It may be a soap works (5)
I believe the answer is:
opera
'works' is the definition.
('opera' is an alternative plural of 'opus')
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for opera that I've seen before include "Stage entertainment" , "Carmen, for example" , "art form" , "eg Otello" , "Fidelio for instance" .)