The Round Table
A three-act music drama in Boughton’s Arthurian cycle, based on the Arthurian material associated with Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur.
Operas
3280 shows
Clear filtersThe Sacrifice
This three-act opera by James MacMillan is based on the Branwen story from the Welsh mythology collection the Mabinogion.
The Saint of Bleecker Street
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.
The Sapphire Necklace
Arthur Sullivan’s four-act opera was intended for the Pyne and Harrison Opera Company, but that company closed before staging it. Most of the score and the libretto are lost; surviving selections were performed in concert and an amateur reconstruction with a new libretto was staged in 2000.
The Saracen
In early fifteenth-century France, Count Savoisy’s marriage to Bérengère is dissolved by papal decree so he can marry again and provide an heir. Saracen Yaqoub, a former prisoner, is tried for killing Raymond and pardoned by King Charles VII. The king neglects the war to go hunting, until Agnès Sorel confronts him and he calls his court to battle. In Act IV, Bérengère urges Yaqoub to kill Savoisy before he marries Isabelle. After Savoisy is stabbed, Bérengère takes poison and dies, leaving Yaqoub in despair.
The Savage Land
The opera is based on Cao Yu’s play The Wilderness, set in rural China; the source does not provide a plot synopsis.
The Scarecrow
Joseph Turrin’s opera with a libretto by Bernard Stambler adapts Percy MacKaye’s play based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story Feathertop.
The Scarf
The source identifies the characters Miriam, Reuel and the Postman, but gives no further plot details.
The Scarlet Letter
Walter Damrosch’s opera adapts Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, omitting Hester Prynne’s daughter Pearl. Unlike the novel, its ending has Hester take poison and die with Arthur Dimmesdale.
The Scarlet Letter
Lori Laitman’s opera adapts Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, with a libretto by David Mason.
The Scarlet Professor
Eric Sawyer’s opera adapts Barry Werth’s biography of literary scholar Newton Arvin and depicts the scandal that disrupted his life. The cast also includes Ned Spofford and Truman Capote.
The Seagull
This three-act English opera by Thomas Pasatieri is based on Anton Chekhov's 1896 play The Seagull.
The Seal Woman
A Celtic folk opera drawing on melodies from Marjory Kennedy-Fraser’s collection of Hebridean folk songs.
The Second Hurricane
A group of high-school students set out by boat to rescue people affected by a hurricane but become stranded on an island during a second storm. They face danger and conflict before they can continue their rescue effort.
The Second Mrs Kong
In the World of Shadows, the dead can revisit moments from their past. King Kong hears Pearl through a mirror and becomes infatuated with her; with Orpheus’s help he journeys toward the living world, survives a series of trials, and contacts Pearl, but the two cannot touch.
The Secret
Kalina and Róza once loved each other, but their families kept them apart; now widowed Kalina and Róza remain estranged while their children, Vít and Blaženka, fall in love. A note promising hidden treasure sends Kalina into a tunnel, where he discovers that the greatest treasure is a loving woman; he returns to Róza, sets aside his pride, and both young couples win their families' consent to marry.
The Secret Garden
An opera based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden. The entry does not provide a synopsis of the operatic adaptation.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Two sisters, Anna I and Anna II, travel from Louisiana through American cities to earn money for a family home. Anna I manages her emotional and artistic alter ego Anna II, who encounters one deadly sin in each city and is pressured to abandon moral impulses whenever they conflict with making money. They return home with the means to build the house, but Anna II accepts their compromise with resignation.
The Shining
Jack Torrance takes a winter caretaker job at the isolated Overlook Hotel with his wife Wendy and son Danny. The hotel’s ghosts and history intensify Jack’s violence. Wendy and Danny escape with cook Dick Hallorann after Jack attacks them; Jack stays behind as the boiler explodes. Eight months later, Hallorann comforts Wendy and Danny.
