Editing Opera in German (section)

==Late Romantic opera==

===After Wagner===
Wagner's innovations cast an immense shadow over subsequent composers, who struggled to absorb his influence while retaining their own individuality. One of the most successful composers of the following generation was [[Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)|Humperdinck]], whose ''[[Hänsel und Gretel (opera)|Hänsel und Gretel]]'' (1893) still has an assured place in the standard repertoire. Humperdinck turned back to folk song and the tales of the [[Brothers Grimm]] for inspiration. Yet, though ''Hänsel'' is often viewed as the ideal piece for introducing opera to children, it also has extraordinarily sophisticated orchestration and makes great use of leitmotifs, both tell-tale signs of Wagner's influence.

Other composers of the era who tried their hand at opera include [[Hugo Wolf]] (''[[Der Corregidor]]'', 1896) and Wagner's own son [[Siegfried Wagner|Siegfried]].{{sfn|Parker|1994|pp=232–236}}

===Richard Strauss===
[[File:Robert Sterl Schuch dirigiert Rosenkavalier.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Ernst von Schuch|Schuch]] conducting ''Der Rosenkavalier'' ([[Robert Sterl]], 1912)]]
[[Richard Strauss]] was heavily influenced by Wagner, despite [[Franz Strauss|his father]]'s efforts to the contrary. By seventeen, he was unimpressed with ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' and ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' but absolutely entranced by the other three pieces of the ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|Ring]]'' and ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2017}} Although in his early years he was more famous for his orchestral tone poems, ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'' (1905) and ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' (1909) quickly established his reputation as Germany's leading opera composer. These two operas stretched the tonal music system to its breaking point. The highly chromatic music featured harsh dissonances and unresolved harmonies. This, paired with the gruesome subject matter, looked forward to [[expressionism]]. ''Elektra'' also marked the beginning of Strauss's working relationship with the leading Austrian poet and playwright [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]], who would provide another five libretti for the composer. With ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' of 1911, Strauss changed direction, looking towards [[Mozart]] and the world of the Viennese [[waltz]] as much as towards Wagner. Modernist critics accused him of "selling out", but ''Rosenkavalier'' proved an immense success with audiences around the world. Strauss continued to ignore critical fashion, producing the mixture of farce and high tragedy of ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'', the complex allegory of ''[[Die Frau ohne Schatten]]'', the domestic dramas of ''[[Intermezzo (opera)|Intermezzo]]'' and ''[[Arabella]]'', and the mythological ''[[Die ägyptische Helena]]'' and ''[[Daphne (opera)|Daphne]]''. Strauss bid farewell to the musical stage with ''[[Capriccio (opera)|Capriccio]]'' of 1942, a "conversation piece" which explores the relationship between words and music in opera.{{sfn|Holden|1993|loc=Article on Strauss}}

===Other late Romantics===
Other composers styled "late Romantic", such as [[Franz Schreker]] (''[[Der ferne Klang]]'', 1912; ''[[Der Schatzgräber]]'', 1920), [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]] (''[[Eine florentinische Tragödie]]'', 1917; ''[[Der Zwerg]]'', 1922) and [[Erich Korngold]] (''[[Die tote Stadt]]'', 1920) explored similar territory to Strauss's ''Salome'' and ''Elektra''. They combined Wagnerian influences, lush orchestration, strange harmonies and dissonances with "[[Decadent movement|decadent]]" subject matter reflecting the dominance of [[Expressionism]] in the arts and the contemporary psychological explorations of [[Sigmund Freud]]. All three composers suffered persecution and eclipse under the [[Nazi]]s, who condemned their works as ''entartete Musik'' ("degenerate music"). [[Hans Pfitzner]] was another late Romantic post-Wagnerian, albeit of a more conservative stripe. His major opera ''[[Palestrina (opera)|Palestrina]]'' (1917) makes the case for tradition and inspiration rather than musical modernism.{{sfn|Parker|1994|pp=290–292}}

===Heyday of operetta===
In the late nineteenth century, a new, lighter form of opera, [[operetta]], became popular in [[Vienna]]. Operettas had immediately attractive tunes, comic (and often frivolous) plots and used spoken dialogue between the musical "numbers". Viennese operetta was inspired by the fashion for the French operettas of [[Jacques Offenbach]]. ''{{ill|Das Pensionat|de}}'' (1860) by [[Franz von Suppé]] is generally regarded as the first important operetta in the German language, but by far the most famous example of the genre is ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'' (1874) by [[Johann Strauss II|Johann Strauss]]. [[Franz Lehár]]'s ''[[The Merry Widow]]'' (1905) and [[Emmerich Kálmán]]'s ''[[Die Csárdásfürstin]]'' (1915) were other massive hits. Other composers who worked in this style include [[Oscar Straus (composer)|Oscar Straus]] and [[Sigmund Romberg]].{{sfn|Holden|1993|loc=Articles on Suppé, Johann Strauss, Lehár}}