I Mori di Valenza
Set in Valencia in the early 17th century during Philip III’s expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain.
Operas
3280 shows
Clear filtersI Rantzau
A four-act Italian opera by Pietro Mascagni, based on Erckmann and Chatrian’s play Les Rantzau. The central lovers are first cousins who marry.
I Shardana
Ennio Porrino’s opera imagines a mythic tale of the Bronze Age Nuragic people of Sardinia, inspired by the island’s megalithic nuraghes. The available text does not give a fuller plot.
I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky
Set in Los Angeles after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the song play follows seven young Americans from different social and ethnic backgrounds as they react to the disaster.
I briganti
Saverio Mercadante’s three-act opera is based on Friedrich Schiller’s play Die Räuber. The available text does not describe its plot.
I cavalieri di Ekebù
An Italian opera based on Selma Lagerlöf’s novel Gösta Berling’s Saga.
I cherusci
Set amid conflict between the Marcomanni and Cherusci, the opera includes Treuta, leader of the Marcomanni; Tusnelda, a Cheruscan enslaved by him and due to be sacrificed; and Tamaro, leader of the Cherusci. Tusnelda’s adoptive father discovers that Treuta is her father.
I disingannati
A three-act comic opera based on Molière’s play Le Misanthrope.
I due Figaro, o sia Il soggetto di una commedia
A two-act comic opera and homage to Mozart, it follows Cherubino after his return from twelve years in the army. The available text does not provide further plot details.
I due Figaro, o sia Il soggetto di una commedia
At Count Almaviva’s castle near Seville, Torribio schemes to marry Inez using the assumed identity Don Alvaro, with Figaro’s help. Inez loves Cherubino, who disguises himself as another Figaro and enters the Count’s service. After misunderstandings and confrontations, Cherubino reveals that Torribio is a former servant and exposes the deception. Almaviva agrees to Inez and Cherubino’s marriage and forgives Figaro.
I due Foscari
In 1457 Venice, Jacopo Foscari, son of Doge Francesco, is tried by the Council of Ten and sentenced to further exile for murder. His wife Lucrezia pleads with the Doge to intervene, but he insists he must uphold Venetian law. Jacopo is sent away; before departure, he dies. Evidence later arrives proving his innocence, but the Council orders Francesco to surrender his office. He renounces the trappings of power and dies as the bell announces his successor.
I due timidi
One-act radio opera, also described as a commedia lirica, composed by Nino Rota to a libretto by Suso Cecchi d’Amico. The entry records its broadcast and stage history but gives no plot synopsis.
I fuorusciti di Firenze
Bandit Umberto holds Isabella prisoner, and her husband Edoardo’s attempt to rescue her fails. Isabella is ultimately revealed to be Umberto’s daughter.
I gioielli della Madonna
In Naples, Gennaro is in love with his adoptive sister Maliella. Rafaele, leader of a Camorra band, pursues Maliella and promises to steal the Madonna’s jewels for her. Gennaro warns Maliella about Rafaele, but she rejects him and prepares to leave home. Gennaro steals the jewels and brings them to her; in a trance, Maliella mistakes him for Rafaele and yields to him. When Rafaele learns what happened, he rejects her. Maliella drowns herself, and Gennaro finds a knife and stabs himself.
I giuochi d'Agrigento
Set during athletic games at ancient Agrigento, Giovanni Paisiello’s opera draws in part on Metastasio’s L’Olimpiade. The available text does not provide further plot details.
I masnadieri
Carlo Moor, the elder son of Count Massimiliano, joins a band of robbers after believing that his father has rejected him. His brother Francesco has intercepted Carlo’s plea for forgiveness and plots to inherit the estate, telling their father and Carlo’s beloved Amalia that Carlo is dead. Servant Arminio later reveals that Carlo and the Count are alive. Carlo reunites with Amalia and discovers his father, but when the robbers capture Amalia and she insists she still loves him, Carlo kills her rather than draw her into his criminal life.
I pazzi per progetto
At a Paris mental hospital, Norina and her husband Blinval pretend to be mad to test each other’s feelings after separation and jealousy. Their deceptions intersect with a trumpeter posing as a doctor and Cristina’s guardian, who wants her dowry; the farce ends with the misunderstandings resolved.
