3280 shows
Clear filtersPolly Peachum travels to the West Indies in search of Macheath, now a pirate living with Jenny Diver. Mrs Trapes kidnaps Polly to sell her to planter Mr Ducat; Polly disguises herself as a young man. After pirates are defeated and identities exposed, Macheath is executed and Polly marries Cawwawkee, son of the Indian king.
Based on the legend of Polydorus, youngest son of Priam, who is murdered by Polymestor, King of Thrace, for his treasure. The original ending shows Polymnestor committing suicide onstage; after this shocked audiences, a chorus about Deidamie and Polydore’s love was inserted.
A five-act opera by Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Samuel Müller, with characters including Polydorus, Andromache and Polymestor. The entry does not describe the plot.
In Melitene, Armenia, Pauline is married to Polyeucte but once loved Roman general Sévère. When Sévère returns, Pauline confides in him that Polyeucte is in danger because Christians are to be executed. Polyeucte becomes a Christian despite the threat of persecution. Governor Félix orders vengeance, and Sévère cannot persuade Polyeucte to deny his faith. Polyeucte remains imprisoned and appears with Pauline in the arena as the lion’s den is opened.
Polyphème is embittered because Galatée, whom he loves, now loves Acis. He tries to renew his bond with her but lets her go when she rejects him. As the lovers grow closer, Polyphème obsessively questions the boy Lycas about their intimacy. When he sees them sleeping together, he chooses not to crush them with a boulder, blinds himself, and walks toward the sea, with Lycas helping him touch Galatée one last time.
A prologue and five-act tragédie lyrique concerning the mythological figures Polyxena and Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus).
Rabastens disapproves of his nephew Gustave’s romance with Pomme d’api and cuts off his allowance. When Catherine arrives as a new maid, Gustave recognizes his former beloved, who tests his devotion by letting Rabastens court her. Gustave prepares to leave, Catherine embraces him, and Rabastens relents and blesses their marriage.
Vertumne loves Pomone while her nurse Beroé loves Vertumne. Vertumne attempts to win Pomone through disguises as a dragon, Pluto and Bacchus, succeeding only when he appears as Beroé, whom Pomone cannot refuse a kiss.
This three-act Italian dramma per musica features Pompey the Great and other historical figures, including Sextus Pompey, Mithridates, Julius Caesar, and Crassus.
The opera loosely dramatizes the life of Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, including her marriage to Célestin, confinement at the de Pontalba château, survival of her father-in-law’s shooting attack, legal separation and return to New Orleans. The work also includes fictional characters and changes historical details.
A distinct setting or adaptation of Pietro Metastasio’s Demetrio libretto by Giovanni Battista Mele. Two-act adaptation premiered on 31 January 1736 at Teatro de la Cruz, Madrid; libretto adapted by D. Vincente de Camacho. No version-specific plot is supplied.
In Charleston, disabled street beggar Porgy tries to protect Bess from Crown, her violent lover, and Sportin’ Life, a drug dealer. After Crown kills Robbins and flees, Bess takes shelter with Porgy. She later encounters Crown on Kittiwah Island, then returns to Porgy; during a hurricane, Crown reappears and Porgy kills him. When Porgy is released from jail, he learns Bess has left for New York with Sportin’ Life and sets out to find her.
A Croatian grand opera by Vatroslav Lisinski to a text by Dimitrija Demeter.
After Alexander conquers India, King Poro disguises himself to avoid capture, while his wife Cleofide seeks mercy and his sister Erissena attracts Alexander and his general. Jealousy, disguises, attempted suicide, and shifting alliances lead to Cleofide’s planned self-immolation; Poro returns, and Alexander forgives the couple and makes peace.
Passengers waiting in a train station reveal what they do but keep the contents of their luggage secret. A puppet master who seems to live in the station tries to manipulate them. The passengers leave one by one, except Mr. Owen, who acts out a story about sailing away and breaks the puppet master’s hold. The puppet master retains control of the Foreign Singer in the final moments.
