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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.

Yaroslav Mudriy

Opera · 1975

In eleventh-century Kiev, Prince Yaroslav tries to govern amid conflict with Novgorod, the Vikings and the Pechenegs. Norwegian Harald falls in love with Yaroslav’s daughter Elizaveta, but Yaroslav insists he first win a kingdom. Yaroslav’s wife Ingigerda conspires with Ulf against him; stonemason Zhureyko discovers the plot and warns the prince, while Ingigerda is sent to a nunnery. Years later, the Pechenegs invade. Mykyta, secretly the imprisoned governor Kosnyatyn’s son, returns with Djemma and reveals his identity during the crisis. Yaroslav defeats the Pechenegs, though Mykyta dies defending Kiev, and the people praise their ruler.

Ô mon bel inconnu

Opera · 1933

Parisian hatter Prosper Aubertin, dissatisfied with home life, places an advertisement seeking a soulmate. He chooses a reply and is angered to discover the handwriting belongs to his wife Antoinette; his daughter Marie-Anne has also answered, as has their maid Félicie. Prosper arranges meetings for them with the people they have been corresponding with, including his own wife and daughter. At a rented villa in the Basque region, owner Victor is mistaken for the mysterious correspondent. The confusion is resolved: the Aubertins reconcile, Marie-Anne accepts Claude, and Victor pairs with Félicie. Their mute friend Hilarion regains his voice.

Œdipe

Opera · 1936

Oedipus survives an attempt to abandon him as an infant and grows up in Corinth, believing he is the son of Polybus and Merope. After learning a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he flees; on the road he kills Laius, then defeats the Sphinx and marries Jocasta. Years later, during a plague, he learns the truth, Jocasta kills herself and he blinds himself. Exiled from Thebes, he wanders with Antigone, rejects Creon’s offer of restoration, and settles at Colonus.

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