The Siege of Belgrade
An English-language comic pasticcio opera set during the Siege of Belgrade, with Turkish forces, an Austrian commander and Serbian villagers among its characters. Its plot is not summarized here.
The Siege of Rhodes
This early English opera depicts the 1522 siege of Rhodes by the Ottoman forces of Suleiman the Magnificent. The story includes Roxelana, Suleiman’s chief consort.
The Silver River
The Jade Emperor dreams of darkness overtaking heaven and earth, then sees it happen when the Cowherd falls in love with the Goddess-Weaver. Her distraction from weaving the stars darkens the sky, so her father separates the lovers with the Silver River. Their grief brings chaos until he permits them to meet once each year.
The Silver Tassie
During the First World War, football star Harry Heegan returns to the front and is gravely injured. In hospital and later at a dance, he confronts his paralysis, the changed relationships around him, and the loss of his former life.
The Sinbadventurers
Children Lotte, Kalle and Lily sail a raft toward the open sea but are rescued by pirates, who demand their help freeing their captain from the man-eater Caesar Knochenschmalz. Lotte offers Caesar tofu and is declared his bride. On a magical island, sorceress Cindy transforms the travelers into animals until Kalle persuades her to reverse the spell; Caesar then falls in love with Cindy, and the children sail home. Comic and tragic interludes recount Wilhelm II and Bismarck’s plot over Heligoland and the destruction of Rungholt.
The Skating Rink
In a Costa Brava town, night watchman Gaspar discovers a hidden ice rink where skater Nuria trains under the watch of social-services official Enric. Enric has diverted public money to build it and becomes obsessed with Nuria, while she is involved with businessman Remo; after Carmen is murdered on the rink, Enric is arrested for embezzlement but the final conversation reveals another killer.
The Smugglers
An English-language two-act operetta by John Philip Sousa, based on Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand’s opera The Contrabandista. Its roles include smugglers, a kidnapped maiden and a queen of the smugglers.
The Snow Bogatyr
The Tsaritsa’s eleven daughters, the Princess-Swans, accidentally hit her in the eyes with a snowball. She wishes for a son and for a whirlwind to sweep her daughters away; a blizzard follows, and the Snow Bogatyr appears. He promises to find his new sisters. In a forest, he defeats a three-headed dragon and rescues the Princess-Swans from a hut on hen’s legs, then leads them home.
The Snow Maiden: A Spring Fairy Tale
The Snow Maiden, daughter of Spring Beauty and Grandfather Frost, longs to live among people. Her parents allow her to be adopted by Bobyl-Bakula and his wife. She is enchanted by Lel’s songs, while Kupava’s wedding to Mizgir is disrupted when Mizgir becomes enamored of the Snow Maiden. The Tsar offers a reward to whoever wins her love. She ultimately falls in love with Mizgir, but her mother warns her to avoid the sun. When she appears with Mizgir at the celebration of Yarilo’s Day, sunlight melts her. Mizgir drowns himself, and the Tsar tells the people that the Snow Maiden’s death ends their long winter.
The Snow Queen
A hobgoblin’s mirror shatters, scattering fragments that make Kay cold-hearted. The Snow Queen abducts him, and his sister Gerda sets out to rescue him. After captivity in a witch’s garden, Gerda receives a golden coach from a prince and princess, is captured by robbers, and continues north with help from a reindeer. At the Snow Queen’s palace, Gerda sings the lullaby she and Kay shared; the ice splinter in his heart melts, and they return home. The Snow Queen remains alone and laments.
The Snow Queen
Kay is struck by splinters from a magic mirror and taken to the Snow Queen’s palace. His friend Gerda searches for him, meeting a series of helpers before reaching the frozen kingdom. Her tears free Kay from the mirror’s spell, and the children return home together.