In a hotel in 1990, staff mock the Duchess and later evict her for unpaid bills. Earlier scenes revisit her marriage, affairs, and sensational 1950s divorce proceedings. In the final scene she attempts to seduce the hotel manager but fails; after she leaves, the electrician and maid emerge from under the bed and destroy the room.
Iša Krejčí’s Czech opéra bouffe adapts Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. The work was written between 1939 and 1943 and received wartime radio performances.
An opera buffa with simultaneous ballet by Boris Blacher, based on the real-life Captain of Köpenick story and Carl Zuckmayer’s play. Heinz von Cramer wrote the libretto. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
On Bastille Day 1970, opera soprano Régine Saint Laurent prepares to return to the stage after six years away, following a vocal failure during a performance of an opera composed for her. Her butler Philippe encourages the comeback and an interview. Journalist and aspiring singer André Le Tourner arrives; the maid Marie distrusts him. Régine notices André resembles the tenor who sang opposite her in her earlier opera. As Régine and André become infatuated and sing selections from that score together, she relives the premiere and her later breakdown, reaching a decision about her return.
A composer has completed music for a new opera, but its poet cannot finish the words. Their work is disrupted by a prima donna and a comic singer competing for the opening aria; the composer and poet resolve the quarrel by combining seria and buffa styles.
Prince Igor sets out from Putivl to fight the Polovtsians despite a solar eclipse that Yaroslavna sees as a bad omen. His army is defeated, and Igor and his son Vladimir are captured. In Khan Konchak’s camp, Vladimir falls in love with Konchakovna; Igor refuses an offer of freedom in exchange for a promise not to fight again. Igor escapes with help from Ovlur, while Vladimir stays behind and marries Konchakovna. Igor returns to Putivl and reunites with Yaroslavna.
Prince Hilarion travels to Castle Adamant with friends Cyril and Florian to claim Princess Ida, to whom he was betrothed in infancy. Ida has founded a women’s university and rejects men. The three men disguise themselves as female students, but Cyril’s drunken song exposes them. After Hilarion rescues Ida from a stream, she still refuses him. King Hildebrand arrives and threatens war unless Ida marries Hilarion. Ida’s students are too frightened to fight, so she agrees to a contest between Hilarion and his friends and her three brothers. The princes win, and Ida accepts Hilarion, acknowledging that she loves him.
Lemminkäinen travels to Cyprus and carries Princess Chryseis back to Finland. A blind shepherd later kills him, and his mother restores him to life through prayer.
Lemminkäinen abducts Princess Chryseis from Cyprus, and she becomes Kyllikki in his northern home. Their strained marriage ends when she leaves for Medon’s ship and Lemminkäinen goes to battle; after he is murdered, his mother descends to Tuonela and frees him through her song.
A German-language opera by Walter Braunfels, adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann’s novella of the same name. Its roles include the actor Claudio and young seamstress Giazinta.
Bibi, a sickly child, lives in a seemingly safe room with her protective mother Lumee. In fragmented memories of their past, the audience sees that Lumee abandoned Bibi in a club, where Bibi was sexually assaulted. The final act reveals the first act’s sanctuary as a fabrication: both women are traumatized, and Lumee tries to make Bibi forget. Bibi wants to face what happened and leave the room, beginning a process of healing.
Poul Ruders’s opera combines scenes from Franz Kafka’s unfinished novel The Trial with letters from Kafka’s life concerning Felice Bauer and Grete Bloch. The libretto was written by Paul Bentley and translated into Danish by Karen Hoffmann.
A five-scene scenic oratorio in which Prometheus, chained to a rock by Zeus, prophesies that a savior of mankind will appear after ten generations.
Chained to a rock in the Caucasus for giving fire and knowledge to humanity, Prometheus refuses to tell Zeus the secret that could threaten his rule. He recounts his gifts to humankind and foretells Zeus’s eventual fall. Io visits and learns of her future journey; when Prometheus continues to refuse Hermes’s demand, Zeus’s thunderbolt sends him into Hades.
After Prométhée gives humanity fire, Zeus condemns him to be chained to a rock. Pandore initially opposes Prométhée, then revives after being carried in a funeral procession. In the final act, she accepts a box from Zeus despite Prométhée’s warning and discovers that her tears have become a healing balsam.
