Gaspare Spontini · aftercurtain

Shows & credits

Agnes von Hohenstaufen

Music · Opera · 1829

Agnes, cousin of Emperor Henry VI, is engaged to Henry Palatinus, son of the Welf leader Henry the Lion. War and the emperor’s decision to marry her to the French king threaten their union. Henry arrives in disguise, is condemned and imprisoned, but escapes to marry Agnes. Captured again, he mortally wounds the French ambassador in a duel, revealing him to be King Philip Augustus. Henry the Lion arrives and submits to the emperor, who blesses the couple and calls for unity.

Fernand Cortez

Music · Opera · 1809

Cortez persuades his mutinous troops to stay in Mexico, where his brother Alvaro is held by the Aztecs and he loves the princess Amazily. When the Aztecs threaten Amazily and Alvaro, she offers herself in sacrifice. The priests prepare to kill her, but the Spaniards arrive in time to save her; Cortez and Amazily marry.

Julie, ou Le pot de fleurs

Music · Opera · 1805

Mondor plans for his ward Julie to marry his friend. Julie drops a flowerpot from a window to attract her lover Valcour, but it hits him; he comes upstairs and finds her with her intended groom. The groom pretends to be her uncle and questions them, then mistakes the actual uncle for his rival. The confusion is eventually resolved.

La fuga in maschera

Music · Opera · 1800

Comic opera by Gaspare Spontini; the plot is not summarized.

La vestale

Music · Opera · 1807

After returning victorious to Rome, Licinius finds that Julia has become a Vestal Virgin. He tells her he intends to reclaim her. At the temple, they reunite and the sacred flame goes out; Julia refuses to identify Licinius and is sentenced to death. As she is about to be buried alive, a thunderstorm begins and lightning reignites the flame. The high priest interprets this as divine approval, releases Julia, and she marries Licinius.

Le metamorfosi di Pasquale, o sia Tutto è illusione nel mondo

Music · Opera · 1802

A one-act farsa opera by Gaspare Spontini, with a libretto by Giuseppe Foppa. The work, once considered lost, was rediscovered in the Duke of Ursel’s collection in 2016. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.

Li puntigli delle donne

Music · Opera · 1796

A farsetta for six voices by Gaspare Spontini, set among a wealthy farmer’s daughter, the count she intends to marry, his brother, and the count’s household. No fuller plot is available in the reviewed text.

Milton

Music · Opera · 1804

The blind poet Milton and his daughter Emma seek refuge from political persecution by Charles II with the Quaker Godwin. Godwin’s niece Charlotte loves Milton’s secretary Arthur, who is actually William Davenant in disguise and loves Emma. Davenant reveals his identity and brings a royal promise that Milton will not be punished, allowing Davenant and Emma to marry.

Nurmahal, oder Das Rosenfest von Kaschmir

Music · Opera · 1822

A two-act German-language opera by Gaspare Spontini, with a libretto by Carl Alexander Herklots based on Thomas Moore’s Lalla Rookh. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.

Olimpie

Music · Opera · 1819

After Alexander the Great’s death, his daughter Olimpie lives disguised as the slave Aménais, while her mother Statira hides as a priestess. Statira accuses Cassandre of murdering Alexander, but Olimpie defends him because he once saved her life. Torn between her love for Cassandre and loyalty to her mother, Olimpie sees Cassandre’s army clash with Antigonus’s. In the revised ending, the mortally wounded Antigonus confesses to Alexander’s murder, freeing Cassandre and Olimpie to marry.

Teseo riconosciuto

Music · Opera · 1798

An opera seria by Gaspare Spontini, with a libretto by Cosimo Giotti. The cast includes Aegeus, Theseus, Asteria, and Medea; no plot description is available.

All shows

Loading credits…