I puritani
During the English Civil War, Puritan Elvira is to marry Riccardo, but she loves the Royalist Arturo. Arturo helps the captured Queen Henrietta Maria escape on their wedding day, causing Elvira to lose her sanity. Months later Arturo returns, and their reunion restores her reason. A pardon from Oliver Cromwell saves Arturo from execution, and the lovers are reunited.
I quatro rusteghi
In eighteenth-century Venice, four curmudgeonly husbands try to keep their wives and daughters under control. The women decide to defy them by arranging for Lucieta to meet Filipeto, her intended husband, before their arranged marriage.
I riti d'Efeso
Two-act Italian dramma eroico per musica in 26 scenes.
I've Got the Tune
Composer Mr. Musiker searches for words to fit a tune, accompanied by his secretary Beetzie. They encounter an avant-garde artist, a fascist group, and a woman who attempts suicide; each gives the tune a different form. At a school field day, students adapt the melody for their own song, and Musiker recognizes that it belongs to them.
IYOV
The opera-requiem juxtaposes recitatives based on the Book of Job with parts of the Catholic Mass. It follows Job through pride and disbelief, his search for meaning, and themes of death, hope, and regret.
Ib and Little Christina
As children, Ib and Christina love each other, and a gypsy woman grants Ib three wishes. Fifteen years later Christina chooses the prosperous John, and Ib lets her go. Years afterward, Christina has died in poverty; the gypsy brings her daughter to Ib, and the two live together happily.
Idaspe
A baroque opera by Riccardo Broschi featuring the Persian king Artaserse, his brother Dario, and nephew Idaspe, along with Berenice and Mandane.
Idomeneo
After escaping a storm at sea, the Cretan king Idomeneo remembers his vow to sacrifice the first person he meets to Neptune. That person is his son Idamante, who loves the Trojan princess Ilia. Idomeneo tries to send Idamante away with Electra, but Neptune sends a sea monster to ravage Crete. Idamante kills the monster and accepts his fate; Ilia offers her life in his place. Neptune instead orders Idomeneo to abdicate in favor of Idamante and Ilia, while Electra is consumed by despair.
Idoménée
On his return from Troy, Idoménée survives a shipwreck after promising Neptune to sacrifice the first person he meets on Crete. That person is his son Idamante. As Ilione and Idamante love one another and Electre schemes against them, Idoménée struggles between his vow, jealousy, and his desire to save his son; the gods’ anger ultimately drives him to kill Idamante.
Ifigenia
Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Ifigenia to secure fair winds for the Greek fleet bound for Troy. Believing she is to marry Achilles, she arrives with her mother; after the truth is revealed, Ifigenia accepts her fate and approaches the altar, while the epilogue questions the perpetuation of war and prays for all its victims and perpetrators.
Ifigenia in Tauride
Leonardo Vinci’s five-act opera is based on the story of Iphigenia in Tauris. The available text does not provide the plot.
Ifigenia in Tauride
Tommaso Traetta’s three-act Italian opera draws on the story of Iphigenia in Tauris. Its roles include Oreste, Pilade, Ifigenia, Toante, and Dori.
Ifigenia in Tauride
Gian Francesco de Majo’s three-act opera, commissioned by Elector Palatine Carl Theodor, is a distinct setting of Ifigenia in Tauride. The available text does not provide a plot summary.
Ifigenia in Tauride
Italian opera seria based on Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris.
Ihitai 'Avei'a – Star Navigator
The opera follows Tahitian navigator and high priest Tupaia and British captain James Cook on the Endeavour’s 1769 maiden voyage. Their encounters with Tahitians and voyage to Batavia unfold amid a cultural clash between Polynesian navigation lore and Western scientific knowledge.
Il Bellerofonte
Bellerofonte, whose birthright to the throne of Corinth has been usurped, is separated from Argene because her father Ariobate considers him an unsuitable match for a princess without a kingdom. Bellerofonte proves his worth by killing the monster that demands a noble virgin as a yearly sacrifice. When news arrives that the usurper Clearco has been overthrown, Bellerofonte can reclaim Corinth and Ariobate agrees to his marriage with Argene. Briseide, who was to be sacrificed, also finds a husband.
Il Cambise
Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera with a libretto by Domenico Lalli premiered at Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples in 1719.
