March 10 – Don Procopio, an opera buffa written by Georges Bizet, is premiered posthumously at the Theatre du Casino, Monte Carlo.The two-act opera, written during Bizet's student days, had not been discovered until 30 years later.[9]
March 27 – John Philip Sousa's comic opera The Free Lance receives its initial performance in Springfield, Massachusetts.[11]
April 2 – Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco gives a lavish dinner party for the purpose of raising money to build a new opera house. Violinist Jan Kubelik is the guest of honor.
April 8 – Vincenzo Tommasini's Medea premieres at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste. The libretto, written by the composer, is based on the Greek myth of Medea.[12]
April 18 – The catastrophic San Francisco earthquake occurs. The Grand Opera house, where Enrico Caruso performed last night, is destroyed by fire. Costumes and scenery of twelve operas go up in smoke, resulting in a loss of $120,000.
Maskarade, a three-act opera by Carl Nielsen, receives its first performance in Copenhagen, the composer conducting.[22]
November 16 – In what becomes known as "monkey-house scandal", Enrico Caruso is arrested by a New York City officer on a charge of making improper advances to a passer-by, Mrs Hannah Stanhope. The police accuse him of pinching the buttocks of a married woman. The scandal threatens to reduce sales at the Metropolitan Opera box office, where Caruso sings.
November 28 – Enrico Caruso sings Rodolfo in La Boheme, by Giacomo Puccini. This is his first appearance after having been arrested, convinced and fined for making improper advances to a woman in the Central Park. He virtually bring down the house and the "monkey-house scandal" is quickly forgotten nad Caruso's stature remains unaffected.[23]
December 1 – The celebrated soprano Adelina Patti gives her farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[24]
December 9 – Richard Strauss' Salome receives its first Berlin performance. It stars Emmy Destinn and is so successful that, over next 27 years, it is performed 285 times in Berlin alone.[27]
Matteo Falcone, a dramatic scene by Cesar Cui, is performed for the first time in Moscow. The operatic work is based on a novella by Prosper Merimee about Corsicans.[29]
Last full-scale court performance of gambuh dance-drama with gamelan ensemble in Bali.[32]
Vassily Safonov becomes then new music director of the New York Philharmonics Society, after a three-year period during which guest conductors led this orchestra.
January 6 - Cinderella - another new production of the Empire Theater - premieres in London. It is a fairy ballet in five scenes, choreography by Fred Farren, music by Sidney Jones.[33]
January 14 - The Debutante is produced at London's Empire Theater. The music by Cuthbert Clarke, the lead dancer Fred Farren.[34]
January 28 - Radha - a modern dance work by Ruth Saint Denis - is performed for the first time at a private performance at the New York Theater. Music by Leo Delibes.[35]
August 6 - Fete Galante premieres at the Empire Theater, London. This ballet is an extended version of the first scene of Cinderella, produced at the same theater on January 6 of this year.