In Sicily, Pluto abducts Proserpin, daughter of Ceres. Ceres’s grief disrupts the harvest, and the mortal Atis and nymph Cyane journey to the underworld. Jupiter decrees that Proserpin will alternate between living with him and her mother, then blesses her marriage to Pluto and restores reconciliation.
At the request of an enamored shepherd, Pluto turns Pachino into a mountain and promises him a place in Elysium. Cupid’s arrow then makes Pluto fall for Proserpine, whom he claims as queen. When her protector Ciane is transformed into a spring, Proserpine submits; Pluto is softened by her beauty and promises to treat lovers less harshly.
Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Lully and Quinault’s opera centers on Pluto’s abduction of Proserpine. It also includes subplots involving Ceres and Jupiter, and Alpheus and Arethusa.
The opera concentrates on Pluto's abduction of Proserpine. Guillard's libretto reduces Quinault's five-act source to three acts and focuses on the main plot.
A four-act French drame lyrique by Camille Saint-Saëns based on Auguste Vacquerie’s play, with a story set in Italy.
The opera is based on Alois Jirásek’s Psohlavci, concerning the Dogheads of Chodsko and their 1695 rebellion over ancient privileges.
Venus sends Cupid to punish Psyché, whom mortals revere as a rival. Cupid falls in love with her instead, but Venus later reveals his identity and drives Psyché from her palace. She sends her to the underworld for Proserpine’s beauty, and Psyché is killed by a poisonous vapour from the box she brings back. Jupiter restores her to life and makes her immortal, uniting the lovers.
Loosely based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Delannoy’s stage work combines opera-comique elements, dance and spoken theatre. Puck is danced, while Titania, Oberon and the lovers and craftsmen populate the vocal and acting roles.
An opera by Paul Dessau based on Bertolt Brecht’s play Mr Puntila and His Man Matti.
A three-act fairytale opera for children, closely following Charles Perrault’s story. It follows the Cat and Jean, the miller’s youngest son, who becomes the Marquis de Carabas; the characters also include a King, a Princess, an Ogre, and Jean’s two older brothers.
Li Jinhui’s Chinese children’s opera, titled The Grape Fairy; a revised and expanded version was staged in Shanghai in 1927.
Pygmalion, having renounced women, falls in love with the statue he has made, Galatea. Venus brings Galatea to life, giving Pygmalion happiness.
Pyramus and Thisbe arrange a meeting through a chink in the Wall, at Ninus’s tomb. Thisbe arrives first but is frightened away by the Lion. Pyramus finds her scarf, assumes she is dead, and stabs himself; Thisbe returns and does likewise. The impresario, Mr Semibrief, revives them in time to sing the epilogue. Spoken comments by Semibrief and two gentlemen interrupt the burlesque of Italian opera.
A tragédie en musique about Pyrrhus, also known as Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, based on Greek myth.
Demetrius seizes the Macedonian throne after murdering Alexander and plans to invade Asia. Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus form an alliance against him, joined by Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus drives Demetrius from the throne and replaces him, but Lysimachus later drives Pyrrhus away.
A three-act tragédie lyrique based on the story of Odysseus and Penelope in Homer’s Odyssey.
Penelope has waited ten years for the return of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, while suitors press her to marry. She says she will choose once she finishes weaving a shroud for Laertes, but unpicks it every night. Ulysses returns disguised as a beggar and is recognized by his nurse Euryclea. He tells Penelope’s suitors they must win her hand by drawing his bow. None succeeds; Ulysses draws it easily and kills the suitors with help from the shepherds. He and Penelope reunite.
In a Basque village, innkeeper Manuelita waits for her fiancé Pépito, away in military service. Her childhood friend Miguel returns and falls for her. He tries to court her, but she rejects him out of loyalty to Pépito. Impressed by her virtue, Miguel decides to enlist so Pépito can return. Vertigo then delivers a letter revealing that Pépito has married his canteen keeper. Manuelita accepts Miguel, and Vertigo agrees to play his serpent at their wedding.
