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Trouble in Tahiti

Opera · 1952

Over the course of one day, married couple Sam and Dinah move between suburban routines and private disappointment. They argue over Sam’s priorities, money, and their relationship, then cross paths while separately avoiding a conversation. Sam wins a handball tournament; Dinah watches a romantic film and misses their son’s play. At home, neither can begin the promised discussion. They decide to go together to see a movie about Tahiti, choosing its imagined romance over the difficult work of repairing their marriage.

Troy

Opera · 2018

At the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, Paris falls in love with Helen, wife of Menelaus, and brings her to Troy. Menelaus and Agamemnon prepare a Greek assault; after negotiations fail, Achilles kills Hector, though the Greeks cannot breach Troy’s walls. Later the Greeks are defeated and captured, but Priam releases the prisoners. The Trojans bring a wooden horse inside the city and celebrate their victory. At night Greek soldiers emerge from the horse, open the gates, and sack Troy. Paris kills Achilles with an arrow, while Agamemnon kills Priam; Paris, Helen, and a few nobles escape.

Turandot

Opera · 1917

Kalaf, an exiled prince in disguise, decides to seek Turandot’s hand after finding a portrait left by a suitor who was executed. Turandot’s father, Emperor Altoum, laments her refusal to marry. Kalaf answers Turandot’s three riddles correctly and challenges her to discover his name and parentage; if she succeeds, he will leave. Adelma, Turandot’s confidante, knows Kalaf’s identity and offers to reveal it in exchange for her freedom. Turandot announces Kalaf’s name, and he prepares to depart, but she stops him and confesses that he has awakened her heart. The opera ends with an ensemble declaring that love rules all people.

Turandot

Opera · 1926

In legendary Peking, Princess Turandot requires suitors to solve three riddles or be executed. Prince Calaf accepts the challenge, answers all three, and offers Turandot a chance to avoid marrying him: if she discovers his name before dawn, he will die. She orders the city to find it. Calaf’s companion Liù refuses to reveal his identity and dies under torture. Calaf then tells Turandot his name; at dawn she announces to the Emperor and people that his name is Love.

Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao

Opera · 1840

In 1733, French officer Belfiore impersonates the Polish king Stanislaus at Baron Kelbar’s castle in France. The baron plans to marry his daughter Giulietta to the older treasurer La Rocca, though she loves La Rocca’s nephew Edoardo. The Marchesa del Poggio, who loves Belfiore, is engaged to Count Ivrea. Belfiore arranges Giulietta and Edoardo’s marriage and prevents the Marchesa’s wedding. A letter from the real king releases Belfiore from his impersonation, and he and the Marchesa can marry.

Un re in ascolto

Opera · 1984

A reclusive king of a mythical realm hears about his kingdom only by overhearing conversations. When a traveling troupe arrives to stage The Tempest, the king listens to auditions and rehearsals and begins to imagine himself as Prospero, confusing the play with events in his own kingdom. He undergoes a psychological collapse, the production never takes place, and the troupe leaves. The king then has a vision of the future as he moves toward death.

Utopia, Limited

Opera · 1893

On the South Pacific island of Utopia, King Paramount hopes his daughter Zara’s education in England will help transform the kingdom. Zara returns with six British advisers, the Flowers of Progress, and their recommendations impress the Utopians. Mr. Goldbury persuades the King to turn the country into a limited-liability company. This change strips the Wise Men Scaphio and Phantis of their power to threaten the King, and the island adopts British institutions and customs. When the Wise Men convince the people that the reforms have made the country dysfunctional, Zara proposes a two-party system whose mutual obstruction will satisfy everyone. The plot ends with the Wise Men imprisoned and Utopia praising Britain.

Valentine d'Aubigny

Opera · 1856

Gilbert travels to Paris to marry Valentine, his fiancée whom he has not seen for ten years. At an inn, Boisrobert, who is trying to evade marriage to actress Sylvia, proposes that Sylvia impersonate Valentine and marry Gilbert. Gilbert falls for Sylvia, while the real Valentine secretly writes the letters that sustain his affection. Sylvia eventually gives up the deception, and Valentine reveals it first; she and Gilbert marry, leaving Sylvia heartbroken.

Vanessa

Opera · 1958

Vanessa has spent twenty years waiting for her former lover Anatol to return, keeping the mirrors in her house covered and living with her mother, the Baroness, and her niece Erika. When a young man named Anatol arrives, Vanessa mistakes him for her former lover. Erika falls in love with the young Anatol, but doubts his sincerity and refuses his marriage proposal. Vanessa becomes engaged to him. At the announcement, Erika faints, then runs into the cold while pregnant and miscarries. Vanessa and Anatol leave for Paris. Erika covers the mirrors and closes the house, beginning a vigil of her own.

