Falstaff
An Italian-language opera by Michael William Balfe, identified as based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The entry does not provide a plot synopsis.
Operas
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Falstaff sends identical letters to Alice Ford and Meg Page, hoping to seduce them for money. The women discover the scheme and plan to humiliate him, while Alice’s husband Ford plots revenge and the women also help Nannetta marry Fenton instead of the husband her father chose. Falstaff is hidden in a laundry basket and thrown into the Thames, then lured to a midnight encounter at Herne’s Oak, where townspeople in fairy disguises torment him. Ford’s plan for Nannetta to marry Dr. Caius is also foiled, and the company ends with Falstaff’s declaration that all the world is folly.
Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle
A two-act Italian dramma giocoso adapting Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The opera compresses the play, omits the young lovers Fenton and Anne, and adds scenes in which Mistress Ford pretends to be German to charm Falstaff; a fuller plot is not given.
Family Quarrels
Foxglove tries to reconcile the Supplejack and Crabstick families so Charles Supplejack and Caroline Crabstick can marry. Caroline's parents want her to marry Mushroom, while Mrs. Supplejack plans for Charles to marry Lady Selena. The expected happy ending eventually follows.
Fang Zhimin
Meng Weidong’s opera dramatizes the life of communist martyr Fang Zhimin.
Fangcaoxin
Twin sisters Yunyun and Fangfang love engineer Yu Gang. When Yu is blinded in an accident, Yunyun abandons him, and Fangfang takes her place caring for him without revealing her identity. After Yu recovers his sight, Fangfang withdraws and Yunyun returns to marry him. At the wedding, Yunyun’s conscience compels her to confess the truth.
Faniska
Zamoski orders Faniska abducted and imprisoned after she resists his advances. Her husband Rasinski is also captured while attempting to rescue her; the couple escape with help, and Rasinski’s soldiers defeat Zamoski.
Fantasio
To avoid arrest for debt and meet Princess Elsbeth, student Fantasio disguises himself as the dead court jester. He disrupts the planned marriage between Elsbeth and the Prince of Mantua, but is imprisoned. Elsbeth helps him escape; Fantasio then challenges the prince, who abandons the marriage and returns home. Fantasio urges peace, is pardoned, and Elsbeth names him prince.
Fantasio
A German-language fantastic comedy opera based on Alfred de Musset’s play Fantasio.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Mr. Fox steals hens from farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, who conspire to destroy the Fox family. With help from woodland animals, the foxes evade capture; the animals later feast on the farmers’ produce while the farmers wait in the rain.
Faramondo
Faramondo, king of the Franks, and Rosimonda, daughter of the Cimbrian king Gustavo, fall in love despite Gustavo’s oath to avenge his son Sveno, whom Faramondo killed. Faramondo’s sister Clotilde and Gustavo’s son Adolfo also love one another. When Faramondo rescues Rosimonda and stops a coup, Gustavo prepares to sacrifice him, but a dying Teobaldo reveals that Sveno was his own son. Gustavo spares Faramondo, and the couples are united.
Farewell My Concubine
A Chinese-language western-style opera by Xiao Bai and Wang Jian.
Farinelli
At the Prado, chamberlain Gil Polo plots against King Philip V. Farinelli, who loves Gil’s niece Leonora, learns of the conspiracy. His singing revives the melancholic king and spurs him to act. Gil is dismissed and exiled; Farinelli is honored and is able to marry Leonora.
Farmer George
A monodrama depicting George III’s state of mind and background before his illness. It is written for the same instrumentation as Eight Songs for a Mad King and is performed as a companion work before it.
Farnace
After defeat by Rome, Farnace orders his wife Tamiri to kill their son and herself rather than be captured. Berenice conspires with Pompey against him, while Selinda tries to use the rivalry between Aquilio and Gilade to save her brother. The opera ends with the characters spared, but the source does not explain the resolution.
Farnace
Defeated by Pompeo, King Farnace tells his wife Tamiri to kill their son and herself rather than be captured. His sister Selinda is taken by the Roman Atridate, who loves her, as does his captain Gilade. Selinda plays the two men against each other to save Farnace, and everyone is spared.
