Literaturoper

Literaturoper (German: [lɪtəʁaˈtuːɐ̯ˌʔoːpɐ] ; "literature opera"; plural Literaturopern), a term coined by the German music critic Edgar Istel, describes a genre of opera that emerged during the late 19th century. When an existing play for the legitimate theatre is set to music without major changes and without the intervention of a librettist, a Literaturoper is the result. Although the term is German, it can be applied to any kind of opera, irrespective of style or language. (In that sense it can be regarded as a term rather than a genre as such.) The former, much broader usage of the term Literaturoper for opera libretti on the basis of dramas, novels and short stories of undoubted literary renown, which was still common until around 1980, has been made obsolete by recent research on the history of the opera libretto.