Il Cid della Spagna
Two-act Italian opera based on Pierre Corneille’s play Le Cid.
Il Diamante
For the wedding feast of Joanna von Stein and Jerzy Ignacy Lubomirski, Terra offers Juno a gemstone as a marriage pledge. Juno calls on Hymen and Cupid to bless the couple; Venus's final aria says that she alone can perfect their love.
Il Flaminio
An opera buffa centered on the young widow Giustina and her lover Flaminio, who disguises himself under the name Giulio.
Il Giustino
The opera follows Giustino's rise from a poor farmer to emperor.
Il Giustino
A Vivaldi setting of Nicolò Beregan’s libretto, distinct from Legrenzi’s 1683 setting and later settings by Albinoni and Handel.
Il Guarany
Set near Rio de Janeiro in 1560, the opera centers on the love between Pery, a Guarani prince, and Cecilia, daughter of a Portuguese nobleman.
Il Medonte
A three-act opera seria set among rulers and royal figures of Epirus, Argos, Dodone, and Larissa.
Il Neo
Henrique Oswald’s one-act Italian musical novelette in three tableaux adapts Alfred de Musset’s novella La mouche. The comic subject led contemporary press to describe the work as an operetta.
Il Palazzo incantato
The magician Atlante traps Christian and pagan knights and ladies in his palace of illusions. Orlando, Ferraù, and Sacripante enter searching for Angelica. Bradamante finds Ruggiero with Angelica and threatens him, but Atlante reminds Angelica that she loves Medoro. When Astolfo arrives immune to magic, Atlante persuades the captives he is their enemy. Ruggiero breaks the spell; Atlante disguises himself as Ruggiero but loses a duel to the real knight. The palace vanishes and the captives are freed.
Il Paride
A five-act opera centered on the mythological abduction of Helen by Paris.
Il Parnaso confuso
The one-act azione teatrale features Apollo, Melpomene, Erato, and Euterpe.
Il Pigmalione
Pigmalione, a king and sculptor, despairs of finding his ideal woman and creates a statue. He falls in love with it and prays for it to come alive; Venus answers his prayer.
Il Pirro e Demetrio
Demetrius seizes the Macedonian throne after murdering Alexander. He plans to invade Asia, but Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus join forces against him, joined by Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus drives Demetrius from the throne, takes his place, and is then driven away by Lysimachus.
Il Pompeo
A three-act dramma per musica by Alessandro Scarlatti using Nicolò Minato’s libretto, previously set by Francesco Cavalli in Pompeo Magno.
Il Postino
On a fictional Italian island in the 1950s, postman Mario becomes friends with exiled poet Pablo Neruda and asks for help writing poetry to court Beatrice. Mario and Beatrice marry. Inspired by Neruda, Mario records island sounds and writes political poetry; violence erupts at a communist demonstration, and he is shot. Neruda later receives Mario’s farewell recording.
Il Ruggiero
Ruggiero, missing after defending Bulgaria, returns to Paris after being rescued by Leone, the Greek emperor. Leone loves Bradamante, who vows to marry only a man who can defeat her in combat, while Ruggiero is torn between his love for her and his debt to Leone. Leone asks Ruggiero to fight Bradamante in disguise. After Leone wins the contest, Bradamante believes she has lost Ruggiero, but Leone reveals Ruggiero’s sacrifice and confesses that he had already pledged his heart to Clotilde. Emperor Carlo blesses both couples: Ruggiero and Bradamante, and Clotilde and Leone.
Il Sant'Alessio
Saint Alexius returns to Rome disguised as a beggar and secretly lives in poverty beneath his father’s house. He resists the Devil’s temptations with an angel’s help; after his death, a letter reveals his identity to his family.
Il Telemaco nell’isola di Calipso
An opera by Fernando Sor based on the story of Telemachus on the island of Calypso.
Il Trespolo tutore
Artemisia loves her tutor Trespolo, who is too dull to notice and instead loves the servant Despina. Brothers Ciro and Nino also love Artemisia; one goes mad while the other is cured of insanity. After the farcical complications, Trespolo marries Despina and Artemisia marries Ciro.
Il Trionfo di Camilla, regina de' Volsci
Camilla, heir to the Volsci throne, hides as a shepherdess while plotting against the usurper Latinus. Prenesto falls in love with her after she saves him from a boar. Lavinia hides her lover Turnus, and their political conflicts unfold alongside Camilla’s effort to reclaim the throne. The opera ends with marriage between Camilla and Prenesto, reconciling their rival families.
