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Prince Amleto learns from his father’s ghost that his uncle Claudio murdered the king. He feigns madness and stages a play to expose Claudio. Amleto accidentally kills Polonio, whose daughter Ofelia goes mad and drowns. In the original fourth-act ending, a poisoned duel and cup lead to the deaths of Geltrude, Laerte, Claudio, and Amleto.
Falstaff sends identical letters to Alice Ford and Meg Page, hoping to seduce them for money. The women discover the scheme and plan to humiliate him, while Alice’s husband Ford plots revenge and the women also help Nannetta marry Fenton instead of the husband her father chose. Falstaff is hidden in a laundry basket and thrown into the Thames, then lured to a midnight encounter at Herne’s Oak, where townspeople in fairy disguises torment him. Ford’s plan for Nannetta to marry Dr. Caius is also foiled, and the company ends with Falstaff’s declaration that all the world is folly.
In 17th-century Venice, the singer Gioconda loves Enzo, who has returned in disguise to elope with Laura, his former fiancée. The spy Barnaba exposes their plans to Laura’s husband Alvise, but Gioconda saves Laura after recognizing that she once protected Gioconda’s blind mother. Gioconda later replaces the poison Alvise gives Laura with a drug that makes her appear dead. When Enzo and Laura escape together, Gioconda faces Barnaba and stabs herself; he then reveals that he has drowned her mother.
The opera is based on Victor Hugo's play Marie Tudor, which centers on the rise, fall, and execution of Fabiano Fabiani, a fictional favorite of Mary I of England.
Mefistofele wagers that he can win Faust’s soul. Faust accepts a pact that grants him worldly pleasure in exchange for his soul at death. Restored to youth, Faust seduces Margherita, who is later imprisoned and condemned after poisoning her mother and drowning their child. She rejects Mefistofele and is redeemed. Faust then travels to ancient Greece and loves Helen of Troy, but finally seeks God’s forgiveness and dies redeemed.
Set in Imperial Rome during Nero’s reign, the opera explores tensions between the Imperial religion and Christianity and concludes with the Great Fire of Rome.
After Otello returns victorious to Cyprus, Iago schemes against him and engineers Cassio’s dismissal. Iago plants Desdemona’s strawberry-embroidered handkerchief and twists a conversation to convince Otello that she has been unfaithful. Otello kills Desdemona, then learns that Iago stole the handkerchief and fabricated the evidence. Realizing his error, Otello stabs himself and dies beside her.
In Genoa, corsair Simon Boccanegra becomes Doge and discovers that his lover Maria has died. Their daughter has disappeared. Twenty-five years later, Boccanegra meets Amelia, a young woman he recognizes as his long-lost daughter. His adviser Paolo, angry that Amelia refuses to marry him, arranges her kidnapping. Boccanegra stops a mob from attacking Gabriele Adorno, Amelia’s lover, and discovers Paolo’s role. Paolo poisons the Doge and incites a revolt. After the revolt is suppressed, Boccanegra dies reconciled with his enemy Fiesco, who learns that Amelia is his granddaughter. Boccanegra blesses Amelia and Adorno’s marriage and names Adorno his successor.
Prince Amleto learns from his father’s ghost that his uncle Claudio murdered the king. He feigns madness and stages a play to expose Claudio. Amleto accidentally kills Polonio, whose daughter Ofelia goes mad and drowns. In the original fourth-act ending, a poisoned duel and cup lead to the deaths of Geltrude, Laerte, Claudio, and Amleto.
Falstaff sends identical letters to Alice Ford and Meg Page, hoping to seduce them for money. The women discover the scheme and plan to humiliate him, while Alice’s husband Ford plots revenge and the women also help Nannetta marry Fenton instead of the husband her father chose. Falstaff is hidden in a laundry basket and thrown into the Thames, then lured to a midnight encounter at Herne’s Oak, where townspeople in fairy disguises torment him. Ford’s plan for Nannetta to marry Dr. Caius is also foiled, and the company ends with Falstaff’s declaration that all the world is folly.
In 17th-century Venice, the singer Gioconda loves Enzo, who has returned in disguise to elope with Laura, his former fiancée. The spy Barnaba exposes their plans to Laura’s husband Alvise, but Gioconda saves Laura after recognizing that she once protected Gioconda’s blind mother. Gioconda later replaces the poison Alvise gives Laura with a drug that makes her appear dead. When Enzo and Laura escape together, Gioconda faces Barnaba and stabs herself; he then reveals that he has drowned her mother.
The opera is based on Victor Hugo's play Marie Tudor, which centers on the rise, fall, and execution of Fabiano Fabiani, a fictional favorite of Mary I of England.
Mefistofele wagers that he can win Faust’s soul. Faust accepts a pact that grants him worldly pleasure in exchange for his soul at death. Restored to youth, Faust seduces Margherita, who is later imprisoned and condemned after poisoning her mother and drowning their child. She rejects Mefistofele and is redeemed. Faust then travels to ancient Greece and loves Helen of Troy, but finally seeks God’s forgiveness and dies redeemed.
Set in Imperial Rome during Nero’s reign, the opera explores tensions between the Imperial religion and Christianity and concludes with the Great Fire of Rome.
After Otello returns victorious to Cyprus, Iago schemes against him and engineers Cassio’s dismissal. Iago plants Desdemona’s strawberry-embroidered handkerchief and twists a conversation to convince Otello that she has been unfaithful. Otello kills Desdemona, then learns that Iago stole the handkerchief and fabricated the evidence. Realizing his error, Otello stabs himself and dies beside her.
In Genoa, corsair Simon Boccanegra becomes Doge and discovers that his lover Maria has died. Their daughter has disappeared. Twenty-five years later, Boccanegra meets Amelia, a young woman he recognizes as his long-lost daughter. His adviser Paolo, angry that Amelia refuses to marry him, arranges her kidnapping. Boccanegra stops a mob from attacking Gabriele Adorno, Amelia’s lover, and discovers Paolo’s role. Paolo poisons the Doge and incites a revolt. After the revolt is suppressed, Boccanegra dies reconciled with his enemy Fiesco, who learns that Amelia is his granddaughter. Boccanegra blesses Amelia and Adorno’s marriage and names Adorno his successor.