The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been handed since 1961, although it was called Best Classical Opera Production in its initial year. In 1962, the title was officially changed to best Opera Recording. Before 1961 the awards for Opera and Choral performances were awarded together under the category Best Classical Performance, Operatic or Choral. Opera is a form of art in which singers and musicians combine text and musical score. Opera is a part of western classical music tradition and is often accompanied by elements of theatre like acting, scenery and costumes. The winners for Best Opera Recording at the Grammys are given below.

Winners: Grammys Best Opera Recording

Year
Winner/s
Recording
2009
James Conlon (conductor); Anthony Dean Griffey, Patti LuPone & Audra McDonald; Fred Vogler (producer); Donnie Ray Albert, John Easterlin, Steven Humes, Mel Ulrich & Robert Wörle; Los Angeles Opera Orchestra; Los Angeles Opera Chorus
Kurt Weill: Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny
2008
Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor); Brian Couzens (producer); Jane Henschel, Jennifer Larmore & Rebecca Evans (soloists); Ralph Couzens, engineer,
Engelbert Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel
2007
Robert Spano (conductor); Kelley O'Connor, Jessica Rivera & Dawn Upshaw; Valérie Gross & Sid McLauchlan (producers) (Women Of The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears
2006
Sir Colin Davis (conductor); Carlos Alvarez, Bülent Bezdüz, Marina Domashenko, Jane Henschel, Ana Ibarra, Maria Josè Moreno & Michele Pertusi; James Mallinson (producer) (London Symphony Chorus; London Symphony Orchestra)
Verdi: Falstaff
2005
Martin Sauer (producer), René Jacobs (conductor), Patrizia Ciofi, Véronique Gens, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager & Lorenzo Regazzo
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
2004
Wolfram Graul (producer), Bernard Haitink (conductor), Jerry Hadley, Karita Mattila, Eva Randová, Anja Silja, Jorma Silvasti
Janáèek: Jenùfa performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House & Chorus & various artists
2003
Christoph Classen (producer), Eberhard Sengpiel, Tobias Lehmann (engineers), Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Jane Eaglen, Thomas Hampson, Waltraud Meier, René Pape, Peter Seiffert, the Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin & the Staatskapelle Berlin
Wagner: Tannhäuser
2002
James Mallinson (producer), Simon Rhodes (engineer), Colin Davis (conductor), Michelle DeYoung, Ben Heppner, Petra Lang, Peter Mattei, Stephen Milling, Sara Mingardo, Kenneth Tarver & the London Symphony Orchestra
Berlioz: Les Troyens
2001
Martin Sauer (producer), Jean Chatauret (engineer), Kent Nagano (conductor), Kim Begley, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich Henschel, Markus Hollop, Eva Jenis, Torsten Kerl & the Orchestre de l'Opera Nationale de Lyon
Busoni: Doktor Faust
2000
Nicholas Parker (producer), John Eliot Gardiner (conductor), Ian Bostridge, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Bryn Terfel, Deborah York, the Monteverdi Choir & the London Symphony Orchestra
Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress
1999
Pierre Boulez (conductor), Jessye Norman, László Polgár & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle
1998
Michael Woolcock (producer), Georg Solti (conductor), José van Dam, Ben Heppner, Herbert Lippert, Karita Mattila, Alan Opie, Rene Pape, Iris Vermillion & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
1997
Brian Couzens (producer), Richard Hickox (conductor), Philip Langridge, Alan Opie, Janice Watson, the London Symphony Chorus & the City of London Sinfonia
Britten: Peter Grimes
1996
Raymond Minshull (producer), Charles Dutoit (conductor), Gary Lakes, Francoise Pollet, Gino Quilico, Deborah Voigt & L'Orchestra Symphonie Montreal & Chorus
Berlioz: Les Troyens
1995
Martin Sauer (producer), Kent Nagano (conductor), Kenn Chester, Jerry Hadley, Samuel Ramey, Cheryl Studer, & the Orchestre of Opera De Lyon & Chorus
Floyd: Susannah
1994
Steven Paul (producer), John Nelson (conductor), John Aler, Kathleen Battle, Michael Chance, Mark S. Doss, Marilyn Horne, Neil Mackie, Sylvia McNair, Samuel Ramey, the Ambrosian Opera Chorus & the English Chamber Orchestra
Handel: Semele
1993
Christopher Raeburn, Stephen Trainor, Morten Winding (producers), Georg Solti (conductor), Hildegard Behrens, José van Dam, Plácido Domingo, Sumi Jo, Reinhild Runkel, Julia Varady & the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
R. Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
1992
Cord Garben (producer), James Levine (conductor), Hildegard Behrens, Reiner Goldberg, Matti Salminen, Hanna Schwarz, Cheryl Studer, Bernd Weikl, Ekkehard Wlaschiha, & the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
1991
Cord Garben (producer), James Levine (conductor), Siegfried Jerusalem, Christa Ludwig, Kurt Moll, James Morris, Jan Hendrik Rootering, Ekkehard Wlaschiha, Heinz Zednik & the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Wagner: Das Rheingold
1990
Cord Garben (producer), James Levine (conductor), Hildegard Behrens, Gary Lakes, Christa Ludwig, Kurt Moll, James Morris, Jessye Norman & the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Wagner: Die Walküre
1989
Christopher Raeburn (producer), Georg Solti (conductor), Plácido Domingo, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Siegmund Nimsgern, Jessye Norman, Eva Randova, Hans Sotin, & the Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Wagner: Lohengrin
1988
Cord Garben (producer), James Levine (conductor), Agnes Baltsa, Kathleen Battle, Gary Lakes, Hermann Prey, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, & the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
1987
Elizabeth Ostrow (producer), John Mauceri (conductor), James Billings, Joyce Castle, Maris Clement, David Eisler, Jack Harrold, John Lankston, Erie Mills, Scott Reeve & the New York City Opera Orchestra
Bernstein: Candide
1986
James Mallinson (producer), Georg Solti (conductor), Philip Langridge, Franz Mazura & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron
1985
Michel Glotz (producer), Lorin Maazel (conductor), the Choeurs et Maitrise de Radio France & the Orchestre National de France
Bizet: Carmen (Original Soundtrack)
1984
Christopher Raeburn (producer), Georg Solti (conductor), Thomas Allen, Kiri Te Kanawa, Kurt Moll, Lucia Popp, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade & the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro
Jay David Saks, Max Wilcox (producers), James Levine (conductor), Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Teresa Stratas, & the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Verdi: La Traviata
1983
Andrew Kazdin (producer), Pierre Boulez (conductor), Jeannine Altmeyer, Hermann Becht, Peter Hofmann, Siegfried Jerusalem, Gwyneth Jones, Manfred Jung, Donald McIntyre, Matti Salminen, Ortrun Wenkel, Heinz Zednik & the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
1982
James Mallinson (producer), Charles Mackerras (conductor), Jiri Zahradnicek, Ivo