Il Vologeso
A setting of the Vologeso story in which the Parthian king, deposed by Lucio Vero, is restored by Flavio.
Il Xerse
This Italian dramma per musica concerns Xerxes I. Its libretto draws on Book 7 of Herodotus's Histories and is more directly based on Raffaele Tauro's comedy L'ingelosite speranze, itself adapted from Lope de Vega's Lo cierto por lo dudoso.
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Comic opera based on Beaumarchais’s play Le Barbier de Séville; this entry does not supply a plot summary.
Il barone di Trocchia
A two-act Italian intermezzo with four named characters: Fulvia, Luigi, Cilla Panarella, and Nardone.
Il borgomastro di Saardam
Peter the Great works incognito as a carpenter in Saardam alongside the Russian defector Flimann, who hopes to marry the mayor’s daughter Marietta. The mayor mistakes Flimann for the Tsar. When Peter is called home to suppress a revolt, he reveals his identity and grants Flimann a title that enables him to marry Marietta.
Il bravo
Carlo becomes an assassin in the service of Venice to save his father's life. Ordered to kill Teodora, he recognizes his former wife, whom he once tried to kill after mistakenly believing she betrayed him. Foscari loves Teodora and later her daughter Violetta, who loves the exiled patrician Pisani. The lovers escape. Teodora kills herself in an attempt to save Carlo's father, but Carlo discovers that his father is already dead.
Il burbero di buon cuore
Ferramondo, a wealthy and bad-tempered old man, lives with his niece Angelica and nephew Giocondo. Angelica loves Valerio, but Giocondo’s wife Lucilla has spent the money needed for Angelica’s dowry. Giocondo proposes that Angelica enter a convent, while Ferramondo considers arranging her marriage to his friend Dorval. Misunderstandings about Angelica and Valerio fuel Ferramondo’s suspicions. Eventually Giocondo admits that Lucilla’s spending depleted their funds, and Ferramondo agrees to pay the dowry, let Lucilla stay in the household, and allow Angelica to marry Valerio.
Il campanello
On the night of his wedding, apothecary Don Annibale is repeatedly called to the door by Serafina’s cousin Enrico, disguised as a series of patients. Enrico’s interruptions keep the groom from his bride until dawn, when Annibale must leave for Rome to attend to his aunt’s will.
Il campiello
In a small Venetian square in the mid-eighteenth century, visiting Neapolitan gentleman Astolfi flirts with several women, provoking jealousy among their suitors. Haberdasher Anzoleto and Luçieta plan to marry, though their relationship is marked by quarrels. Gasparina’s uncle Fabrizio discovers that Astolfi is bankrupt and that he himself is a lottery winner; Astolfi asks to marry Gasparina. As Anzoleto and Luçieta’s neighbors quarrel, Astolfi invites them all to dinner and announces that he and Gasparina will marry and leave Venice.
Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
On his wedding day, Fadinard’s horse eats a straw hat belonging to Anaide, whose jealous husband will punish her if she returns without it. Fadinard and his wedding party search across Paris, causing misunderstandings and chaotic encounters while pursuing a replacement. His deaf uncle’s wedding gift turns out to be the needed hat, and Anaide returns home reconciled with her husband as Fadinard’s marriage finally proceeds.
Il caso Mortara
A two-act opera inspired by David Kertzer’s account of the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Its characters include Edgardo and his parents, Salomone and Marianna Mortara, Pope Pius IX, and Inquisitor Feletti.
Il castello di Kenilworth
Queen Elizabeth plans to visit Leicester’s castle, but he hides his new bride Amelia to avoid the Queen’s anger. Amelia escapes and reveals her troubles; Leicester confesses the marriage, and the Queen dismisses him. Warney plots against Amelia, but Fanny thwarts his attempt to poison her. Elizabeth arrests Warney, pardons Leicester and Amelia, and approves their marriage.
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Christian knight Tancredi and Saracen Clorinda, who are lovers, meet in battle without recognizing one another because their faces are covered by armor. Tancredi mortally wounds Clorinda and learns her identity only after removing her helmet. He baptizes her before she dies, and she sees Heaven open. A narrator recounts most of the action, while the combatants also act.