The Sorcerer
Alexis Pointdextre, engaged to Aline Sangazure, wants love to unite people across social ranks. He hires John Wellington Wells, a family sorcerer, to make a potion that causes everyone who drinks it to fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex they see. Villagers awaken to comically mismatched attractions, including Aline’s sudden love for the vicar, Dr Daly. The spell can be broken only if Alexis or Wells gives his life. Wells sacrifices himself to Ahrimanes, freeing the villagers to pair according to their true feelings.
The Sound of a Voice
A two-part chamber opera comprising The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams, composed by Philip Glass with libretto by David Henry Hwang. The stories are not described in the available account.
The Stone Guest
Dargomyzhsky sets Pushkin’s blank-verse play about Don Juan directly as an opera, retaining its text unchanged. The work consists principally of characters’ melodic recitative solos, with two small romances for Laura.
The Stoned Guest
A satirical half-act opera that combines elements of Don Giovanni and Carmen. Its finale first parodies tragic operatic endings, then reveals the tragedy as a false ending and introduces a deus ex machina for an incongruous happy conclusion.
The Story of a Real Man
A four-act opera based on Boris Polevoy’s novel recounting the life of Soviet pilot Aleksey Maresyev.
The Stronger
At a bar on Christmas Eve, Estelle tells her silent friend Lisa that she knows Lisa loves her husband. Leaving, Estelle concludes that she is the stronger woman, though the composer’s account leaves the question open.
The Sultan of Mocha
Dolly loves sailor Peter, but her uncle Captain Flint takes her to sea while seeking a more advantageous match. On Mocha, the Sultan buys Dolly from Flint. Peter rescues her, but Admiral Sneak captures and sells her to the Sultan; Dolly agrees to marry the Sultan in exchange for Peter’s freedom. She tricks the Sultan into marrying Isadora instead, and Dolly and Peter reunite.
The Sultan of Mocha (1887 revision)
A substantially rewritten version of Alfred Cellier’s comic opera. The 1887 revision changes characters and their relationships; the source does not provide a separate plot summary.
The Summer King
The opera follows baseball star Josh Gibson from his early days in Pittsburgh through his career in the Negro leagues and his eventual induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It portrays his athletic achievements alongside his grief after his wife’s death, alcoholism, and drug abuse.
The Sun Also Rises
A one-act opera based on Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises, with a libretto that includes direct quotations from the novel.
The Sun Dance Opera
Set at Pipestone Quarry, the opera centers on a love triangle between Sioux protagonist Ohiya, Winona, daughter of the chief, and Sweet Singer, a Shoshone man. Sweet Singer has traveled to Sioux lands after violating religious rules; Ohiya vows to win Winona’s affection. The Sun Dance ceremony is central to the story.
The Tale of Huai Yin
A five-scene opera based on the story of Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy.
The Tale of Januarie
Ageing Januarie marries young May despite warnings from his friend Justinus. May and Januarie’s servant Damyan become lovers; after a series of deceptions involving blindness and a pear tree, Januarie dies believing May’s child is his heir. The opera retells Chaucer’s tale in a seasonal cycle, with Pluto and Proserpina shaping the lovers’ fate.
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
Saltan chooses Militrisa as his bride and goes to war. Her jealous sisters and Babarikha replace the message telling him of the birth of his son, so he orders mother and child sealed in a barrel and cast into the sea. They reach the island of Buyan, where Gvidon rescues a Swan-Bird. She creates a city and helps Gvidon visit his father disguised as a bumblebee. After hearing sailors describe the island’s wonders, Saltan travels there. The Swan-Bird reveals herself as a princess, and Saltan is reunited with his wife and son.
The Taming of the Shrew
The opera is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same title. It was composed between 1938 and 1950, had a concert premiere in Cincinnati, and was later adapted into a shortened television version.
The Taming of the Shrew
In Padua, Baptista refuses to let his younger daughter Bianca marry until her tempestuous elder sister Katarina is wed. Bianca’s suitors recruit Petruchio to court Katarina; despite an uneasy start, the pair fall in love and marry.