Fat Pig
Helen, a witty and confident fat woman, falls in love with Tom, a man in a normative body. Their relationship is challenged and ultimately ruined by Tom’s insecurities, amplified by coworkers’ taunts and judgment.
Fatinitza
Russian Lieutenant Wladimir once disguised himself as a woman named Fatinitza, and General Kantschukoff fell in love with that identity. When the disguise is revived during a soldiers’ play, Wladimir and Lydia are captured by a Turkish governor; his wives help them escape. The General promises Lydia to another man, but a mistaken report that Fatinitza has been found and a forged story about her death lead him to give Lydia to Wladimir.
Faust
Faust is torn between his love for Röschen and his desire for Kunigunde, who is betrothed to Count Hugo. Faust makes a pact with Mephistopheles and rescues Kunigunde from the knight Gulf. He gives her a love potion at her wedding celebration; Hugo challenges him to a duel, and Faust kills him and flees. Röschen drowns herself in despair, and Mephistopheles drags Faust to Hell.
Faust
An aging scholar, Faust despairs of the life he has spent in study and considers suicide. Méphistophélès appears and offers him youth and worldly pleasures in exchange for his soul. Faust accepts and falls in love with Marguerite, whom he seduces and abandons. Her brother Valentin confronts Faust and is killed. Marguerite gives birth to Faust’s child, then kills the child and is imprisoned. Faust enters the prison with Méphistophélès and urges her to escape, but she entrusts herself to God and dies. Her soul rises to heaven, while an archangel bars Méphistophélès.
Faust and Marguerite
A three-act romantic opera by Meyer Lutz and Henri Drayton based on Goethe’s Faust legend.
Fausta
Empress Fausta falls in love with her stepson Crispo, who loves the captive Beroe. After Fausta’s advances are exposed, Crispo is condemned for treason through the schemes of her father Massimiano. Fausta tries to save him with poison, but the execution has already occurred. Constantine receives proof of Crispo’s innocence too late; Fausta dies, and Massimiano is exposed.
Fausto
Bored with life, Fausto is about to drink poison when church bells revive his faith. He meets Margarita and falls in love; after she leaves, he summons Mefistofele, who promises to make him young and win her for him. Rejuvenated, Fausto courts Margarita, who comes to return his feelings and secretly invites him to her room. The entry does not summarize the final two acts.
Faustus, the Last Night
As Faustus faces the end of his bargain, he and Mephistopheles appear as an intertwined pair. Their exchanges explore humanity’s obsession with power; Sly, a jester drawn from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, introduces a contrasting voice.
Fedora
Princess Fedora vows to avenge the death of her fiancé Vladimir. She follows the suspected killer, Loris, to Paris, where he explains that he shot Vladimir after finding him with his wife. Fedora falls in love with Loris, but her accusation has led to the deaths of his mother and brother. She confesses and takes poison, dying in his arms.
Fedra
A two-act opera based on Jean Racine's play Phèdre.
Fedra
Fedra falls in love with her stepson Ippolito, who rejects her. In anger she accuses him of rape; Teseo invokes Poseidon against his son, who dies in an accident, and when Teseo learns the truth he condemns Fedra.
Fellow Travelers
During the Lavender Scare in 1950s Washington, State Department official Hawkins Fuller begins a relationship with Timothy Laughlin, a recent graduate working for a senator. Government investigations and Fuller’s unwillingness to commit strain their bond. Tim leaves for army service and later works as a reporter; years later, he and the married Hawk reunite, but Tim leaves after accepting they cannot build a life together.
Fennimore und Gerda
In Denmark around 1860, cousins Niels Lyhne and Erik Refstrup both love Fennimore, who marries Erik. His drinking strains the marriage, and Fennimore begins an affair with Niels. After Erik dies in an accident, Fennimore ends the affair, while Niels travels for years before settling down and marrying his neighbor’s daughter Gerda.
Feramors
Princess Lalla is engaged to marry the King of Bokhara but falls in love with the minstrel Feramors, who is revealed to be the king in disguise.
Fernand Cortez
Cortez persuades his mutinous troops to stay in Mexico, where his brother Alvaro is held by the Aztecs and he loves the princess Amazily. When the Aztecs threaten Amazily and Alvaro, she offers herself in sacrifice. The priests prepare to kill her, but the Spaniards arrive in time to save her; Cortez and Amazily marry.
