The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 9 letter word DAS RHEINGOLD
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
A
S
R
H
E
I
N
G
O
L
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Opera" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case opera = das rheingold.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.