Wikipedia:WikiProject Opera/Article styles and formats

This page contains a detailed guide to the style and formatting of opera articles and is a supplement to the Article guide page. These recommendations have been developed over the years via consensus of WikiProject Opera's members through discussions on our talk page. Like all recommendations, they should be used with common sense and if necessary adapted for the needs of particular articles.

Sections
For stub and start class articles:

For articles that are aiming at either good article or featured article status, the following extra sections are recommended:

Dates (general)
Opera articles use the Day-Month-Year format for indicating the dates of premieres, performances, etc.

Day is written numerically but without the use of a leading "0" before a single digit day, 1 to 9. Months are written out in full and not abbreviated. The year always uses four digits.

Dates of premieres
References may be linked to 'Year in music' pages, for example "The opera was first performed in Prague on 31 March 1928", coded as  "The opera was first performed in Prague on 31 March 1928." 

The day and month should not be wikilinked; see Manual of Style (dates and numbers).

Role tables

 * Over-categorization of voice types in role tables should be avoided, e.g. use tenor instead of tenore di grazia, use soprano instead of coloratura soprano. The voice types specified in the printed score should normally be the ones used in the role table. Finer distinctions and differing performance practices (if any) should be discussed in the text of the article itself.
 * In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, role tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.
 * Wiki code for the table above
 * Wiki code for the table above

When updating existing tables the caption can be added by placing +Roles, voice types, and premiere cast as the second line in the table code, e.g.



Note also that the screen reader only template sronly may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

For a format with multiple notable premieres, refer to Don Carlos or the boiler plate below:
 * Multiple premieres
 * Wiki code for the table above

Synopsis format
For the numbering of acts, always use Arabic numerals: 1, 2, 3 etc., not the Roman: I, II, III. The words act and scene are not proper nouns and are not capitalized, except when sentence case applies.

Articles such as I masnadieri or La fanciulla del West illustrate the format:

I masnadieri:


 * ==Synopsis==
 * Setting: Germany, between 1755 and 1757.


 * ===Act 1===
 * Scene 1: A tavern on the borders of Saxony


 * During a break from his studies at Dresden University, Carlo, [etc]

or from La fanciulla del West:


 * ==Synopsis==
 * Time: 1849 to 1850
 * Place: A mining camp in the high Sierra Madre Mountains in California


 * === Act 1 ===
 * Inside the Polka Saloon.


 * At the saloon, Sheriff Rance is playing solitaire, while [etc]

Line 1: In each case, the word "Act" is in bold face and forms a sub-heading of the section's title for editing purposes.

Line 2: If an act has several scenes, the scene number, then colon, then description of the setting follows on a separate line in italics.

If there are no scenes, a description of the setting for the act follows in italics.

Lines 3+: Text of synopsis follows.

Recordings (short style)
Krenek: Jonny spielt auf, Vienna State Opera Orchestra
 * Conductor: Heinrich Hollreiser
 * Principal singers: Lucia Popp, Gerd Feldhoff, Thomas Stewart, Leo Heppe, Evelyn Lear
 * Recording date: 4 January 1994
 * Label: Vanguard Classics, B0000023F7 (CD)

Recordings (table style)
 (line breaks) after each name. To ensure that there will be no line breaks per name, enclose the longest name with the template Nowrap:. Opera house and orchestra": Name(s) of house, orchestra and chorus/choral group(s) follow without line breaks  (line break)
 * In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below.
 * The layout reflects one singer per line with 
 * "Conductor
 * "Label": Type of recording (e.g. "CD", "DVD") is followed by ":" (colon), then name of releasing company, followed by 
 * Catalogue number (using abbreviation "Cat:"); if available, should follow the name of the recording company


 * Wiki code for the table above

Note also that the screen reader only template sronly may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

Special alternative table
In special cases, where the cast list is longer than about five or six major characters or where one singer takes on several roles in one recording and several singers divide those roles in other recordings, the following example from The Tales of Hoffmann discography may be used:
 * Wiki code for the table above

Lists of operas by composers
In line with the 2020 RfC on table captions to aid accessibility for those using screen readers, tables going forward should have an incorporated caption as illustrated below. The recommended table format is based on the List of operas by Gioachino Rossini:
 * Wiki code for the table above

Note also that the screen reader only template sronly may be used to hide the table caption from sighted readers if it substantially duplicates adjacent text that is visible.

This is an empty template for such tables:
 * Wiki code for the table above

A specialised version of a list of operas can be seen at List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and at List of operas by George Frideric Handel:
 * Mozart operas
 * Wiki code for the table above


 * Handel operas
 * Wiki code for the table above

Sources and references layout
Articles may differ in their requirements and the suggested layout should be applied with common sense, particularly in the case of altering the existing layout in Featured Articles. For more on this subject see Citing sources, Manual of Style (layout), and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility See also for examples of various other referencing formats used in opera-related Featured articles which may be more suitable depending on the circumstances.

Layout
 * The overall heading "References" (==References==) includes a variety sub-heading titles.
 * Notes ( Notes ) – designates footnotes or direct in-line citations above. The template Reflist appears below Notes.
 * Sources ( Sources ) – includes specific online sources (with access date), articles, or books which appear in the footnotes (ideally with ISBN in the case of books), as well sources used to write the article but not currently cited in footnotes. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order of author, last name first.

Note: The format with a leading semicolon is no longer recommended because of compatibility issues with screen readers.

See the example of a typical format below using these citations:. These example footnotes are formatted according to WP:CITESHORT.

Notes

Sources
 * Ashbrook, William (1982). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052123526X.
 * Budden, Julian (1984). The Operas of Verdi. Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-310581.
 * Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869164-5.
 * Warrack, John; West, Ewan (1992). The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869164-5.