The Teacher Who Was Not To Be
A monologue based on a 2006 letter in which composer Olav Anton Thommessen criticized his former student Marcus Paus for his tonal music. The work became part of a public debate about musical aesthetics in Norway.
The Telephone
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.
The Tempest
Lee Hoiby’s three-act operatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
The Tempest
Prospero uses magic to wreck the ship carrying his usurping brother Antonio, King Alonso and their court onto the island where Prospero and Miranda live. He tests Ferdinand and Miranda’s love while Ariel guides and confuses the shipwrecked party. After Miranda and Ferdinand marry, Prospero reveals himself, forgives his brother, restores the court and releases Ariel.
The Tempest or The Enchanted Isle
Opera adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel The Temptation of Saint Anthony.
The Tender Land
As she prepares to graduate from high school on her family’s Midwestern farm, Laurie Moss meets itinerant workers Top and Martin. Laurie and Martin fall in love at her graduation party, but her grandfather orders the workers to leave. Martin hesitates to run away with Laurie and departs with Top. Laurie decides to leave home on her own, despite her mother and sister’s pleas.
The Thirteenth Child
Two-act English-language opera inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Twelve Brothers. The cast includes King Hjarne, Queen Gertrude, Princess Lyra, and princes of Frohagord and Hauven; no plot summary appears in the entry.
The Threepenny Opera
In Victorian London, gangster Macheath secretly marries Polly Peachum, angering her father, the city’s beggar boss. Macheath’s friend, police chief Tiger Brown, initially protects him, but Peachum pressures Brown by threatening to disrupt Queen Victoria’s coronation parade with beggars. Macheath is arrested and sentenced to hang; in a deliberately comic reversal, a royal messenger pardons him and grants him a title, castle, and pension.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Liberation Through Hearing
A dying soul travels through spiritual and emotional realms, from the moment of death and a vision of clear white light through peaceful and angry energies, encounters with demons and the Lord of Death, and the choice of a new home before entering life again.
The Tigers
A burlesque opera about a regiment nicknamed the Tigers.
The Transports
Convicts Henry Cabell and Susannah Holmes are sentenced to transportation and fall in love while imprisoned. When their infant son is refused passage with Susannah to Australia, a guard appeals to Lord Sydney, who arranges for the family to reunite, marry, and travel together. Cabell later prospers in the colony.
The Transposed Heads
Friends Shridaman and Nanda both fall in love with Sita; after Nanda helps Shridaman marry her, the two men behead themselves in a Kali temple. Kali revives them with their heads on the wrong bodies, and the resulting triangle ends with both men killing themselves and Sita joining their funeral pyre.
The Travelling Companion
An opera by Charles Villiers Stanford based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name. The entry does not summarize the plot.
The Trial
On his 30th birthday, bank manager Josef K. is arrested for an unidentified crime. He searches the court system for answers, consults a lawyer and a painter, and hears a parable from a priest. On the eve of his 31st birthday, the guards take him away and execute him.
The Trial of Lucullus (opera, first version)
Paul Dessau’s first version of the opera, with a libretto by Bertolt Brecht, was presented under this title before being withdrawn and revised. The source identifies the work and its subsequent revision but supplies no plot summary.
The Trial of Mary Lincoln
Set in and around Washington, Illinois, the opera focuses on Mary Todd Lincoln’s 1875 trial, in which her sanity was evaluated. Flashbacks to her early life lead to the judgment that she is insane and her committal.
The Triumph of St. Joan
Awaiting execution in her prison cell, Joan recalls her meeting with the Dauphin, his coronation at Rheims, the breakdown of their relationship, and her trial and condemnation by Cauchon.
