- 1 August 1831 – The Italian baritone and prominent singing teacher, Antonio Cotogni, was born in Rome.
- 2 August 1921 – The famous Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso died in Naples, the city of his birth, at the age of 48.
- 3 August 1778 – La Scala, Italy's leading opera house, was inaugurated with the world premiere performance of Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
- 13 August 1876 – The Bayreuth Festspielhaus was inaugurated with a performance of Das Rheingold, beginning the first performance of the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
- 22 August 1862 – Claude Debussy, the composer of Pelléas et Mélisande, was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
- 24 August 1817 – Soprano Nancy Storace (pictured), who created the role of Susanna in Mozart's Le nozze de Figaro died in London at the age of 50.
- 27 August 1868 – The Danish tenor Erik Schmedes, particularly known for performances in Wagner's operas, was born in Gentofte, near Copenhagen.
- 28 August 1850 – Richard Wagner's opera, Lohengrin, had its world premiere at the Staatskapelle, Weimar in a performance conducted by Franz Liszt.
- 30 August 1953 – Gaetano Merola, the Italian conductor and founder of San Francisco Opera, died in San Francisco while conducting a performance of Madame Butterfly.