Queen of Knives
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.
Operas
3280 shows
Clear filtersQueenie Pie
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.
Radamisto
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.
Radvila Perkūnas
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.
Ragnheiður
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.
Rain
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.
Ran
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.
Raphael
A one-act opera depicting the Renaissance artist Raphael, with Fornarina, his model and mistress, among the central characters.
Rappaccini's Daughter
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.
Rasputin
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 and Agnes
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, ou Le Secret de la reine
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.
Re Enzo
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.
Red Guards on Honghu Lake
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.
Regina
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.
Regina
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.
Regina Diaz
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.
Reigen
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.
Rembrandt’s Wife
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.
Renard
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.
Renaud
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.
Renaud, ou La suite d’Armide
A prologue and five-act tragédie en musique, sequel to Lully’s Armide and based on Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata.
Resurrection
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, Reuben
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.
Rhapsody
A two-act operetta set at the court of Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.
Riccardo primo, re d’Inghilterra
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.
Ricciardo e Zoraide
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.
Richard Coeur de Lion (Burgoyne and Linley semi-opera)
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.
Richard Cœur-de-lion
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.
Rickshaw Boy
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).
Riders to the Sea
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.
Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen
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.
Rigoletto
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.
Rinaldo
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.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
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.
Risorgimento!
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.
Risurrezione
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.
Ritratto
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.
Ritter Blaubart
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 Bruce
Robert the Bruce leads the Scots in a struggle against Edward II of England; the English forces are defeated.
Robert le diable
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.
Roberto Devereux
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.
Robin Hood
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 Crusoé
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.
Rocking Horse Winner
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.
Rockland the Opera
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.
Rodelinda
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.
Rodrigo
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 et Chimène
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
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
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.
Roland
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.
Roma
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.
Romeo und Julia
Sutermeister follows Shakespeare’s tragedy of Julia Capulet and Romeo Montague. In the final scene, a celestial chorus celebrates the lovers’ union in death.
Romeo und Julia
Boris Blacher’s opera is one of the operatic treatments of Romeo and Juliet. The available text does not provide a plot summary.
Romeo und Julie
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.
Romolo ed Ersilia
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.
Romolo ed Ersilia
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.
Romulus
Louis Karchin’s one-act comic opera adapts Alexandre Dumas, père’s 1854 play using Barnett Shaw’s English translation.
Roméo et Juliette
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.
Rosa, A Horse Drama
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.
Rosamond
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.
Rosamond
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.
Rosamunde
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.
Rose et Colas
A three-act French opéra-comique by Michel-Jean Sedaine with music by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny.
Rosina
The opera was written as a light afterpiece, with spoken dialogue, an English text, and folk and popular melodies.
Rosinda
An Italian opera in three acts and a prologue by Francesco Cavalli with a libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
Rosmira Fedele (Vivaldi pasticcio)
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 d'Inghilterra
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.
Rostam and Sohrab
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.
Rothschild’s Violin
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.
Royal Palace
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.
Ruddigore
Robin Oakapple is actually Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, heir to a baronetcy cursed to commit a crime each day or die in agony. He hides his identity while courting Rose Maybud, but his foster-brother Richard wins Rose before changing course. When Robin inherits the title, he proves inept at crime. His ancestors demand that he abduct a woman; he instead uncovers that the curse’s terms make refusal a crime itself, freeing him. Rose returns to Robin, and Sir Roderic reunites with Dame Hannah.
Ruggiero, ossia L’eroica gratitudine
A separate musical setting of Pietro Metastasio’s Ruggiero libretto, distinct from Hasse’s 1771 opera. The source provides no separate plot description.
Rumi
Behzad Abdi’s Persian-language puppet opera combines Persian dastgāh modes and sama dance with Western music. Its libretto is based on the story of Shams Tabrizi and Rumi; the available text gives no further plot details.
Rusalka
Natacha, the miller’s daughter, learns that the prince she loves will marry a wealthy princess and throws herself into the Dnieper. Years later, the prince is drawn back to the river by her voice. Natacha has become queen of the rusalkas, and her father pushes the prince into the water, where the rusalkas bring his body to her.