Set in a traveling carnival during early-1960s student protests in Birmingham, Alabama, this two-act opera follows a brother and sister who perform as a knife-throwing act.
Harlem beautician Queenie Pie, named best in town, faces a challenge from Café O’Lay, who wins the love of Queenie’s manager Holt Faye and kills him in a quarrel. Queenie travels to a magic island seeking a flower, meets a king and witch doctor, and eventually reconciles with Café O’Lay.
Tiridate, king of Armenia, wages war to possess Zenobia, wife of Prince Radamisto. Radamisto and Zenobia flee, are captured, and face repeated threats as Tiridate pursues her. When his army and people rebel, Tiridate releases the couple, seeks his wife Polissena’s forgiveness, and promises to rule justly.
Set during the life of Krzysztof “Piorun” Radziwiłł, the four-act opera concerns rivalry between Lithuania’s powerful Radvila and Chodkiewicz families, which nearly leads to civil war. The entry does not supply further plot details.
In seventeenth-century Skálholt, bishop Brynjólfur makes his daughter Ragnheiður publicly swear she is a virgin despite rumors of her affair with her teacher Daði. After she becomes pregnant, Daði leaves to plead his case, and Ragnheiður is publicly absolved but separated from her child; she dies in 1663. Ten years later, Daði learns at her grave that their son has also died.
An opera by Richard Owen based on Somerset Maugham’s short story Rain. Its original 1997 version was titled Sadie Thompson; a revised version titled Rain premiered in 2003.
Three-act opera named for the Norse sea goddess Rán and drawing on Nordic mythology. The entry does not provide a plot summary or premiere information.
A one-act opera depicting the Renaissance artist Raphael, with Fornarina, his model and mistress, among the central characters.
In Padua, Giovanni rents a room and falls in love with Beata, daughter of Dr. Rappaccini, who has experimented on her with poisonous plants. Giovanni falls ill, and his friend Baglioni gives him a potion intended to cure both Giovanni and Beata. Beata knows the cure will kill her, but drinks it and dies as her father returns.
After Rasputin comforts the hemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei, Tsarina Alexandra sees him as a healer and his influence grows. Felix Yusupov and allies plot to kill him, while Rasputin’s power and behavior provoke fear and hostility. He survives a stabbing and poisoning before being shot by the conspirators; Alix foresees the Romanovs’ fate.
Raymond seeks to rescue Agnes from her guardian, the Baron of Lindenberg, who plans to marry her. Raymond discovers the Baron murdered his father and imprisoned his mother; he and Agnes escape, but are recaptured. In the final confrontation, the Baron is accidentally shot, and the mute Ravella regains her speech and is revealed as Raymond’s mother.
Raymond, a young peasant in love with the orphan Stelle, is discovered to be the twin brother of Louis XIV and persecuted as a threat to the king’s reign. Raymond and Stelle escape when the Chevalier de Rosargues sacrifices himself by taking Raymond’s place behind the iron mask.
Set in Bologna in the second half of the 13th century, the opera centers on Enzo, King of Sardinia, captured by Bologna’s army at the Battle of Fossalta and held in the palace later named Palazzo Re Enzo. The city’s women fall in love with him and wish to free him, creating conflict with their husbands.
When a landlord and Kuomintang forces attack the Honghu base, Han Ying and Liu Chuang lead the Red Guards in retreat and counterattack. Han is arrested while rescuing villagers, but escapes with help from Lieutenant Zhang, who is killed; she later leads the Guards to victory.
Workers strike at Simon’s factory, where his daughter Regina is betrothed to foreman Richard. Another foreman, Stephan, joins political insurgents and occupies the factory. Fighting sets the factory ablaze, and Stephan kidnaps Regina. She tries to change his mind, but he later threatens to blow up an ammunition dump where they are hiding. Regina shoots him before he can act. The workers celebrate liberty, and Richard and the chorus close with a song for a united democratic Germany.
In the Deep South in 1900, Regina Giddens schemes with her brothers for wealth and power. Her husband Horace opposes their plans, so Regina withholds his heart medicine and he dies. Their daughter Alexandra realizes what happened and leaves Regina, who is left rich but isolated after also double-crossing her brothers.