The Tsar’s Bride
In 1572, oprichnik Gryaznoy loves Marfa, who is betrothed to Lykov, and seeks a potion to make her love him. His former mistress Lyubasha obtains another potion from the Tsar’s physician, Bomelius. At a feast, Gryaznoy gives Marfa what he believes is a love potion, but Lyubasha has substituted poison. Ivan the Terrible chooses Marfa as his bride. She becomes gravely ill; Lykov is executed, and Gryaznoy learns that the potion killed Marfa. Lyubasha confesses, and Gryaznoy kills her. In her delirium, Marfa mistakes Gryaznoy for Lykov and dies.
The Turn of the Screw
A young governess takes charge of Miles and Flora at Bly, where she becomes convinced that the ghosts of former servants Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are trying to claim the children. Mrs. Grose and the children initially deny the apparitions. The governess discovers that Miles took a letter she wrote to his uncle; when she presses him to identify who urged him to do so, he names Quint and dies in her arms.
The Twelve Chairs
The operetta is based on Ilf and Petrov’s novel The Twelve Chairs. Shostakovich left it unfinished, and only a little of its music survives.
The Two Widows
The widows Karolina and Anežka have contrasting temperaments: Karolina enjoys independence, while Anežka remains in mourning. Karolina schemes to bring Anežka and Ladislav together, but jealousy and romantic maneuvering complicate the plan before both widows and a second couple become engaged.
The Vanishing Bridegroom
Three Scottish folk stories are woven together: a son is exposed as the thief of his father’s inheritance; a father lured into a fairy hill returns years later without aging; and his grown daughter defeats the Devil after a preacher protects her with a prayer.
The Violins of Saint-Jacques
A present-day Caribbean prologue recalls an island destroyed by a volcano during carnival. The main story takes place there during Mardi Gras in 1902: Sosthène returns from France and loves his cousin Berthe, while his sister Josephine secretly loves Marcel, the governor’s son. As a volcano threatens, Sosthène and Berthe try to stop Josephine and Marcel eloping; Berthe comes to love Sosthène. Marcel is revealed to be married, and Josephine is separated from him. The volcano erupts, leaving Berthe the only survivor to mourn those she loved.
The Visitors
During the Black Death, Lauretta, Elissa, Panfilo, and Dioneo shelter in a villa and pass the time by staging plays. A monk arrives and proposes a Biblical play; afterward he opens the door to strangers carrying the plague and dies. Two months later, sick and dying visitors fill the courtyard. Lauretta recovers and realizes she loves Panfilo, who has returned from the city. Elissa, who also loves him, forgives them after Dioneo falls gravely ill. At his request the group resumes the Cupid and Psyche play, ending with Venus’s forgiveness and the lovers’ triumph.
The Voice of Ariadne
A three-act chamber opera based on the Greek myth of Ariadne and adapted from a story by Henry James. The entry does not describe the operatic plot.
The Voyage
A scientist reflects on exploration, and a spacecraft crew crash-lands on an ice-age Earth. In 1492, Columbus sails west, while a later act in 2092 follows astronomers and archaeologists who rediscover crystals from the crashed spacecraft and launch a mission to its home planet. The epilogue shows Columbus dying in 1506, accompanied by Isabella.
The Voyevoda
A three-act Russian opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set in the mid-17th century in a city on the Volga and based on Ostrovsky’s play.
The Wake World
David Hertzberg’s English-language opera sets Aleister Crowley’s story The Wake World. The available text does not provide the plot.
The Wandering Scholar
In a 13th-century French farmhouse, Alison plans a secret meal with Father Philippe while her husband Louis is away. A hungry wandering scholar, Pierre, arrives; Philippe drives him off, but Pierre returns with Louis. Pierre’s story exposes the hidden food and the priest’s presence. Louis drives Philippe away, feeds Pierre, and sends Alison to the attic, following her with his cudgel.
The Warrior
Delilah seduces Samson and has his hair cut, stripping him of his strength. After God restores that strength, Samson brings down the Philistine temple, killing himself and those inside.