Fervaal
Saracen bandits attack the Gauls Fervaal and Arfagard. Guilhen, daughter of the Saracen emir, saves Fervaal and falls in love with him. Bound by an oath to defend his Celtic homeland and renounce love, he leaves her; she sends an invasion against Cravann. Fervaal becomes its commander but loses the battle. When Guilhen returns, he kills Arfagard, then climbs a mountain carrying Guilhen, who dies in his arms. A wordless chorus signals the coming of a new faith.
Festen
At a wealthy Danish family’s gathering for Helge’s 60th birthday in 1989, his eldest son Christian accuses him of sexually abusing Christian and his late twin sister Linda, whose trauma led to her suicide. Helge’s guilt is exposed when Linda’s note is read, and he eventually admits the abuse. The next morning, Michael beats Helge while the party continues, then tells his father to leave.
Feuersnot
During Munich’s Midsummer festival, the sorcerer Kunrad offers his house for the bonfire and kisses the mayor’s daughter Diemut, who rejects him and traps him in a basket. He extinguishes every festival fire and says they can be restored only by a virgin’s body. The people persuade Diemut to yield to him; after their encounter, the fires return and the two emerge singing together.
Fevey
An allegorical fairy-tale opera written as instruction for Catherine II’s heir.
Fidelio
Leonore disguises herself as a young prison guard named Fidelio to find her husband Florestan, whom Governor Pizarro has secretly imprisoned. She gains the trust of the jailer Rocco and learns that Pizarro plans to murder Florestan before an investigating minister arrives. Leonore accompanies Rocco to Florestan’s dungeon and steps between Pizarro and her husband, threatening Pizarro with a pistol. The minister arrives, Pizarro is taken away, and Florestan is freed.
Fierrabras
King Karl’s daughter Emma loves knight Eginhard, while captured Moorish prince Fierrabras, who once loved Emma, agrees to help the couple. During peace talks, Boland imprisons Karl’s knights, but his daughter Florinda frees them as she loves Roland. Karl and Fierrabras arrive in time to prevent the knights’ execution; the Franks and Moors make peace, and both couples marry.
Fiesque
In Genoa in 1547, Leonore believes her marriage to Fiesque is failing, while Fiesque declares his love for Julie Doria. The Dorias’ assassin Hassan fails to kill him and is sent to learn what the townspeople think. Hassan later reveals that Julie has hired him to poison Leonore. Fiesque reassures Leonore, and his ally Verrina tests whether he remains committed to rebellion. Fiesque’s response restores Verrina’s confidence, and the conspirators prepare a revolt. Julie confesses her love for Fiesque, but he declares his fidelity to Leonore and has Julie captured. The Fieschi overthrow the Dorias and Fiesque becomes ruler. Verrina urges him to abandon regal ambition for a republic; when Fiesque dismisses his concerns, Verrina kills him.
Figaro Gets a Divorce
Fleeing a revolution, the Count’s household is captured at a border by the Major, who seeks power over them. The Major reveals Angelika is the Count’s child and that Serafin is the child of the Countess and Cherubino. Figaro and Susanna quarrel over whether to have a child; Susanna encounters Cherubino, now a bar proprietor, who employs her as a chanteuse. The Countess rejects the Major’s blackmail and tells the Count Serafin’s parentage; Susanna reveals she is pregnant by Cherubino. Figaro helps the family escape, shooting Cherubino. The Major’s plan to trap them at the castle fails: Figaro, Susanna, Angelika and Serafin escape through a secret passage while the Count and Countess remain.
Figaro läßt sich scheiden
A two-act sequel to Beaumarchais’s Figaro plays, following some of their characters during the French Revolution.
Fin de partie
In a house by the sea, Hamm, his servant Clov and Hamm’s parents Nagg and Nell endure an enclosed, repetitive existence. Their conversations revisit old memories and grievances; Nell dies unnoticed, while Hamm and Clov confront their dependence on one another. Clov appears ready to leave, but remains still, and Hamm recognizes that he has been left alone to continue the “endgame.”
