Fairy-tale opera may refer to any of several traditions of opera based on fairy tales.
Opéra féerie is a French genre of opera or opéra-ballet, often with elements of magic in their stories.Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C.: "Opéra féerie" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) The English genre of "fairy opera" includes Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe The German genre of (fairy-tale opera) has its roots in Italian opera.Millington, Barry: "Märchenoper" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) Hänsel und Gretel is considered a key work of the genre.
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