skazaniye o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii), The Maid of Pskov (Pskovityanka), May Night (Mayskaya noch'), Mozart and Salieri (Motsart i Sal'yeri), The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga (Boyarïnya Vera Sheloga), The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka), The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Skazka o Tsare Satane), The Tsar's Bride (Tsarskaya nevesta)
- Bedřich Smetana: The Bartered Bride (Prodaná nevěsta)