In Naples around 1700, rebel Mario Sanseverino entrusts compromising letters from his lover Regina, wife of Spanish governor Ferrante Diaz, to Friar Benedetto. After the rebellion is uncovered, Ferrante first offers Mario exile, but later discovers Regina’s betrayal. Ferrante kills Mario in a duel and sends Regina to a convent.
A ten-scene chain of encounters between a sex worker, soldier, parlor maid, young gentleman, young wife, husband, young woman, poet, singer, and count, ending where the cycle began.
The opera explores Rembrandt’s relationships with Saskia van Uylenburgh, Geertje Dircx, and Hendrickje Stoffels: his wife’s death, his former lover’s madness, and the arrival of his future muse.
In this burlesque farmyard tale, the Fox deceives and captures the Cock twice, but the Cat and Ram rescue him each time. After the second rescue, the three friends strangle the Fox and celebrate. The Fox wears a nun’s black gown in an ironic allusion to religious inviolability.
Princess and sorceress Armide loves the crusader Renaud and uses magic to make him love her. When he is freed from her spell, she first vows revenge, then warns him of an ambush. After battle, Armide attempts suicide, but Renaud saves her and reconciles with her when her father reveals that Renaud spared his life.
A prologue and five-act tragédie en musique, sequel to Lully’s Armide and based on Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata.
A mute child is subjected to pressure from his family, authority figures and television advertisements until his head explodes. Surgeons then attempt to reconstruct him and reshape his social, religious and sexual attitudes. When the Antichrist appears and the child is resurrected, he turns against the surgeons.
Reuben, a suicidal veteran unable to speak, wanders through Little Italy during one night. He meets Nina, who thinks he is trying to rescue her from a bridge jump; their relationship grows as the manipulative bartender Bart tries to push Reuben toward suicide. After a dangerous encounter and time in a mental institution, Reuben and Nina confront Bart and decide to begin again.
A two-act operetta set at the court of Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.
Shipwrecked in Cyprus on her way to marry Richard I, Costanza hides her identity at Governor Isacio’s court. Isacio plans to seduce her and substitute his daughter Pulcheria as Richard’s bride. Richard, disguised as an ambassador, uncovers the plot and later defeats Isacio’s forces when the governor captures Costanza. Isacio is allowed to live but loses power, and Pulcheria rules with Oronte.
King Agorante of Nubia, who desires Zoraide, has defeated her father Ircano and taken her captive. Zoraide’s lover Ricciardo arrives with an emissary to plead for her release. Agorante’s jealous wife Zomira arranges Ricciardo’s capture and plots to have the lovers executed. An army of Christian knights rescues Ricciardo and Zoraide, and Ricciardo spares Agorante.
An English semi-opera adaptation of Sedaine’s Richard Coeur-de-lion. The source identifies its authors and 1788 Drury Lane performance but gives no separate plot synopsis.
Blondel, Richard the Lionheart’s faithful squire, searches for the imprisoned king disguised as a blind troubadour. In Linz he learns from Sir Williams and his daughter Laurette of a prisoner in the nearby castle; singing a tune known to Richard confirms the king’s identity. With help from Countess Marguerite and Williams’s men, Blondel exploits Laurette’s relationship with the governor Florestan to free Richard during a celebration.
Guo Wenjing’s Chinese contemporary opera adapts Lao She’s novel Rickshaw Boy, also known by its Chinese title 骆驼祥子 (Luòtuo Xiángzi).
Maurya and her daughters fear that Bartley will be claimed by the sea after the family has already lost several men. While Maurya goes to bless his journey, they identify the body of her son Michael; Bartley then dies in a fall into the sea, and Maurya accepts that the sea has taken all her sons.
