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Clear filtersPrincess 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.
A two-act opera based on Jean Racine's play Phèdre.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An allegorical fairy-tale opera written as instruction for Catherine II’s heir.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A two-act sequel to Beaumarchais’s Figaro plays, following some of their characters during the French Revolution.
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.”
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.
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.
A through-composed Wagnerian opera concerning forced marriage, a pact with the devil, punishment and forgiveness. The entry does not describe the plot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opera by Johann David Heinichen concerning Flavius Crispus, son of Emperor Constantine I.
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.
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.
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.
A Polish-language one-act opera by Stanisław Moniuszko; its characters include a wealthy landowner, his daughter, a young raftsman, and a hairdresser.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This two-act comic opera follows intrigues among a jealous, quarrelling aristocratic couple and their servants.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A semi-fictionalized account of Frederick Douglass’s final years after his marriage to Helen Pitts Douglass.
Evelyn La Rue Pittman’s opera was written in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The available text gives no plot or performance details.
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.
A two-act chamber opera based on Virginia Woolf’s comic play Freshwater.
The opera is based on the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The entry gives no specific plot or dramatic episodes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Danish-language comic opera by Poul Schierbeck.
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.
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.
An unperformed four-scene music drama about Galahad, one of the separately titled works in Boughton’s Arthurian cycle.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
A two-act opera based on François Mauriac’s novel Genitrix.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A fictionalized account of the Roman general Germanicus, set in Germania Inferior in 14 AD.
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 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.
A two-act opera by Giselher Klebe with a libretto by Lore Klebe, based on Émile Zola’s novel L’Assommoir.
A sixth-century Merovingian opera whose violent plot ends in a double suicide.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A two-act Italian dramma giocoso with seven named roles, including Giannina, Masino, Bernardone, Lauretta, and Captain Francone.
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.
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.
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.
A three-act opera about Gilgamesh, the Sumerian king, and Enkidu, his friend and brother, based on the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
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, 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.
Two-act Italian opera based on cantos 5 and 6 of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso through Antonio Salvi’s Ginevra, principessa di Scozia.
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.
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.
In a mythological setting, figures including Jupiter, Isis, Osiris, Diana, and Calisto appear in disguises and mistaken identities among shepherds and rulers.
On pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the Queen of Spain and her husband stop at the cottage of miller Ginès, who is about to marry Giralda. Giralda loves a knight, Don Manoël, who bribes Ginès to take his place at the altar, then flees when the royal couple arrives because he is in hiding for a political crime. Confused events leave Giralda believing she has married Ginès and an older lord, Don Japhet. Manoël returns, the Queen pardons him, and he becomes Giralda’s husband.
A two-act opera set during the California Gold Rush, inspired by Louise Clappe’s letters from a mining settlement and other period sources, including newspaper accounts and Mark Twain’s writings.
In thirteenth-century Spain, twin sisters Giroflé and Girofla are promised to different men. Pirates abduct Girofla just after Giroflé marries Marasquin, so their parents make Giroflé impersonate her sister to appease another groom. When the deception is exposed, Girofla returns and both weddings proceed.
Art student Gisela visits Naples with her German boyfriend Hanspeter and falls in love with Gennaro, a young actor playing Pulcinella. They flee to Germany, but after arriving in Oberhausen they have nowhere to stay; Gisela dreams that Hanspeter and his friends attack them as Vesuvius erupts.
Henry Février’s three-act French grand opera adapts Victorien Sardou’s 1894 play Gismonda. It premiered in Chicago with Mary Garden in the title role before its Paris staging later in 1919.
Polish king Gismondo and Lithuanian duke Primislao seek peace through the marriage of their children Otone and Cunegonda, who are already in love. When the negotiations are sabotaged, war resumes and Primislao is presumed dead. Cunegonda seeks revenge, but Otone’s sister Giuditta has secretly rescued Primislao; peace is restored.
Giuditta leaves her husband to follow Captain Octavio to North Africa, where their love is disrupted by his military obligations and desertion. She becomes a celebrated nightclub dancer; four years later they meet again, but Octavio rejects her declaration of love and leaves emotionally broken.