The Wedding Day
A three-act comic opera by Julian Edwards and Stanislaus Stange. The entry documents its Syracuse premiere and later Broadway production but does not describe the plot.
The White Horse Inn
At the White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang, head waiter Leopold loves the resolute landlady Josepha, who hopes that her regular guest, lawyer Dr. Siedler, will propose to her. Siedler instead falls for Ottilie, whose father tries to arrange her marriage to his business rival’s son, Sigismund; Sigismund loves Klärchen. After Leopold quits and Josepha reconsiders his proposal, the couples find their matches, with Leopold becoming co-proprietor and a triple marriage in prospect.
The White-Haired Girl
In 1935, landlord Huang Shiren forces Yang Bailao to sell his daughter Xi’er to settle debts. After Huang abuses her, Xi’er escapes to the mountains and gives birth. She lives in the wilderness for three years, and her hair and skin turn white; villagers mistake her for a ghostly fairy maiden. Dachun, her fiancé, returns with the CCP military and rescues her. Huang is subjected to a struggle session, and his property is redistributed to the poor. Xi’er and Dachun reunite with the villagers.
The Wings of the Dove
A two-act, six-scene English-language opera based on Henry James’s novel The Wings of the Dove.
The Winter's Tale
Leontes suspects his pregnant wife Hermione of loving his friend Polixenes. Although an oracle declares Hermione innocent, their son Mamillius dies and Hermione is believed dead; Leontes orders their newborn daughter Perdita abandoned. Sixteen years later, Perdita and Polixenes’s son Florizel flee to Sicily. Leontes rediscovers his daughter, and Hermione’s statue comes to life and forgives him.
The Witches
A children’s opera based on Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel The Witches, written for Gloppen Musikkfest with Tora Augestad in mind as the Grand High Witch.
The Wizard of the Nile
During a drought in Egypt, the Persian magician Kibosh brings rain, but the resulting flood leads King Ptolemy to order him sealed in a tomb; the courtiers mistakenly seal the king in with him, and both later escape. Meanwhile, Cleopatra and her music teacher Ptarmigan fall in love, though they part as she awaits Mark Antony.
The Wreckers
Cornish villagers lure ships onto rocks and plunder them, believing wrecking to be their livelihood. Fisherman Mark secretly lights warning beacons, while the preacher Pascoe’s wife Thirza despises the village’s violence and falls in love with Mark. The villagers suspect Pascoe, but Mark confesses and Thirza shares his guilt. They are chained in a cave and left to drown as the tide rises, choosing to die together.
The Yellow Sofa
Godofredo Alves discovers his wife Ludovina with his business partner Machado and throws her out. As he considers suicide or a duel, he confides in the personified Yellow Sofa; his friends decide on a less heroic solution, and Godofredo and Ludovina reconcile over his inability to wind the family clock.
The Yeomen of the Guard
At the Tower of London, Colonel Fairfax is sentenced to death and secretly marries Elsie before escaping with help from the Merylls. Fairfax disguises himself as Leonard Meryll and wins Elsie’s love, while the jester Jack Point hopes to marry her. After the real Leonard returns with Fairfax’s reprieve, Fairfax reveals his identity and reunites with Elsie. Phoebe and Dame Carruthers reluctantly agree to marry Wilfred and Sergeant Meryll, while the heartbroken Point collapses as the others celebrate.
The Young Guard
A four-act, seven-scene opera about the Young Guard youth resistance group in Krasnodon during the Second World War. The libretto condenses the source novel’s many events into selected episodes.
The Young Kabbarli
This one-act chamber opera dramatizes an episode from Daisy Bates’s life as an Irish-Australian welfare worker and anthropologist. Bates was affectionately called Kabbarli, meaning “grandmotherly person.”
The Zoo
At a zoo, apothecary Æsculapius Carboy fears he has accidentally poisoned his beloved Lætitia, while snack seller Eliza’s admirer Thomas eats all her wares to prove his devotion. Thomas is revealed as the Duke of Islington in disguise, and Carboy discovers Lætitia is unharmed. After Thomas settles her father’s objections, both couples are united.
