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Two unhappily married couples play bridge while each privately reflects on unfulfilled desires. Sally longs for a hat with peacock feathers; Bill thinks about his mistress; Geraldine wonders who loves her and recalls her mother; and David fantasizes about wealth and a life of sexual freedom.
Amahl, a disabled boy who walks with a crutch, and his mother welcome the Three Kings, who are traveling to bring gifts to the Christ Child. The impoverished mother tries to take some of their gold, but Amahl defends her and the kings forgive her. Amahl offers his crutch to the Child and is miraculously healed; with his mother’s permission, he joins the kings on their journey.
A socialite’s husband refuses to accompany her to a ball unless she reveals her lover’s identity. A fight follows; Amelia tells police that a burglar attacked her husband, leaving her lover to be arrested while she departs for the ball with the investigating police chief.
Alien creatures called Globolinks invade Earth and threaten children returning from vacation. Music repels them, so Emily ventures through the forest with her violin while a music teacher leads the other children and teachers to safety. The dean is touched and begins transforming into a Globolink, but learns to sing one note to hold them back before joining the creatures.
Juana is passionately devoted to her husband Philip, who is unfaithful and pressures her to surrender her claim to the Spanish throne. After Philip dies, she travels with his body to Spain and sings to him. Her father Fernando tries to take the kingdom; when she refuses, he confines her in a convent and separates her from all but daughter Catalina. Later her son Carlos demands her abdication; she again refuses, and he removes Catalina and boards up her cell window. After 46 years of confinement, dying Juana is comforted by priest Miguel.
A one-act opera created specifically for television by Gian Carlo Menotti, with an English libretto by the composer. It was designed to use screen effects that could not be recreated on a live stage.
A through-composed opera centered on a romantic encounter between Donato, a blind recluse, and Maria Golovin, a married woman living in a European country a few years after a war.
In a medieval German orphanage, twelve-year-old Martin longs for a father. He hides an escaped heretic and grows attached to him, then lies to the pursuing sheriff to protect him. Under threat, Martin is frightened to death without betraying the stranger.
A one-act English-language opera for young people by Gian Carlo Menotti, with music and libretto by the composer.
In an unnamed European totalitarian country, political dissident John Sorel is hunted by the secret police. His wife Magda seeks a visa to flee with their child and his mother, but the consulate’s paperwork and queues delay her. The secret police question Magda, and a wealthy woman receives a visa ahead of her. Magda’s child and mother-in-law die; John is captured when he returns to the consulate. Despondent, Magda turns on the gas in her oven as the secretary tries to reach her by telephone.
A three-act opera commissioned for the United States Bicentennial.
Fisherman Ilo and his wife Telea land on a deserted island, where a god orders Ilo to rebuild a ruined temple. Telea and another fisherman escape together; the god kills Ilo, then dies when no worshipper remains.
Anthropology student Kitty travels to India seeking the world’s last savage. Her parents hire Abdul to pose as one; Kitty takes him to America, grows attached to him, and eventually chooses to live with him in a jungle cave.
Monica, daughter of the medium Madame Flora, and Toby, a mute servant boy, help stage fake seances for paying guests. Monica impersonates the dead behind a screen while Flora pretends to communicate with them. After one seance, Flora feels a phantom hand at her throat and becomes convinced that Toby knows something about it. When the guests return, Flora exposes the tricks but they refuse to believe that the seances were false. She sends Toby away. Later, he sneaks back into the house to retrieve his tambourine. Hearing a noise, Flora takes a revolver and fires at the puppet theater where Toby is hiding. He is killed, and Monica runs for help. Flora asks whether Monica was the one who made the noise.
In racially segregated colonial Africa, scientist Toime Ukamba overcomes prejudice and discovers a valuable formula. White scientists contest its use and credit; Ukamba flees with Cora, but the couple is thwarted, and Ukamba dies after destroying his research, leaving Dr. Arnek alone with the knowledge.
Miss Todd and her maid Laetitia shelter Bob, a wanderer who has arrived at their home. After hearing of an escaped convict, Miss Todd suspects Bob but Laetitia persuades her to keep him. Miss Todd leaves money for Bob to steal and then begins stealing from neighbors herself. Laetitia falls in love with Bob, who plans to leave. They rob a liquor store to keep him there, but when the police begin searching for the thief, Bob insists that he is innocent. Laetitia persuades him to escape with her; they take Miss Todd’s valuables and car, leaving Miss Todd alone.
Annina’s visions and stigmata lead her neighbors to regard her as a saint, while her brother Michele believes she is ill and tries to protect her. After a wedding gathering ends in murder, Annina urges Michele to surrender and takes her vows as a nun before dying.
Ben visits Lucy to propose before leaving on a trip, but her long telephone conversations repeatedly interrupt him. He leaves to catch his train without asking. From a telephone booth, he calls Lucy and makes his proposal; she accepts, and they sing a duet over the phone line.
A reclusive poet walks through town on successive Sundays with a unicorn, a gorgon and a manticore. The Countess and townspeople imitate him, repeatedly discarding one creature for the latest fashion. When the poet misses a Sunday, they assume he has destroyed his last pet and attack his castle, where they find him dying beside all three creatures; he condemns their conformity and bids farewell to his imagined companions.
Vanessa has spent twenty years waiting for her former lover Anatol to return, keeping the mirrors in her house covered and living with her mother, the Baroness, and her niece Erika. When a young man named Anatol arrives, Vanessa mistakes him for her former lover. Erika falls in love with the young Anatol, but doubts his sincerity and refuses his marriage proposal. Vanessa becomes engaged to him. At the announcement, Erika faints, then runs into the cold while pregnant and miscarries. Vanessa and Anatol leave for Paris. Erika covers the mirrors and closes the house, beginning a vigil of her own.