Rusalka
The water nymph Rusalka loves a human prince and asks the witch Ježibaba to make her human. The spell takes away Rusalka’s speech and immortality, and Ježibaba warns that the prince’s rejection will doom her. The prince takes Rusalka to his castle but becomes enamored of a foreign princess and rejects her. Rusalka returns to the lake and refuses Ježibaba’s offer to escape her fate by killing the prince. She becomes a spirit of death. When the prince returns to the lake, Rusalka can speak again; she grants his request for a kiss, knowing it will kill him.
Ruslan and Lyudmila
At the wedding of Ruslan and Lyudmila, the bride is abducted by sorcerous forces. Ruslan journeys to rescue her, defeats the sorcerer Chernomor, and returns to Kiev with the sleeping Lyudmila. A magic ring awakens her, and the couple are reunited.
Ruth
A sacred opera in English by Lennox Berkeley, with a libretto by Eric Crozier based on the Old Testament Book of Ruth. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
Río de Sangre
In an unnamed South American country, newly elected president Christian Delacruz becomes the central figure in a story of political intrigue and family tragedy.
Rübezahl und der Sackpfeifer von Neisse
A four-act opera based on the Rübezahl fairy tale, featuring the legendary mountain spirit and a bagpiper from Neisse.
Sabinus
In Gaul under Roman rule, Sabinus plans a revolt and marries Éponine despite Governor Mucien’s attempt to stop them. The Gauls rebel; Mucien captures Éponine and destroys a Druid sanctuary. Presumed dead, Sabinus hides underground while Éponine refuses Mucien’s demand that she marry him. Sabinus emerges from his tomb, kills Mucien and spares the other Romans, and the Gauls celebrate their freedom.
Sacco and Vanzetti
An opera based on the case of Sacco and Vanzetti, begun by Marc Blitzstein in 1959 and completed by Leonard Lehrman.
Sacco and Vanzetti
An opera by Anton Coppola about Sacco and Vanzetti.
Sadko
The gusli player Sadko leaves his wife Lyubava and Novgorod to seek his fortune. With help from the Sea Princess Volkhova, he catches golden fish and sails abroad, later marrying her in the Sea Tsar’s realm. After a storm destroys the undersea kingdom, Sadko returns to Novgorod wealthy, and Volkhova becomes a river flowing from Lake Ilmen to the sea.
Saffo
During the Olympic poetry contest, Saffo condemns the Leucadian Leap and angers Apollo’s priest Alcandro. With Alcandro’s encouragement, jealous Faone denounces her. Saffo befriends Climene to seek Alcandro’s help, but discovers Climene is to marry Faone; she disrupts the wedding and damages Apollo’s altar. At the cliff, an old man reveals Saffo is Alcandro’s lost daughter and Climene’s sister. Though reunited, she must honor her vow to Apollo and jumps, drowning in the sea.
Saffo, ossia I riti d’Apollo Leucadio
Simon Mayr’s Italian-language opera for La Fenice draws on the story of Sappho and Apollo’s rites at Leucadia. The cast featured castrato Girolamo Crescentini.
Safié
Persian princess Safié loves envoy Ahmed, who promises to send her a rose each week while away on a diplomatic mission. Zehu, a magician’s son, tries to force his affection on her and later sends her a poisoned bracelet. Safié dies as Ahmed’s first rose arrives.
Saint François d’Assise
The opera follows stages in Saint Francis’s spiritual development. He embraces and miraculously heals a leper, encounters an angel disguised as a traveler, and hears an angel play a viol. Francis preaches to the birds, receives the stigmata, and dies surrounded by his brothers. The Angel and the Leper comfort him, and the choir sings of the Resurrection.
Sakuntala
Schubert’s unfinished opera adapts the Sanskrit story of Shakuntala’s love for King Duschmanta and her rejection.
Salammbô
Based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel, the opera is set in Carthage in 240 BC.
Salammbô
During a revolt by Carthage’s unpaid mercenaries, the priestess Salammbô captivates their leader Mâtho. Mâtho steals the sacred veil of Tanit, and Salammbô enters his camp to recover it; later, as Carthage celebrates victory, the condemned Mâtho dies at Salammbô’s feet, and she falls dead over his body.
Salawat Yulayev
A four-act Bashkir-language opera based on stories from the life of Bashkir national hero Salawat Yulayev.