Theatre of the World
At 76, Athanasius Kircher meets a boy who is the devil and is led with his patron Pope Innocent XI on a journey through ancient Egypt, China, and Babylon. Kircher’s fanciful theories collapse, and he recalls having mistakenly given his soul to the devil. As he dies, the boy eats his heart but discovers that Kircher’s soul has escaped him.
Thel
Thel seeks an answer to why life must end. The Lily of the Valley and Cloud try to console her, then the Clod of Clay explains that people live for others and invites her to see the realm of the dead. Mysterious voices there question her, and she flees home.
Theodora
The Roman governor Valens orders Christians in Antioch to sacrifice to Roman gods. Theodora is sentenced to serve in a brothel, and Didymus, a soldier secretly converted to Christianity, rescues her by disguising her in his uniform. When both are captured and sentenced to death, each offers to die for the other; Valens condemns them both, and they sing of immortality.
Thespis
The elderly gods on Mount Olympus complain that mortals have forgotten them. Thespis and his acting troupe arrive for a picnic, and he persuades the gods to exchange places with the actors for a holiday on Earth. A year later the actors have restored Olympus but caused chaos below through their inept rule. The gods return, hear complaints about disrupted weather, war, and wine, and punish the troupe by sending them back to Earth as neglected tragedians.
Thomas
Near the end of his life, Thomas, the 13th-century bishop of Finland, looks back on his past and his early advocacy of Finnish nationhood.
Thomas and Sally
Sally is distraught when sailor Thomas leaves on a long sea voyage. The Squire, who is infatuated with her, attempts to win her while Thomas is away, encouraged by Dorcas. Sally remains faithful to Thomas. When Thomas returns just as Sally seems close to yielding, the lovers reunite and agree to marry.
Thomyris, Queen of Scythia
The plot centers on a love triangle among fictional characters: Persian princess Cleora, Scythian prince Orontes, and Armenian king Tigranes. Cleora is held captive by Orontes but falls in love with him despite being betrothed to Tigranes. In the 1707 version, Queen Thomyris intervenes to prevent the Scythians from sacrificing Cleora after she receives false news that Orontes has died; Tigranes is wounded in battle. The opera’s historical title figure is based on Queen Tomyris, but the love story is fictional.
Thora paa Rimol
Earl Haakon and his slave Kark flee Olav Tryggvason and hide at the farm of Haakon’s former lover Thora. Kark murders Haakon, but Tryggvason does not reward him and has him executed.
Thorgrim
A four-act English opera by Frederic H. Cowen, based on the Icelandic tale Víglundar saga. Its story is not described in the available account.
Three Decembers
In December of 1986, 1996 and 2006, famous actress Madeline and her two adult children struggle to know and love one another.
Three Tales
This three-act video-opera examines modern technology through three subjects: the Hindenburg disaster, nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, and Dolly the sheep. It combines music with pre-recorded interview speech, eyewitness and documentary material, and commentary from scientists, computer researchers, and religious scholars. The final act considers cloning, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, robots, and immortality.
Through the Looking Glass
Alice enters the looking-glass world and journeys through scenes with live flowers, the Red and White Queens, passengers on a train, a name-less forest, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, a picnic, and the White Knight. The opera interweaves the adventures of young Alice with adult Alice Liddell, who seeks permission to grow up and reflects on childhood memories.
Théagène et Chariclée
A tragédie en musique based on Heliodorus’s ancient Greek novel Aethiopica.
Thémistocle
A three-act tragédie lyrique based on the life of the ancient Greek statesman Themistocles.
Théonoé
A prologue and five-act tragédie en musique.