Two unhappily married couples play bridge while each privately reflects on unfulfilled desires. Sally longs for a hat with peacock feathers; Bill thinks about his mistress; Geraldine wonders who loves her and recalls her mother; and David fantasizes about wealth and a life of sexual freedom.
Amahl, a disabled boy who walks with a crutch, and his mother welcome the Three Kings, who are traveling to bring gifts to the Christ Child. The impoverished mother tries to take some of their gold, but Amahl defends her and the kings forgive her. Amahl offers his crutch to the Child and is miraculously healed; with his mother’s permission, he joins the kings on their journey.
A socialite’s husband refuses to accompany her to a ball unless she reveals her lover’s identity. A fight follows; Amelia tells police that a burglar attacked her husband, leaving her lover to be arrested while she departs for the ball with the investigating police chief.
Alien creatures called Globolinks invade Earth and threaten children returning from vacation. Music repels them, so Emily ventures through the forest with her violin while a music teacher leads the other children and teachers to safety. The dean is touched and begins transforming into a Globolink, but learns to sing one note to hold them back before joining the creatures.
Juana is passionately devoted to her husband Philip, who is unfaithful and pressures her to surrender her claim to the Spanish throne. After Philip dies, she travels with his body to Spain and sings to him. Her father Fernando tries to take the kingdom; when she refuses, he confines her in a convent and separates her from all but daughter Catalina. Later her son Carlos demands her abdication; she again refuses, and he removes Catalina and boards up her cell window. After 46 years of confinement, dying Juana is comforted by priest Miguel.
A one-act opera created specifically for television by Gian Carlo Menotti, with an English libretto by the composer. It was designed to use screen effects that could not be recreated on a live stage.
A through-composed opera centered on a romantic encounter between Donato, a blind recluse, and Maria Golovin, a married woman living in a European country a few years after a war.
In a medieval German orphanage, twelve-year-old Martin longs for a father. He hides an escaped heretic and grows attached to him, then lies to the pursuing sheriff to protect him. Under threat, Martin is frightened to death without betraying the stranger.
A one-act English-language opera for young people by Gian Carlo Menotti, with music and libretto by the composer.
In an unnamed European totalitarian country, political dissident John Sorel is hunted by the secret police. His wife Magda seeks a visa to flee with their child and his mother, but the consulate’s paperwork and queues delay her. The secret police question Magda, and a wealthy woman receives a visa ahead of her. Magda’s child and mother-in-law die; John is captured when he returns to the consulate. Despondent, Magda turns on the gas in her oven as the secretary tries to reach her by telephone.
A three-act opera commissioned for the United States Bicentennial.
Fisherman Ilo and his wife Telea land on a deserted island, where a god orders Ilo to rebuild a ruined temple. Telea and another fisherman escape together; the god kills Ilo, then dies when no worshipper remains.
Anthropology student Kitty travels to India seeking the world’s last savage. Her parents hire Abdul to pose as one; Kitty takes him to America, grows attached to him, and eventually chooses to live with him in a jungle cave.
Monica, daughter of the medium Madame Flora, and Toby, a mute servant boy, help stage fake seances for paying guests. Monica impersonates the dead behind a screen while Flora pretends to communicate with them. After one seance, Flora feels a phantom hand at her throat and becomes convinced that Toby knows something about it. When the guests return, Flora exposes the tricks but they refuse to believe that the seances were false. She sends Toby away. Later, he sneaks back into the house to retrieve his tambourine. Hearing a noise, Flora takes a revolver and fires at the puppet theater where Toby is hiding. He is killed, and Monica runs for help. Flora asks whether Monica was the one who made the noise.
In racially segregated colonial Africa, scientist Toime Ukamba overcomes prejudice and discovers a valuable formula. White scientists contest its use and credit; Ukamba flees with Cora, but the couple is thwarted, and Ukamba dies after destroying his research, leaving Dr. Arnek alone with the knowledge.
Miss Todd and her maid Laetitia shelter Bob, a wanderer who has arrived at their home. After hearing of an escaped convict, Miss Todd suspects Bob but Laetitia persuades her to keep him. Miss Todd leaves money for Bob to steal and then begins stealing from neighbors herself. Laetitia falls in love with Bob, who plans to leave. They rob a liquor store to keep him there, but when the police begin searching for the thief, Bob insists that he is innocent. Laetitia persuades him to escape with her; they take Miss Todd’s valuables and car, leaving Miss Todd alone.
Annina’s visions and stigmata lead her neighbors to regard her as a saint, while her brother Michele believes she is ill and tries to protect her. After a wedding gathering ends in murder, Annina urges Michele to surrender and takes her vows as a nun before dying.
Ben visits Lucy to propose before leaving on a trip, but her long telephone conversations repeatedly interrupt him. He leaves to catch his train without asking. From a telephone booth, he calls Lucy and makes his proposal; she accepts, and they sing a duet over the phone line.
A reclusive poet walks through town on successive Sundays with a unicorn, a gorgon and a manticore. The Countess and townspeople imitate him, repeatedly discarding one creature for the latest fashion. When the poet misses a Sunday, they assume he has destroyed his last pet and attack his castle, where they find him dying beside all three creatures; he condemns their conformity and bids farewell to his imagined companions.
Vanessa has spent twenty years waiting for her former lover Anatol to return, keeping the mirrors in her house covered and living with her mother, the Baroness, and her niece Erika. When a young man named Anatol arrives, Vanessa mistakes him for her former lover. Erika falls in love with the young Anatol, but doubts his sincerity and refuses his marriage proposal. Vanessa becomes engaged to him. At the announcement, Erika faints, then runs into the cold while pregnant and miscarries. Vanessa and Anatol leave for Paris. Erika covers the mirrors and closes the house, beginning a vigil of her own.