Fiorella
In Napoleonic Rome, Fiorella’s affections are divided between Rodolphe, a French officer and spy, and his friend Albert. Fiorella secretly helps Rodolphe evade the authorities, and the two friends shelter in a monastery during a storm, where Rodolphe vows not to marry her. Fiorella arrives in disguise and reunites with him; the police mistakenly arrest Albert, and papers that could convict Rodolphe are burned. Rodolphe and Fiorella are united, while Albert is consoled by Fiorella’s maid Zerbine.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
At age 20, Charles returns to his childhood home and revisits memories of poverty and abuse by his cousin. As a teenager and young adult, he struggles with the effects of the trauma and loneliness. When he returns home with a gun, the voices of Destiny and his younger self pull him between revenge and letting go; he ultimately chooses not to retaliate.
Fiskeren
A through-composed Wagnerian opera concerning forced marriage, a pact with the devil, punishment and forgiveness. The entry does not describe the plot.
Five
Earlier, shorter version of The Central Park Five about the Central Park jogger case. The entry does not provide a separate plot synopsis for this version.
Flammen
At a castle after the First Crusade, Irmgard is torn between her returning husband and feelings aroused by a minstrel. To save the prince from a death curse tied to her welcome kiss, she drinks poison and dies, revealing her distress and love for the minstrel.
Flammen
In this German-language version of Schulhoff’s surrealist Don Juan opera, Don Juan’s pursuit of women and longing for Death unfold across loosely connected scenes. After Donna Anna dies and Don Juan seeks to join La Morte, a curse condemns him to live forever; he shoots himself but becomes young again and repeats the cycle.
Flavio
King Flavio is attracted to Teodata, who secretly loves his courtier Vitige. Flavio changes his appointment of Lotario to Ugone in hopes of gaining access to Teodata, angering Lotario. After Lotario slaps Ugone, Ugone’s son Guido is obliged to challenge Lotario, who is Emilia’s father. Guido kills Lotario in a duel, and Emilia vows revenge. Flavio claims Guido has been executed, but reunites him with Emilia when she awakens from a swoon. Flavio also orders Vitige to marry Teodata and remains faithful to his own wife.
Flavio Crispo
Opera by Johann David Heinichen concerning Flavius Crispus, son of Emperor Constantine I.
Flavius Bertaridus, König der Langobarden
Telemann’s German-language opera seria is a separate setting of Stefano Ghisi’s Flavio Bertarido, Ré de Longobardi libretto, adapted with rewritten recitatives and added German choruses.
Fleur-de-Thé
In China, French bar owner Pinsonnet shelters Fleur-de-Thé, daughter of a mandarin, from her father’s unwanted attention. The mandarin forces Pinsonnet to marry his daughter despite his existing French wife, Césarine. Césarine and Fleur-de-Thé scheme to escape with their true partners. When their plot is discovered, Césarine distracts the mandarin with champagne while sailors rescue the couple.
Flight
A refugee stranded in an airport without travel documents shares the terminal with passengers, airport staff and an immigration officer as a storm grounds all flights. During the night, relationships fracture and the refugee’s attempts to comfort the women with a supposed magic stone provoke them to attack him. After a birth and a series of reconciliations, the refugee explains how he lost his documents; the officer chooses not to arrest him, and the stranded travelers resume their journeys.
Flis
A Polish-language one-act opera by Stanisław Moniuszko; its characters include a wealthy landowner, his daughter, a young raftsman, and a hairdresser.
Flora mirabilis
An allegorical fairy tale set in medieval Sweden, centered on the characters Lidia and Valdo. The opera's score includes folkloric dances, choruses, and orchestral passages used to establish setting and mood.
Florencia en el Amazonas
Soprano Florencia Grimaldi travels by steamboat up the Amazon to sing in Manaus, hoping her performance will bring her missing lover Cristóbal back from the jungle. Fellow passengers include journalist Rosalba, who hopes to interview Florencia, and the bickering couple Paula and Álvaro. After a storm and shipwreck, the mate Riolobo returns as a river spirit and helps restore order. Rosalba discovers Florencia’s identity and accepts her feelings for the captain’s nephew Arcadio. When the boat reaches Manaus, cholera quarantines the passengers aboard; Florencia then transforms into a butterfly and departs in spirit to reunite with Cristóbal.