Thérèse
During the French Revolution, Thérèse is married to Girondist André but still loves the exiled nobleman Armand. Armand returns and hides at André’s château. When André is arrested and taken to the guillotine, Thérèse has agreed to flee with Armand, but turns back and cries “Vive le roi!” She is arrested and accompanies her husband to execution.
Thérèse Raquin
Thérèse and Laurent, lovers trapped by her marriage to Camille, drown him during a river outing. They later marry, but guilt and Camille’s ghost haunt them. Madame Raquin learns the truth and becomes paralyzed; Thérèse and Laurent’s marriage collapses as each struggles with remorse and fear.
Thésée
Aegle loves Theseus, but King Aegeus also wants to marry her, despite being betrothed to the sorceress Medea. Medea grows jealous when Theseus confesses his love for Aegle and uses magic to frighten the princess into renouncing him. She later persuades Aegeus to poison Theseus, but the king recognizes his son’s sword and stops him from drinking. Theseus marries Aegle, Medea escapes in a dragon-drawn chariot, and Minerva restores the palace she burns.
Thésée
A five-act tragédie en musique using Philippe Quinault’s libretto about Theseus, previously set by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The music is now lost.
Thésée
Églé loves Thésée, while King Égée loves her and plans to marry Médée to his son, whom he has hidden at Troezen. Médée loves Thésée and grows jealous when he reveals his love for Églé. She threatens them with sorcery and reveals Thésée’s life is in danger; Thésée reveals he is Égée’s son. Médée pretends to bless their betrothal, then persuades Égée to poison Thésée. Recognizing his sword, Égée realizes Thésée is his son and saves him, agreeing to the marriage. Médée flees in a dragon-drawn chariot and threatens the palace, but Minerva intervenes and raises a new palace. The opera ends in rejoicing.
Thétis et Pelée
A prologue and five-act tragédie lyrique about the mythological figures Thetis and Peleus.
Tiefland
Wealthy landowner Sebastiano plans to marry an heiress while keeping Marta, his mistress, nearby by arranging her marriage to shepherd Pedro. Pedro and Marta fall in love, and she reveals Sebastiano’s scheme; Pedro initially attacks her but then takes her back to the mountains. When Sebastiano again tries to claim Marta, Pedro strangles him, and the lovers escape to freedom.
Tieteberga
A partially lost Italian dramma per musica by Antonio Vivaldi that includes nine arias by other composers.
Tigrane
Johann Adolph Hasse’s opera uses an anonymously reworked libretto related to Francesco Silvani’s text, also used in Vivaldi’s opera of the same title. The available text does not provide the plot.
Tigrane, o vero L’egual impegno d’amore e di fede
Queen Tomiri has unknowingly raised her kidnapped son Tigrane as an Armenian prince. After defeating the Persian king Ciro, she considers marrying one of her allies while feeling drawn to Tigrane. Ciro’s daughter Meroe arrives in disguise to avenge her father. Tigrane is condemned after preventing Meroe from killing Tomiri, but Meroe reveals the truth before his execution. Tigrane’s parentage is discovered, Tomiri reunites with her son, and Meroe marries Tigrane; Tomiri chooses Policare.
Till Eulenspiegel
A Russian-language twelve-tone opera based on Charles De Coster's novel The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak.
Tirfing
Tirfing is a Swedish-language opera by Wilhelm Stenhammar named for the magic sword Tyrfing in Norse mythology.
Tiriel
The blind king Tiriel curses his sons after his wife’s death and wanders away. He encounters his senile parents, then is captured by his brother and brought back to his children, whom he destroys with curses. His daughter Hela guides him back to his parents, where he curses them and dies.
Tito Manlio
Vivaldi’s Italian opera dramatizes the Roman consul Titus Manlius Torquatus and his conflict with Latium.
Tito e Berenice
A three-act dramma per musica about the love affair between Berenice of Cilicia and the future emperor Titus. The opera ends with Berenice’s entirely fictitious marriage to Antiochus, King of Commagene.
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