An Italian dramma per musica based on Luigi Da Porto’s 1530 novella and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
A two-act Italian opera based on Luigi Scevola’s tragedy and ultimately Luigi Da Porto’s novella of the Romeo and Juliet story.
Julius Caesar arrives in Egypt pursuing Pompey, whose wife Cornelia pleads for his life. Egypt’s co-ruler Tolomeo presents Caesar with Pompey’s severed head. Cornelia and her son Sesto vow revenge, while Tolomeo’s sister Cleopatra seeks Caesar’s support in taking the throne. Caesar and Cleopatra fall in love, and Caesar escapes an assassination attempt after being reported drowned. Sesto kills Tolomeo after he attempts to force himself on Cornelia. Caesar restores Cleopatra as queen of Egypt and returns to Rome.
Set in first-century Gaul during the reign of Vespasian, this opera seria concerns the triumph of conjugal love.
The opera centers on the love between Titus, son of Lucius Junius Brutus, and Tullia, daughter of the last king of Rome whom Brutus overthrew.
The ploughman Giustino rescues Princess Leocasta and is enlisted to help Empress Arianna and her husband Anastasio resist the rebel Vitaliano. He saves Arianna from a sea monster, but the jealous general Amanzio convinces Anastasio that she is unfaithful. Giustino and Arianna are banished, and Giustino learns that Vitaliano is his long-lost brother. The two defeat Amanzio, restore Anastasio, and Giustino marries Leocasta.
During Rome’s war with Alba Longa, Sabina of the Curiatii is married to Marcus Horatius, and their daughter Horatia is betrothed to Curiatius, leader of the Alban family. The kings agree to settle the conflict through a fight between three Horatii and three Curiatii. Horatia and Sabina delay the contest to consult Apollo’s oracle, which orders it to proceed. Marcus Horatius wins, killing Curiatius; when Horatia curses Rome for his death, her brother kills her.
An earlier opera staged in Naples in 1705 under this title, using a libretto revised from Giovanni Pietro Candi and Giulio Convò’s original by Silvio Stampiglia. The source does not identify its composer or give a plot summary.
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s three-act opera giocosa adapts Carlo Goldoni’s play Il ventaglio. The available text does not provide the plot.
This opera by Francesco Cavalli concerns Apollo's love for the nymph Daphne, following the account in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Two-act opera seria based on Prévot’s novel Le Renégat. The characters include Ezilda, Princess of Civenna; Leodato, Prince of Auvergne; and Agobar, commander of the Arabs. No plot summary is supplied.
Zeus tries to take the place of Amphitryon as he returns from war, hoping to approach Amphitryon’s wife Alcmene. Hera frustrates the plan by delaying the couple until morning, when Alcmene meets her real husband.
A two-act Italian opera buffa adapted from Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.
Newlyweds Casimiro and Eginia are unhappy: Eginia still loves Artidoro, who now loves Casimiro’s sister Enrichetta. Rosmondo dislikes Eginia, and Valente spreads false rumors to avenge Enrichetta’s rejection. Eginia tries to run away, but the act-two finale exposes Valente’s plot and the newlyweds agree to renew their marriage.
In fourteenth-century Siena, Guelph noblewoman Gloria falls in love with the Ghibelline captain Lionetto, and leaves the city with him. As he besieges Siena, Gloria agrees to marry him to end the conflict but refuses her brother’s demand that she kill him. At their wedding, her brother stabs Lionetto; Gloria kills herself beside him.
At a tournament, Elizabeth I reconciles Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, and Lord Mountjoy. Essex seeks permission to lead a campaign in Ireland, later becomes Lord Deputy, and eventually returns after failing to suppress the rebellion. Elizabeth’s affection for him conflicts with warnings about his political threat. Essex and his followers attempt to raise support against the Crown; after he is imprisoned in the Tower, Elizabeth signs his death warrant despite pleas for mercy, then reflects on their relationship and her mortality.
An opera composed by Kiril Makedonski, written by Venko Markovski, and dedicated to Gotse Delchev.
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