Floridante
In ancient Persia, King Oronte has usurped the throne and raised the rightful princess Elisa as his daughter Elmira. Oronte tries to prevent her marriage to the returning prince Floridante, then reveals his desire to marry her himself. After imprisoning Floridante and threatening Elmira, he is overthrown; Elmira becomes queen, marries Floridante, and pardons Oronte.
Flower and Hawk
Imprisoned in Salisbury Tower after she and her sons rebel against Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine considers suicide but instead revisits memories of her life. Recollections of becoming Queen of France and conflicts with her husbands alternate with grief over Richard’s death, until Eleanor releases herself from guilt and self-doubt. The bells announce Henry’s death and her own freedom.
Fomka the Fool
A one-act opera centered on Fomka, with roles including village elder Miron, his daughter Anyushka, and her fiancé Fyodor. The score is apparently lost.
Fool's Paradise
Atzel dreams of reaching the Paradise described by his nanny and pretends to be dead to escape work and adult responsibilities. His family and a doctor stage an artificial Paradise for him; bored by its inactivity, Atzel longs to live again, returns to his family, and marries Aksah.
Fortunio
Young clerk Fortunio becomes a decoy for the affair between Jacqueline, wife of lawyer Maître André, and officer Clavaroche. Fortunio falls sincerely in love with Jacqueline, who returns his feelings and dismisses Clavaroche after her husband’s suspicions are diverted.
Fosca
Pirate leader Gajolo holds Venetian Paolo captive, while his sister Fosca loves Paolo, who is betrothed to Delia. Fosca first aids the pirates’ abduction of Delia, then relents when Delia offers herself in exchange for Paolo; after further jealousy and threats, Fosca takes poison meant for Delia and dies.
Found and Lost
An opera installation set in the Corinthia Hotel London, built from found texts such as room-service checklists and reports of lost objects. Audiences follow performers through the hotel as they piece together a date that goes badly wrong.
Four Saints in Three Acts
A stylized opera featuring Spanish saints, including Teresa of Ávila and Ignatius of Loyola, along with invented saints. Its four described sections move from Teresa at Ávila to a scene of mountains and a heavenly mansion, a picnic with Ignatius, and the saints reassembled in a monastery garden. The work emphasizes language and sound rather than a conventional narrative.
Fra Diavolo
At an inn near Terracina, Zerline loves the soldier Lorenzo, while her father favors a wealthy suitor. The bandit Fra Diavolo disguises himself as a marquis and steals from English travelers, but a scheme involving his accomplices exposes him, allowing Zerline to marry Lorenzo.
Fra Gherardo
Gherardo gives his wealth to the poor, then falls in love with Mariola and abandons his religious ambitions. Years later, as a friar, he leads a revolt against corrupt authorities. He agrees to confess heresy to save the arrested Mariola, but she is killed during the unrest and Gherardo is sentenced to death.
Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode
This two-act comic opera follows intrigues among a jealous, quarrelling aristocratic couple and their servants.
Francesca da Rimini
In the second circle of Hell, Francesca and Paolo tell Dante how they came to be there. Francesca was deceived into marrying Lanciotto, who suspects her love for his brother Paolo. While Lanciotto is away, Paolo reads to Francesca the story of Lancelot and Guinevere; they confess their love and embrace. Lanciotto returns and fatally stabs them. Dante is overcome with pity as the lovers return to the whirlwind.
Francesca da Rimini
Francesca is led to believe that Paolo, the handsome brother of her intended husband Gianciotto, is her future bridegroom, and they fall in love. After she marries Gianciotto, she and Paolo meet secretly; Malatestino exposes them, and Gianciotto kills them both.
Francesca da Rimini
Mercadante’s opera adapts Silvio Pellico’s play about Francesca da Rimini. Francesca is caught between her husband Lanciotto and his brother Paolo, her lover. The opera, originally planned for Madrid in 1831, was rediscovered and first performed in 2016.
Francesca di Foix
To protect his beautiful wife Francesca from the French court, the Count tells the king she is ugly. The king sends the Duke to investigate; the Duke persuades Francesca to return to Paris. When the king announces that a tournament winner will marry her, the Count admits his jealousy and deceit. The king admonishes him, then forgives the couple.
