Comic opera and humour, Offenbach's works were intended solely to amuse. Though generally well crafted and full of humorous satire and grand opera parodies, plots and characters in his works were often interchangeable. Given the frenetic pace at which he worked, Offenbach sometimes used the same material in more than one opera. Another Frenchman who took up this form was Charles Lecocq (1832–1918). The singspiel developed in 18th-century Vienna and spread throughout Austria and Germany. As in the French "opéra comique", the "singspiel" was an opera with spoken dialogue, and usually a comic subject, such as Mozart's "Die Entführung aus dem Serail
The Long Christmas Dinner (opera) The Long Christmas Dinner (opera) The Long Christmas Dinner (German: "Das Lange Weihnachtsmahl") is an opera in one act by Paul Hindemith, with an English libretto by Thornton Wilder based on his play of the same name. Wilder collaborated with the composer in order to make the text work effectively with the music. It was arranged for chamber orchestra and used a harpsichord. It was first performed in the original English on 13 March 1963, at the Juilliard School of Music, New York under the direction of the composer. A digital recording of the work on the Wergo label was