Salome
Salome leaves Herod’s banquet and hears the imprisoned prophet Jochanaan. She persuades Narraboth to bring him out and becomes fixated on him, but he rejects her. Narraboth kills himself, and Jochanaan is returned to the cistern. Herod, who desires Salome, asks her to dance and promises to grant her wish. After the Dance of the Seven Veils, Salome demands Jochanaan’s head. When it is delivered, she kisses the severed head. Herod orders his soldiers to kill her, and they crush her beneath their shields.
Salomé
A one-act French opera based on Oscar Wilde’s play Salome, which was itself inspired by Flaubert’s Herodias. Mariotte’s version uses a different selection of Wilde’s text and differs in style from Richard Strauss’s opera on the same source.
Salsipuedes: a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies
On the fictional Caribbean island of Salsipuedes in 1943, musicians Ulises and Chucho are carried off aboard a ship during their wedding celebration. Their wives search for them. The ship holds anchovies that a corrupt government plans to sell to the Nazis. When the scheme is exposed, the ship is attacked; Captain Magallanes sacrifices himself, and the couples and other passengers escape.
Salvator Rosa
A four-act opera seria by Antônio Carlos Gomes, with a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni based on Eugène de Mirecourt’s novel Masaniello. The opera makes painter Salvator Rosa the protagonist and centers its love story on Rosa and Isabella during the Neapolitan revolt against Spanish rule.
Salvatore Giuliano
In postwar Sicily, an EVIS representative introduces Giuliano to villagers as a leader in the independence movement. Giuliano and his lieutenant Pisciotta discuss freeing his mother from prison, but her return with a Mafioso reveals his debt to the Mafia. Giuliano tells journalist Maria that poverty and injustice led him to banditry and that he hopes for amnesty and emigration. A Mafioso offers protection in return for an attack on a communist May Day parade; Giuliano accepts. After the Portella della Ginestra massacre, police chief Colonel Luca receives orders to eliminate him. Giuliano kills five Mafiosi at a wedding, leading the Mafia and police to unite against him. Pisciotta is persuaded to betray Giuliano, then urges him to flee. Giuliano refuses and is shot in the village.
Samson
Samson frees the Israelites and defeats the Philistines, but Delilah seduces him and learns that his strength lies in his hair. Captured and blinded, Samson is brought to the Philistine temple. He calls on God and brings down its columns, killing himself and his enemies.
Samson et Dalila
The Hebrews pray for relief from Philistine rule, and Samson leads their revolt, killing Abimélech. Dalila agrees to betray Samson to the Philistines, motivated by revenge and loyalty to her gods. She seduces him and discovers that his strength is in his hair; the Philistines capture and blind him. At Dagon’s temple, Samson regains his strength, brings down its pillars, and dies with his enemies.
Samstag aus Licht
Stockhausen’s Saturday opera centers on Lucifer and presents four discontinuous ritual scenes: a dream and feigned death, a flute-led requiem, a dance in which Lucifer makes an orchestra into a giant face, and a farewell ceremony ending with the release of a bird. The spatial music expands across performers and audience.
Sancho Pança dans son isle
A one-act French-language opera by François-André Danican Philidor with a libretto by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poinsinet based on Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
Sancia di Castiglia
Sancia, Queen of Castile, believes her husband and son have died and plans to marry Saracen prince Ircano. Her son Garzia returns after surviving an assassination attempt that Ircano arranged. Ircano says he will marry Sancia only if she poisons Garzia, but she repents and drinks the poisoned cup herself, dying as she begs her son’s forgiveness.
Sancta Susanna
In a convent at night, Susanna is drawn away from prayer by sensual sights and sounds. Sister Clementia warns her with the story of Sister Beata, who was bricked up behind the altar for yielding to her desires. Susanna gives in, tears away her veil and the loincloth from a crucifix, and asks the gathered nuns to punish her in the same way.
Sandomir, prince de Dannemarck
A revised form of Philidor’s Viking-era opera about the struggle for control of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and for the hand of Princess Ernelinde.
Sands of Time
Married couple Stan and Flo quarrel over breakfast until a knock at the door reveals that they have won a large sum on the football pools, reconciling them. An egg is put on to boil as the opera begins and removed at the end, matching the work’s four-minute duration.