François les bas-bleus
In Paris in 1789, street-singer Fanchon and letter-writer François plan to marry. Fanchon’s birth song reveals her noble parentage; after she resists an arranged marriage and François is imprisoned in the Bastille, the two reunite during its storming and marry.
Françoise de Rimini
In a prologue set in Hell, Dante and Virgil meet Paolo and Françoise. The four acts tell of the lovers’ passion amid the battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; in the epilogue they sing together before a heavenly choir pardons them.
Frau Margot
An English-language three-act opera by Thomas Pasatieri, with a libretto by Frank Corsaro based on Corsaro’s play Lyric Suite. Its roles include the former diva Frau Margot, a composer, her companion, agent and a detective.
Fredegundis
A three-act German opera about Fredegund, widow of sixth-century French king Chilperic I, adapted from Felix Dahn’s novel. The entry does not describe the dramatic plot.
Frederick Douglass
Moore's biographical opera about Frederick Douglass takes the form of musical meditations on love, death, religion, political oppression, and deliverance. Its plot includes Douglass's second marriage, the collapse of the Freedman's Savings Bank, and his mission to Haiti.
Frederick Douglass
A semi-fictionalized account of Frederick Douglass’s final years after his marriage to Helen Pitts Douglass.
Freedom Child
Evelyn La Rue Pittman’s opera was written in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The available text gives no plot or performance details.
Freitag aus Licht
In a layered retelling of creation, Eve agrees to unite with Caino, leading to conflict among their children. She repents, and the opera’s dancer couples transform through partner exchanges into hybrid figures that join in an ascending candle spiral.
Freshwater
A two-act chamber opera based on Virginia Woolf’s comic play Freshwater.
Frida
The opera is based on the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The entry gives no specific plot or dramatic episodes.
Friedenstag
During the final day of the Thirty Years’ War, the commandant of a besieged town refuses the townspeople’s plea to surrender and prepares to destroy the fortress rather than yield. His wife Maria stays with him. When the opposing commander arrives to announce the armistice, the two leaders nearly fight, but Maria intervenes and they embrace in reconciliation.
From the House of the Dead
In a Siberian prison camp, political prisoner Goryanchikov is flogged and befriends the young Alyeya, whom he teaches to read and write. The prisoners recount episodes from their pasts and stage plays; Goryanchikov is eventually pardoned and released.
From the Towers of the Moon
A princess from the Moon comes to Earth and falls in love with an emperor, encountering human emotions before eventually returning to the Moon. The work adapts the Japanese tale of Princess Kaguya, also known as The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
Frédégonde
A five-act French drame lyrique based on Augustin Thierry’s accounts of the Merovingian period, featuring the queens Brunhilda and Frédégonde and King Hilpérik.
Fête Galante
During a late-night fête involving aristocrats and a commedia dell’arte troupe, mistaken identities and disguises entangle desire and jealousy. A jealous king has the Pierrot hanged.
Fête galante
A Danish-language comic opera by Poul Schierbeck.
Gabriella di Vergy
Gabriella marries Fayel after being told that her beloved Raoul has died. Raoul returns alive, but Fayel kills him in a duel and presents Gabriella with his heart. She loses her sanity and dies.
Gabrielle d'Estrées, ou Les amours d'Henri IV de France
Méhul's three-act opera concerns the love affair of King Henri IV of France and Gabrielle d'Estrées. It was removed from the repertoire after its sixth performance; accounts differ over whether this was due to the work's weakness or political reasons.
Galahad
An unperformed four-scene music drama about Galahad, one of the separately titled works in Boughton’s Arthurian cycle.
Galileo Galilei
As an old, blind man, Galileo recalls his life in reverse. He faces the Church over his claim that Earth revolves around the Sun, appears at trial, and revisits his writing, experiments, and conversations with Cardinal Barberini. Letters from his daughter Maria Celeste reveal their bond. Galileo presents his telescope to the Duchess, then becomes a child watching an opera by his father, Vincenzo. The planetary story in the opera within the opera reunites him with his deceased daughter.