Patricians attempt to kidnap Rienzi’s sister Irene, but Rienzi stops them and rallies the Roman people, who make him their tribune. Adriano, son of patrician Stefano Colonna, loves Irene. The nobles plot against Rienzi, who survives an attempted stabbing and grants them mercy at Adriano’s request. When the nobles raise an army, Rienzi leads the people to victory, and Stefano is killed. The Church later excommunicates Rienzi and his associates. Irene stays with him, despite Adriano’s plea that she flee. The crowd turns against Rienzi and attacks the Capitol. As it burns, Rienzi, Irene, and Adriano are killed.
At the Duke of Mantua’s court, Rigoletto mocks Count Monterone after the Duke has seduced Monterone’s daughter, and Monterone curses them both. The courtiers abduct Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, whom the Duke has deceived into loving him. Rigoletto hires an assassin to kill the Duke, but Gilda sacrifices herself in his place. When Rigoletto finds her dying in the sack, he recognizes the curse has come true.
During the First Crusade, knight Rinaldo loves Almirena, daughter of the Crusader commander Goffredo. The Saracen king Argante seeks help from the sorceress Armida, who abducts Almirena. Rinaldo leaves his companions to pursue her, while Argante’s love for Almirena leads to conflict with Armida. With a Christian magician’s help, Goffredo and Eustazio reach Armida’s palace and free Almirena. The Crusaders capture Jerusalem; Rinaldo captures Argante, and Armida and Argante accept Christianity. Goffredo forgives them, and the victors and vanquished reconcile.
Fugitives Begbick, Fatty, and Moses found Mahagonny, a pleasure city where “do what you want” becomes its law. Lumberjack Jimmy Mahoney arrives with friends, but after the hurricane misses the city, the residents embrace unrestrained consumption and violence. Jimmy is arrested for being unable to pay his bills and is sentenced to death; after his execution, factional conflict destroys the city.
At La Scala in February 1842, a rehearsal of Nabucco leads singers and theatre figures to debate the opera’s artistic merits and political implications. Impresario Merelli defends Verdi while worrying about Austrian censorship. Strepponi’s rehearsal of music from Nabucco and Saffo turns into a dream of her attraction to Verdi. After a political dispute with Count Belgioioso, the rehearsal resumes; Bellinzaghi’s prayer as Fenena becomes a vision of Nabucco’s triumph and the Risorgimento. An older Verdi appears as a senator of unified Italy, reflecting on the past and an uncertain future.
Prince Dimitri seduces Katiusha before leaving for war, then abandons her. Pregnant and expelled, she later sees him with another woman, falls into hardship and is wrongly convicted of murder. Dimitri offers to marry her, but she refuses. On the way to Siberia, Katiusha chooses to marry the political prisoner Simonson and devote herself to helping other prisoners, though she still loves Dimitri.
Luisa Casati, a wealthy Italian heiress, turns herself into a living work of art and surrounds herself with leading artists, including her lover Gabriele D’Annunzio. As the First World War begins, she distances herself from her friends’ enthusiasm for war and ultimately sacrifices herself to her artistic ideal.
Reznicek’s three-act opera focuses on the psychology and pathological character of its title figure, Knight Bluebeard. Herbert Eulenberg revised his earlier five-act play for the opera, condensing its structure and removing scenes.
Robert the Bruce leads the Scots in a struggle against Edward II of England; the English forces are defeated.
Robert seeks the hand of Princess Isabelle while his mysterious companion Bertram leads him into ruin. Bertram is revealed as Robert’s father and a servant of hell. Robert uses a magic branch to disrupt Isabelle’s arranged marriage, but breaks its spell; after Alice brings his mother’s warning, Robert rejects Bertram’s oath, Bertram is taken to hell, and Robert reunites with Isabelle.
Queen Elizabeth agrees to see Roberto Devereux, Earl of Essex, who has returned from Ireland under accusation of treason. She still loves him and offers him a ring as a pledge of safety. Roberto, however, loves Sara, Duchess of Nottingham. When they meet privately, Sara gives him a blue shawl as a token of their love. At Westminster, Elizabeth learns that Roberto has the shawl and demands the name of his beloved. He refuses, and she signs his death warrant. Sara receives Roberto’s ring and letter asking her to seek mercy, but her husband Nottingham prevents her from reaching the Queen. Elizabeth receives the ring too late to stop the execution. After Roberto’s death, she names James Stuart as king.
A ballad opera based on the Robin Hood legend, composed for performances at North Yorkshire work camps during the Great Depression. The libretto reflected Michael Tippett’s socialist views and the difficulties faced by unemployed miners.
Robinson leaves his family home in Bristol to seek his fortune at sea. Six years later, shipwrecked on an island near the Orinoco, he lives with Vendredi, whom he rescued from a cannibal tribe. Robinson’s fiancée Edwige, Suzanne, and Toby arrive on the island but are captured by the cannibals, along with their former Bristol neighbor Jim Cocks. Vendredi rescues them. Robinson tricks the pirates into leaving their ship, and the group sails back to England, with Robinson and Edwige married at sea.
A boy discovers that riding his rocking horse helps him predict race winners. His effort to earn his mother’s love through money becomes an increasingly dangerous fixation.
In 1960, elderly Alfred Laakso leads visitors through Rockland and recalls the 1906 miners’ strike. The scenes follow miners’ lives, an underground fatality, union organizing and a strike that ends in gunfire, killing Puna-Pekka and later Kova Kivi. Alfred recounts the arrests, trials and release of the miners; Johanna leaves for Finland while William hopes to remain with her, and the opera returns to Alfred’s tour.
After Grimoaldo usurps the throne of Milan, Queen Rodelinda and her son Flavio are held captive, while her husband Bertarido is believed dead. Grimoaldo offers to marry Rodelinda and restore her throne, but she refuses. When he threatens Flavio, she agrees only on condition that Grimoaldo kill the boy himself. Bertarido watches in hiding, then secretly reveals he is alive. He is imprisoned but escapes with help from his sister Eduige and counsellor Unulfo. In the palace garden, Bertarido kills Garibaldo, who is about to murder Grimoaldo, but spares the usurper. Grimoaldo gives up the throne and returns to Eduige; Bertarido is restored to Rodelinda and their son.
After deposing the corrupt king Vitizza, Rodrigo repeats his predecessor’s wrongdoing by seducing Florinda and promising to marry her, despite being married to Esilena. A rebellion led by Evanco defeats Rodrigo. Florinda prepares to kill him, but Esilena brings Florinda’s son and persuades her to spare him. Rodrigo abdicates and goes into exile with Esilena; Evanco marries Florinda, and Giuliano becomes regent.
Rodrigue is engaged to Chimène, but a quarrel between their fathers leaves Don Diègue too old to fight. He orders his son to avenge the insult. Rodrigue reluctantly kills Don Gomez, who dies in Chimène’s arms naming his killer. At court, Chimène demands justice while Don Diègue pleads for his son’s life. Rodrigue offers himself to Chimène, who cannot kill or forgive him. His father urges him to live and fight the Moors, and Rodrigue agrees, hoping to die in battle.
Rogneda and the Perun priesthood plot to kill Prince Vladimir, while Christian Rual’d seeks to rescue his bride from Vladimir. Rual’d saves Vladimir from a bear and dies, prompting the prince to reconsider. Rogneda later attempts to kill Vladimir, but he stops her. After Vladimir converts and orders Perun’s idol drowned, the people call for Rogneda’s death; their son Izyaslav persuades Vladimir to forgive her.
Roland loves Angélique, who secretly loves the soldier Médor. She uses a magic ring to escape Roland and flees with Médor after their marriage. Discovering their names carved together and learning they have fled, Roland descends into madness. A fairy’s intervention and visions of ancient heroes restore his reason and lead him back to battle.
A three-act French tragédie lyrique adapted from Philippe Quinault’s libretto for Lully’s five-act opera and based on Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso.
After the Battle of Cannae, Fausta allows the sacred fire at the Temple of Vesta to go out. Facing the punishment of being buried alive, she returns to Rome to accept her fate. Her blind grandmother Posthumia gives her Fabius’s dagger, but when the executioners bind Fausta’s hands, Posthumia kills her to spare her the burial and atone for the sacrilege.
Sutermeister follows Shakespeare’s tragedy of Julia Capulet and Romeo Montague. In the final scene, a celestial chorus celebrates the lovers’ union in death.
Boris Blacher’s opera is one of the operatic treatments of Romeo and Juliet. The available text does not provide a plot summary.
Romeo and Julie secretly marry in hopes of ending their families’ feud. After Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge for Mercutio’s death, he is banished. Julie’s father plans to marry her to Paris, so Friar Laurence gives her a sleeping potion that will make her appear dead until Romeo can rescue her. Romeo hears she has died and enters the tomb to kill himself, but Julie revives; Capulet keeps his promise to accept Romeo as a son-in-law, and the families rejoice.
Loosely based on the legendary Rape of the Sabine Women, the opera centers on Romolo, founder and ruler of Rome, and Ersilia, a Sabine princess betrothed to him.
An Italian opera seria in three acts by Josef Mysliveček, setting Metastasio’s libretto about Romolo and Ersilia. Its principal characters include the Roman king and founder, his Sabine fiancée, and Acronte, a rival who also loves Ersilia.
Louis Karchin’s one-act comic opera adapts Alexandre Dumas, père’s 1854 play using Barnett Shaw’s English translation.
At a masked ball in Verona, Roméo and Juliette meet and fall in love despite their families’ feud. They marry secretly, but a street fight leads to Mercutio’s and Tybalt’s deaths and Roméo’s banishment. Juliette takes a sleeping draught to avoid a forced marriage; Roméo, believing her dead, takes poison in the family tomb. When Juliette awakens, she kills herself to join him in death.
Fictional Argentine composer Juan Manuel de Rosa writes music for westerns and is murdered in Uruguay. He mistreats his fiancée Esmeralda while loving his horse, prompting her to cover herself in ink to resemble the black mare. Two horsemen shoot Rosa; in a staged re-enactment, cowboys marry Esmeralda to his corpse, then carry out his will by killing and burning the horse and the corpse.
Henry II loves Rosamond Clifford, but Queen Elinor’s jealousy leads her to poison Rosamond. Rosamond recovers, and Henry repents of his affair. Elinor appeals to Henry’s sense of destiny and regains his love. A comic subplot follows Sir Trusty and his wife Grideline. At the climax, Henry sees a vision of the future site of Blenheim Palace.
Thomas Arne’s first opera is a new musical setting of Joseph Addison’s libretto first used for Clayton’s Rosamond in 1707. It premiered at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre in 1733 and launched Arne’s reputation as a composer. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
At the court of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine attempts to poison Rosamund Clifford, her husband’s beloved, setting off a tragic conflict of love and jealousy.
A three-act French opéra-comique by Michel-Jean Sedaine with music by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny.
The opera was written as a light afterpiece, with spoken dialogue, an English text, and folk and popular melodies.
An Italian opera in three acts and a prologue by Francesco Cavalli with a libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
A pasticcio setting of Silvio Stampiglia’s Partenope libretto, assembled with arias attributed to Vivaldi, Handel, Hasse, Pergolesi and other Venetian composers. No independent plot summary is given.
Rosmonda is the secret mistress of King Enrico II, who has concealed her identity even from his page Arturo. When Queen Leonora discovers the affair, she plots against Rosmonda, who refuses Enrico’s offer of marriage and agrees to leave England with Arturo. Leonora mistakes her for fleeing to the king and stabs her; Rosmonda dies as Enrico and her father arrive.
Loris Tjeknavorian’s opera is based on the story of Rostam and Sohrab in the Persian epic Shahnameh. The composer performed it in Tehran in 2000; its European concert premiere was in 2002.
Yakov Ivanov, a coffin-maker and amateur fiddler, quarrels with the local musicians and treats the Jewish musician Rothschild with contempt. As his wife Marfa lies dying, she recalls their little daughter, who died decades earlier. Ivanov reflects on the life he has wasted and on his mistreatment of Marfa and Rothschild; after her death, he gives his violin to Rothschild, who plays it.
A one-act ballet opera in 13 scenes with a female choir, by Kurt Weill and Yvan Goll. The entry lists its cast but does not describe the plot.
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