Veremonda, l'amazzone di Aragona

Opera · 1652

During the Spanish siege of a Moorish fortress at Gibraltar, Queen Veremonda discovers that Spanish general Delio is secretly in love with Moorish queen Zelemina. Disguised as a soldier, Veremonda enters the citadel with Delio and delays his attempt to force himself on her. While the Moors attend a religious celebration, she opens the fortress to Spanish forces and her Amazons. The Spanish win, and Delio and the converted Zelemina marry.

Verlobung im Traum

Opera · 1933

In Mordasovo, Zina loves the fugitive revolutionary Fedya, who is gravely ill. Her mother, Maria Alexandrowna, hopes to marry Zina to an aging prince so his wealth can help Fedya, while Paul, who loves Zina, disparages her lover and destroys Fedya’s plea to see her. Maria flatters the prince into proposing. The next day, Paul convinces the confused prince that the proposal was a dream, but Maria has arranged a wedding gathering. Zina reveals that she agreed to the scheme only for money and loves Fedya. The prince forgives her, but a servant reports Fedya has died. Later, Zina and her mother leave town; Zina enters a loveless marriage.

Virginia

Opera · 1866

In ancient Rome, plebeian Virginia and patrician Icilio wish to marry, but Appio Claudio has forbidden such unions. Appio desires Virginia and tries to take her by force; Icilio and Virginia’s father, Virginio, stop him. Appio then claims Virginia is not Virginio’s daughter but a slave belonging to his associate Marco. As the case goes to trial, Appio has Icilio killed. Virginia stabs herself rather than be forced into Appio’s power, and her death sparks a plebeian revolt against Appio and the patrician regime.

Votre Faust: Fantaisie variable genre opéra

Opera · 1969

Theatre director Mondor commissions writer Henri to compose a Faust opera. Henri encounters Maggy and Greta, goes to a fairground of musical quotations and styles, and faces alternatives about love, work and escape. In Act II the audience votes on choices and on which of four Faust puppet-show versions to follow. In three of four possible endings Henri never begins composing his Faust opera; each version closes with commentary on the events and choices witnessed by the audience.

War and Peace

Opera · 1945

Natasha Rostova and Prince Andrei Bolkonsky are drawn together, but while Andrei is away, Natasha is tempted by Anatole Kuragin, who is already married. Her attempted elopement is stopped, and Pierre Bezukhov helps her through the crisis. Napoleon’s invasion brings Andrei, Pierre, and their companions into the war. The Russian army retreats and Moscow burns; Andrei dies after reuniting with Natasha. During the French retreat, Pierre and other prisoners are rescued by partisans, and Kutuzov celebrates the Russian victory.

Werther

Opera · 1892

In July, the Bailiff’s children rehearse a Christmas carol as Charlotte prepares to attend a ball. Werther meets Charlotte and falls in love with her, but she has promised her dying mother to marry Albert. Three months later, Charlotte and Albert are married. Werther, unable to accept Charlotte’s request that he leave, returns on Christmas Eve. As Charlotte and Werther confess their love, she sends him away. Werther borrows Albert’s pistols and shoots himself. Charlotte reaches him too late; he dies after she declares her love.

What Price Confidence?

Opera · 1962

Edwin, who distrusts his girlfriend Gloria, decides to trust the next person who asks. Richard accepts a £1,000 check from Edwin as a supposed gambling debt and hurries back to Gloria, who insists he cover it. The check bounces, and Vivian finds Edwin about to jump from Waterloo Bridge. She persuades him to meet her the next day. Richard and Vivian discover Edwin and Gloria together, and a pawnbroker’s ticket, check, and introductions resolve the misunderstandings. Vivian plans to go to Paris with Edwin, while Gloria discovers jealousy.

William Ratcliff

Opera · 1869

In seventeenth-century Scotland, Mary is being married to Douglas, although she loves William Ratcliff. Ratcliff’s father killed Mary’s mother after an affair, and their ghosts haunt him; he has already killed two men betrothed to Mary. After Douglas wounds Ratcliff in a duel, Ratcliff returns to Mary’s room. A song by her nurse Margaret drives him into a frenzy: he kills Mary and her father, then takes his own life. The ghosts of his parents appear and embrace.

Wozzeck

Opera · 1925

Soldier Wozzeck is mocked by his Captain, subjected to a Doctor’s experiments, and troubled by visions as he struggles with poverty. His partner Marie accepts earrings from the Drum Major and begins an affair with him. Wozzeck suspects Marie’s infidelity, sees her dancing with the Drum Major, and is beaten by him. After confronting Marie, Wozzeck takes her to a pond and cuts her throat. He throws the knife into the water and drowns while trying to retrieve or conceal it. The next morning, children learn that Marie is dead; her son follows them to see her body.

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