Question: Which opera was performed first The Midsummer Marriage or The Beggar's Opera ?
Related documents: [0]  [DOC] The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time. [END] 
[1]  [DOC] The Midsummer Marriage is an opera in three acts, with music and libretto by Michael Tippett. The work's first performance was at Covent Garden, 27 January 1955, conducted by John Pritchard. The reception of the opera was controversial, over perceived confusion as to the libretto and Tippett's use of symbols and psychological references. Nonetheless the opera has received at least ten more productions, including two further productions at the Royal Opera, in England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Sweden and the United States. [END] 
Answer: 
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera