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Set in France several years after Agincourt, the opera follows King Charles VI during the English invasion. Odette frustrates Queen Isabelle and Bedford’s plan to replace the Dauphin with Bedford’s son and helps restore the heir; the dying king and French pledge resistance to English rule.
The country girl Clari attracts a Duke, who installs her in his mansion under the pretense that she is his cousin. Realizing he does not intend to marry her, she escapes home, where her father scolds her; the Duke follows, having recognized that he loves her, and the story ends happily.
Ginevra is promised to the Duke of Ferrara, but a poisoned veil leaves her in a deathlike trance and she is buried. She awakens in the Medici vault, finds shelter with sculptor Guido, and is reunited with her father, who agrees to their marriage.
Jaguarita, queen of a native tribe, is held prisoner by the Dutch. She drugs her guard Maurice and kidnaps him as part of her escape; after falling in love with him, she gets her tribesmen drunk and manages to turn aside their attack on the Dutch settlement.
In Constance in 1414, Jewish goldsmith Eléazar has raised Rachel as his daughter. She falls in love with Prince Léopold, who is secretly a Christian and already married to Princess Eudoxie. When Eléazar and Rachel discover Léopold’s identity, they are arrested alongside him. At first Cardinal Brogni offers to spare them if they convert, but Eléazar refuses. He reveals that Rachel is not his biological daughter and that Brogni’s infant daughter survived the fire that destroyed his home years earlier. Eléazar can save Rachel by disclosing that she is Christian, but she refuses to convert. At the gallows, Eléazar tells Brogni that Rachel is his daughter and points to the boiling cauldron where she is to die. Eléazar and Rachel are executed.
Mélusine, bound by a pact with the sorcerer Stello, falls in love with René and uses magic to make him believe that his fiancée Blanche has betrayed him. When Stello exposes her deception, René leaves her and seeks Blanche's forgiveness. Mélusine repents and asks Blanche to forgive her. As demons try to drag her to hell, Mélusine proclaims her Christian faith and dies in Blanche's arms.
In fifteenth-century Venice, Catarina is forced into marriage with the King of Cyprus, separating her from Gérard. The disguised King saves Gérard, and later spares him after he attempts revenge. As the King dies from Venetian poisoning, Catarina and Gérard resist a Venetian takeover; Catarina takes the crown while Gérard renounces his love.
An Italian-language opera adapting Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with roles including Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. The entry does not summarize the plot.
A hermit struggles against temptation as demons repeatedly try to ensnare him. They create Miranda, who is marked by a black spot, but she is moved by the hermit’s prayer and the mark disappears. At the end she joins Marie in prayer; Astaroth’s forces kill Miranda, and angels carry the hermit to heaven.
A French grand opera by Fromental Halévy, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, loosely based on Eugène Sue’s novel. The opera begins in Amsterdam in 1190 and makes the Wandering Jew, Ahasuerus, a leading character; no plot synopsis is supplied.
In 1594, Henri IV seeks to capture Paris without battle. Disguised as a soldier, he persuades the boatman Claude to ferry him across the Seine; a convoy that appears to carry supplies instead contains the King’s army, and the city is taken peacefully.
At a theatre in Avignon, the French director Casanova claims to love Italian music although he cannot speak Italian and is musically illiterate. After dismissing his French musicians, he auditions supposed Italian singers who are the same performers in disguise. The theatre’s singing director also poses as Italian while courting Casanova’s daughter; the disguises are exposed, and the company agrees to draw on both French and Italian traditions.
In Naples, the lazy Beppo loves flower-seller Baptista. The poet Mirobolante and wealthy Corvo discover that she is an heiress and court her, but she prefers Beppo. They try to block the marriage by claiming she is underage; her birth certificate shows she has just turned 21.
Bored Lord Evendale considers suicide, but his doctor persuades him to take a year away. In England, Evendale disguises himself while working for Dora’s uncle and falls in love with her; he is free to marry Dora when it emerges that Lady Evendale had previously married the doctor.
In late 18th-century London, Sir James Turner discovers that gold has been disappearing from his home. Like the money-lender in Balzac's source story, Turner is found to have taken his own property while sleepwalking. Unlike the source character, he survives the discovery.
In Andorra, Stéphan tries to escape conscription and faces execution for desertion. Rose-de-Mai steals money to ransom him, claiming it came from Georgette; a twist reveals Rose is Thérèse’s long-lost daughter, leaving her and Stéphan free to marry.
A comic opera by Fromental Halévy. The entry does not describe its plot.
Corsican farmer Ludovic manages a farm owned by Francesca, who is preparing to marry her cousin Gregorio. Ludovic shoots Francesca, and though he is sentenced to death she recovers and realizes she loves him.
An opéra comique by Fromental Halévy with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, set in a shipyard in Antibes.
In contemporary Boston, Englishman George and American Lyonel pursue sisters Henriette and the widow Mme. Darbel. Their shifting preferences complicate the pairings, and a lightning strike temporarily blinds Lyonel.
An opera based on the Biblical story of Noah, begun by Fromental Halévy and completed by Georges Bizet.
Gilbert travels to Paris to marry Valentine, his fiancée whom he has not seen for ten years. At an inn, Boisrobert, who is trying to evade marriage to actress Sylvia, proposes that Sylvia impersonate Valentine and marry Gilbert. Gilbert falls for Sylvia, while the real Valentine secretly writes the letters that sustain his affection. Sylvia eventually gives up the deception, and Valentine reveals it first; she and Gilbert marry, leaving Sylvia heartbroken.
Set in France several years after Agincourt, the opera follows King Charles VI during the English invasion. Odette frustrates Queen Isabelle and Bedford’s plan to replace the Dauphin with Bedford’s son and helps restore the heir; the dying king and French pledge resistance to English rule.
The country girl Clari attracts a Duke, who installs her in his mansion under the pretense that she is his cousin. Realizing he does not intend to marry her, she escapes home, where her father scolds her; the Duke follows, having recognized that he loves her, and the story ends happily.
Ginevra is promised to the Duke of Ferrara, but a poisoned veil leaves her in a deathlike trance and she is buried. She awakens in the Medici vault, finds shelter with sculptor Guido, and is reunited with her father, who agrees to their marriage.
Jaguarita, queen of a native tribe, is held prisoner by the Dutch. She drugs her guard Maurice and kidnaps him as part of her escape; after falling in love with him, she gets her tribesmen drunk and manages to turn aside their attack on the Dutch settlement.
In Constance in 1414, Jewish goldsmith Eléazar has raised Rachel as his daughter. She falls in love with Prince Léopold, who is secretly a Christian and already married to Princess Eudoxie. When Eléazar and Rachel discover Léopold’s identity, they are arrested alongside him. At first Cardinal Brogni offers to spare them if they convert, but Eléazar refuses. He reveals that Rachel is not his biological daughter and that Brogni’s infant daughter survived the fire that destroyed his home years earlier. Eléazar can save Rachel by disclosing that she is Christian, but she refuses to convert. At the gallows, Eléazar tells Brogni that Rachel is his daughter and points to the boiling cauldron where she is to die. Eléazar and Rachel are executed.
Mélusine, bound by a pact with the sorcerer Stello, falls in love with René and uses magic to make him believe that his fiancée Blanche has betrayed him. When Stello exposes her deception, René leaves her and seeks Blanche's forgiveness. Mélusine repents and asks Blanche to forgive her. As demons try to drag her to hell, Mélusine proclaims her Christian faith and dies in Blanche's arms.
In fifteenth-century Venice, Catarina is forced into marriage with the King of Cyprus, separating her from Gérard. The disguised King saves Gérard, and later spares him after he attempts revenge. As the King dies from Venetian poisoning, Catarina and Gérard resist a Venetian takeover; Catarina takes the crown while Gérard renounces his love.
An Italian-language opera adapting Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with roles including Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. The entry does not summarize the plot.
A hermit struggles against temptation as demons repeatedly try to ensnare him. They create Miranda, who is marked by a black spot, but she is moved by the hermit’s prayer and the mark disappears. At the end she joins Marie in prayer; Astaroth’s forces kill Miranda, and angels carry the hermit to heaven.
A French grand opera by Fromental Halévy, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, loosely based on Eugène Sue’s novel. The opera begins in Amsterdam in 1190 and makes the Wandering Jew, Ahasuerus, a leading character; no plot synopsis is supplied.
In 1594, Henri IV seeks to capture Paris without battle. Disguised as a soldier, he persuades the boatman Claude to ferry him across the Seine; a convoy that appears to carry supplies instead contains the King’s army, and the city is taken peacefully.
At a theatre in Avignon, the French director Casanova claims to love Italian music although he cannot speak Italian and is musically illiterate. After dismissing his French musicians, he auditions supposed Italian singers who are the same performers in disguise. The theatre’s singing director also poses as Italian while courting Casanova’s daughter; the disguises are exposed, and the company agrees to draw on both French and Italian traditions.
In Naples, the lazy Beppo loves flower-seller Baptista. The poet Mirobolante and wealthy Corvo discover that she is an heiress and court her, but she prefers Beppo. They try to block the marriage by claiming she is underage; her birth certificate shows she has just turned 21.
Bored Lord Evendale considers suicide, but his doctor persuades him to take a year away. In England, Evendale disguises himself while working for Dora’s uncle and falls in love with her; he is free to marry Dora when it emerges that Lady Evendale had previously married the doctor.
In late 18th-century London, Sir James Turner discovers that gold has been disappearing from his home. Like the money-lender in Balzac's source story, Turner is found to have taken his own property while sleepwalking. Unlike the source character, he survives the discovery.
In Andorra, Stéphan tries to escape conscription and faces execution for desertion. Rose-de-Mai steals money to ransom him, claiming it came from Georgette; a twist reveals Rose is Thérèse’s long-lost daughter, leaving her and Stéphan free to marry.
A comic opera by Fromental Halévy. The entry does not describe its plot.
Corsican farmer Ludovic manages a farm owned by Francesca, who is preparing to marry her cousin Gregorio. Ludovic shoots Francesca, and though he is sentenced to death she recovers and realizes she loves him.
An opéra comique by Fromental Halévy with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, set in a shipyard in Antibes.
In contemporary Boston, Englishman George and American Lyonel pursue sisters Henriette and the widow Mme. Darbel. Their shifting preferences complicate the pairings, and a lightning strike temporarily blinds Lyonel.
An opera based on the Biblical story of Noah, begun by Fromental Halévy and completed by Georges Bizet.
Gilbert travels to Paris to marry Valentine, his fiancée whom he has not seen for ten years. At an inn, Boisrobert, who is trying to evade marriage to actress Sylvia, proposes that Sylvia impersonate Valentine and marry Gilbert. Gilbert falls for Sylvia, while the real Valentine secretly writes the letters that sustain his affection. Sylvia eventually gives up the deception, and Valentine reveals it first; she and Gilbert marry, leaving Sylvia heartbroken.