Sandugong Panaguinip
In a sixteenth-century setting near the Pasig River, Muslim pirates demand maidens as tribute. Lapu dreams of an alliance between Filipinos and Americans that could lead to their rescue.
Santa Maria
Raised by the bird catcher Santa, Maria is nicknamed Santa Maria by their neighbors. The childless King of Holland learns that he had a child stolen from its cradle twenty years earlier. Lieutenant Bertrand, sentenced to death, volunteers to search for the missing royal child. Three years later in Italy, Bertrand is imprisoned and changes identities with a tailor. He is ordered to try a dress on Santa Maria and recognizes a lily-and-crown birthmark on her arm, proving she is the king’s daughter. Bertrand and Santa Maria fall in love and return to Holland, where they are proclaimed future king and queen.
Sapho
At the Olympic Games, Phaon is torn between the poet Sapho and the courtesan Glycère. Sapho wins a poetry competition and Phaon declares his love for her. Phaon is also involved in a revolutionary plot; Glycère learns of it from Pythéas and informs the authorities, while telling Sapho she will keep silent if Phaon leaves Lesbos. Phaon prepares to depart, and when Sapho refuses to join him he turns to Glycère. At the shore, Sapho forgives and blesses Phaon before leaping into the sea.
Sapho
Fanny Legrand, known as Sapho, begins a relationship with the young Jean Gaussin. Jean learns about Fanny’s past, including a child from an earlier relationship, and leaves her. After Jean returns to his family, Fanny visits but departs alone; later, when he returns to their former home and offers to sacrifice his prospects for her, she quietly leaves while he sleeps.
Sardakai
A farce set on the fictional South Seas island of Migo Migo, using a scenario inspired by Mozart’s Così fan tutte to satirize political sacred cows on both the left and right.
Sardanapalo
In Nineveh, the Greek captive Mirra loves King Sardanapalo but grieves that he conquered her homeland. When a priest warns of rebellion, the king is persuaded to take up arms.
Sarolta
At a village entertainment, Sarolta tells her father Ordító that she loves Gyula, a knight. The king arrives and asks Gyula to exchange roles with him; while disguised, he declares his love to Sarolta, who remains faithful to Gyula. When war is announced, Ordító learns about the exchange and hopes his daughter might become queen, but she still refuses the king. The king, pretending to be Gyula, says he will marry her. Baron Belus prevents the deceptive match and arranges for the real Gyula to marry Sarolta according to the king’s order. When the king returns victorious, he banishes Gyula but makes him commander of Moson fortress.
Sarrasine
In 1830s Paris, Balzac tells Madame de Rochefide the story of sculptor Sarrasine and the celebrated Roman singer Zambinella. Sarrasine falls in love with Zambinella, then discovers the singer is a castrato. As Sarrasine moves to kill Zambinella, Balzac and Rochefide intervene; Sarrasine dies and Zambinella survives.
Satanella
A four-act English-language opera by Michael William Balfe.
Satyagraha
Philip Glass’s opera follows episodes from Mahatma Gandhi’s life in three acts. Each act refers to a different figure: Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore, and Martin Luther King Jr. The opera is sung in Sanskrit using text from the Bhagavad Gita.
Satyricon
A multilingual chamber opera adapted from Petronius’s Satyricon, structured as 16 unordered numbers with an open-form collage score.
Saul og David
Saul disobeys Samuel and sinks into despair until David’s music comforts him; David later defeats Goliath and wins Michal’s love, provoking Saul’s jealousy. After Samuel anoints David, Saul consults the Witch of Endor and learns he and his sons will die; Jonathan falls in battle and Saul takes his own life, while David is acclaimed king.
Say It Ain't So, Joe
A surreal, fractured reimagining of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden’s 2008 vice-presidential debate interweaves the encounter with interviews, campaign events, other political figures, and fantastical digressions.
Scalia/Ginsburg
In the Supreme Court building, a supernatural Commentator seals Scalia inside and requires him to pass three trials to escape. Ginsburg enters to defend her friend and insists on facing the trials with him. The opera draws on the justices’ public legal disagreements, private friendship, and shared love of opera.
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