Gallantry
Moore’s one-act opera parodies a television soap opera, interrupting the sung action with commercial-style announcements. Its four roles include an announcer, a nurse, a patient and a doctor.
Gawain
At Christmas in Camelot, the Green Knight challenges a knight to behead him and receive the same blow a year later. Gawain accepts, beheads him, and travels north to the Green Chapel. At Bertilak’s home, he agrees to exchange whatever he gains each day for the host’s hunt. Lady de Hautdesert kisses him three days running and gives him a protective sash, which he hides. The Green Knight wounds Gawain slightly, explaining that the three blows reflect Gawain’s honesty and his concealment of the sash. Gawain returns to Camelot angry at the court’s assumption that he has been heroic.
Gemma di Vergy
Gemma, the childless wife of the Count of Vergy, grieves as he arranges to annul their marriage and bring home a new bride, Ida. After Tamas, a slave secretly in love with Gemma, murders the Count, Gemma faces further despair.
Geneviève de Brabant
The Duke Sifroid condemns his wife Geneviève after the scheming Golo falsely accuses her of infidelity. Geneviève and her page Drogan escape, and Drogan helps expose Golo’s plan to seize the throne. Sifroid returns, regains his crown and reconciles with Geneviève.
Genitrix
A two-act opera based on François Mauriac’s novel Genitrix.
Genji monogatari
An operatic adaptation of the first three books of Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji, with a cast including Prince Genji, the Old Emperor, Fujitsubo, Lady Rokujo, Aoi, and the lady of Akashi.
Genoveva
Before leaving for war, Siegfried entrusts his wife Genoveva to his servant Golo, whose nurse Margaretha encourages him to pursue her. When Genoveva rejects Golo, he stages a false adulterous encounter, and Siegfried orders her death. A mute, deaf boy saves her; Siegfried discovers Golo’s treachery and restores Genoveva’s honor.
Gensericus oder Sieg der Schönheit
After Genseric’s Vandals conquer Rome, he pursues the emperor’s widow Eudoxia, while his son Honoricus seeks her daughter Pulcheria. The Vandal prince Helmige rejects Melita’s affection and pursues Placida, who is engaged to the Roman Olybrius.
Germania
In Napoleonic-occupied Germany, students debate resistance while hiding publisher Palm. Carlo Worms and Federico Loewe are rivals in politics and love; after Ricke’s affair with Worms is exposed, the men meet again in an anti-Napoleon league and march to battle. In the aftermath, Ricke finds Worms dead and Loewe mortally wounded.
Germanico
A one-act serenata celebrating Germanicus’s victory over the German chieftain Arminius. Germanicus’s wife Agrippina the Elder is also a character; the source gives no further plot.
Germanico in Germania
A fictionalized account of the Roman general Germanicus, set in Germania Inferior in 14 AD.
Germanicus
Telemann’s opera dramatizes events surrounding Germanicus and centers on a love triangle involving the Germanic leader Arminius, Agrippina the Younger and Claudius. The original score was believed lost; 45 arias later recovered were presented with spoken text between them.
Gernika
Gernika and her lover Gogor discover armed visitors, and the King of the North offers the Basques protection while promising to respect their laws and freedom. Podio tries to possess Gernika and later demands aid for the King, provoking division among the Basques; he also attempts to kill the King. The opera represents the 1937 bombing of Gernika, then shows Podio killing Gernika and burning the town, while Gogor is restrained from revenge and the King promises punishment.
Gervaise Macquart
A two-act opera by Giselher Klebe with a libretto by Lore Klebe, based on Émile Zola’s novel L’Assommoir.
Ghiselle
A sixth-century Merovingian opera whose violent plot ends in a double suicide.
Ghost Patrol
Landlord Alasdair catches a homeless thief and recognizes him as Sam, a former member of his army platoon. The two men once colluded in a traumatic atrocity, and the opera explores its aftermath.
Gianni Schicchi
When Buoso Donati dies, his relatives discover that his fortune has been left to a monastery. They enlist Gianni Schicchi, whose daughter Lauretta loves Rinuccio, to help them. Schicchi disguises himself as Buoso and dictates a new will, assigning the mule, house, and mills to himself while giving the relatives smaller bequests. The relatives cannot object in front of the notary without exposing their fraud. Schicchi evicts them from what is now his house, and Lauretta and Rinuccio can marry. He turns to the audience and asks them to forgive his deception.
Gianni di Calais
Princess Matilde flees an arranged marriage and is rescued from pirates by shipowner Gianni, whom she marries. Years later, the king summons Gianni to help search for his missing daughter. Gianni realizes Matilde’s identity, and she returns to court. A rejected suitor attempts to kidnap their son, but Rustano rescues him; the king punishes the suitor and accepts Gianni as Matilde’s husband.
Gianni di Parigi
Innkeeper Pedrigo prepares for the Princess of Navarre, but a wealthy traveler from Paris, Gianni, pays extra and takes the lodging. The princess accepts the inconvenience because she recognizes Gianni as the disguised son of King Philip de Valois. They fall in love and prepare to marry.
Giannina e Bernardone
A two-act Italian dramma giocoso with seven named roles, including Giannina, Masino, Bernardone, Lauretta, and Captain Francone.
Giants in the Earth
The opera depicts tragedy and romance among Norwegian-American settlers in Dakota Territory in 1873. The listed principal characters include Beret and Per Hansa, their neighbors Hans Olsa and Sorrine, Syvert Tonetsen and Kjersti, and their families.
Giasone
Jason is in love with Medea, though he is already married to Queen Isifile and has twins with her. After winning the Golden Fleece, Jason and Medea arrive in Lemnos, where Isifile confronts him. Jason orders his captain Besso to kill Isifile, but Besso instead throws Medea into the sea. A chain of misunderstandings resolves with Jason and Isifile reconciled, while Medea and Aegeus turn to one another.
Gilgamesh
Following the Babylonian epic, Per Nørgård’s opera moves through six days and seven nights, beginning with the creation of the world and ending with Gilgamesh’s rebirth. The staging places performers and musicians in the center of a rectangular room, with the audience on both sides.
Gilgameš
A three-act opera about Gilgamesh, the Sumerian king, and Enkidu, his friend and brother, based on the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
Gillet pa Solhaug
A three-act Swedish-language opera by Wilhelm Stenhammar based on Henrik Ibsen’s play The Feast at Solhaug. Completed in 1893, it premiered in Stuttgart in 1899 before its Swedish premiere in 1902. No plot description or librettist identification is available in the reviewed text.
Gillette de Narbonne
Gillette, adopted by Count Roger’s family, loves Roger, who refuses to marry her. She cures King René, who promises her any reward; she asks to marry Roger. Roger leaves for war after their wedding without consummating it, setting conditions for acknowledging her as wife. Disguised as her twin brother, Gillette later takes another woman’s place and consummates the marriage with Roger, leaving him her ring. Ten months later, she has a son. Roger returns and fears another man fathered the child; Gillette shows him the ring, and he accepts her as his wife.
Ginevra di Scozia
Two-act Italian opera based on cantos 5 and 6 of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso through Antonio Salvi’s Ginevra, principessa di Scozia.
Giovanna Gray
In 1553, after Edward VI names Giovanna (Lady Jane Grey) his heir, she reluctantly accepts the crown at her husband Guilford’s urging. Mary gathers troops; after Guilford’s father is defeated, the court shifts allegiance and Mary deposes Giovanna. Imprisoned in the Tower, Giovanna and Guilford are sentenced to death for treason. As Guilford is led to execution, Giovanna comforts her friend Anna. Dressed as a bride for heaven, Giovanna prays, ascends to her execution, and imagines herself joining her dead husband.
Giovanna d'Arco
In France in 1429, Charles, not yet crowned king, tells his people of a vision directing him to lay down his weapons. Giovanna prays to lead the French forces and hears angels call her to fight. Her father Giacomo believes she has made a pact with the devil. Giovanna leads the French to victory and Charles declares his love, but she resists him. Giacomo denounces her, and the English capture her and condemn her to death. Giacomo recognizes his error and frees her; she returns to battle, where the French win. Giovanna dies after briefly reviving, and is taken to heaven.
Giove in Argo
In a mythological setting, figures including Jupiter, Isis, Osiris, Diana, and Calisto appear in disguises and mistaken identities among shepherds and rulers.
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