Il convitato di pietra
Don Giovanni is rescued from drowning and seduces the fisherwoman Elisa, then attempts to seduce Donna Anna and kills her father, the Commendatore. Later, the Commendatore’s statue appears at Don Giovanni’s supper and demands repentance; Don Giovanni refuses and is condemned to the abyss.
Il corsaro
The corsair Corrado leaves his island to attack the Pasha Seid, leaving his lover Medora behind. After rescuing Gulnara and the harem women from a fire, Corrado is captured. Gulnara kills Seid and helps him escape. They return to the island, where Medora, believing Corrado dead, has taken poison. She dies after they reunite, and Corrado leaps from a cliff.
Il crociato in Egitto
During the Sixth Crusade, Armando, a presumed-dead Knight of Rhodes living under an assumed name, has secretly married the Sultan’s daughter Palmide, who has borne him a son and converted to Christianity. Their identities are exposed, and Christian prisoners face death. Armando uncovers the vizier Osmino’s plot, kills him, and secures peace and reunion with Palmide.
Il curioso indiscreto
Curious Marchese Calandrano, betrothed to Clorinda, asks Count Ripaverde to test her fidelity. Ripaverde and Clorinda fall in love; Aurelio consoles Calandrano’s niece Emilia and they fall in love, as do maid Serpina and steward Prospero. Three couples celebrate together, while Calandrano is left without a fiancée.
Il diluvio universale
An opera by Gaetano Donizetti depicting the biblical story of Noah and the great flood.
Il dottor Antonio
The opera adapts Giovanni Ruffini’s 1855 nationalist novel Doctor Antonio.
Il falegname di Livonia
Carlo, a carpenter in Livonia, loves Annetta. The visiting Tsar Peter and his wife Catherine discover that Carlo is Catherine’s long-lost brother. Once Carlo learns their identities, he introduces Annetta, whose father was a rebel, but Peter pardons her. Peter exposes the pretentious magistrate, and the imperial couple depart with Carlo and Annetta for St Petersburg.
Il figlio delle selve
Ignaz Holzbauer’s three-act opera was commissioned by Elector Carl Theodor for the opening of the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen in June 1753.
Il filosofo di campagna
Tritemio wants his daughter Eugenia to marry the wealthy farmer Nardo, though she loves Rinaldo. To keep Nardo away, housemaid Lesbina impersonates Eugenia, and Nardo falls in love with her. When he learns who she is, he accepts her; Lesbina arranges a double wedding for herself and Nardo and for Eugenia and Rinaldo, while Tritemio marries Nardo’s niece Lena.
Il finto astrologo
A two-act intermezzo for four characters, derived with modifications from Goldoni’s Il mondo della luna. Its first-act finale depicts Buonafede’s imaginary journey to the Moon.
Il fortunato inganno
The opera company director Lattanzio’s niece Eugenia loves cavalry lieutenant Edoardo, but his uncle refuses to let him marry an actress. Lattanzio’s wife Aurelia pretends to be a countess and deceives the colonel into approving the match. He discovers the trick but ultimately consents.
Il furioso all’isola di San Domingo
After Eleonora’s infidelity drives Cardenio to madness and exile on a Caribbean island, she is shipwrecked there and tries to reconcile with him. When Cardenio again mistakes her intentions and attempts suicide, his brother rescues him; seeing Eleonora ready to die rather than harm him, he forgives her and they reunite.
Il giovedì grasso
Nina and Teodoro love each other, but Nina is promised to Ernesto. Sigismondo and Camilla plot to frighten Ernesto away; he learns of their scheme and turns it against them. He finally agrees to Nina and Teodoro’s marriage, and Sigismondo renounces jealousy.
Il giuramento
Bianca is forced to marry Count Manfredo despite secretly loving a knight. Elaisa arrives in search of her benefactor’s daughter, accompanied by Viscardo. Brunoro reveals that Viscardo is Bianca’s beloved. Manfredo suspects Bianca and locks her in the family tomb, intending to poison her, but Elaisa substitutes a strong narcotic. Believing Bianca dead, Viscardo stabs Elaisa just as Bianca wakes.
Il gran Tamerlano
After capturing Bajazette and his daughter Asteria, Tamerlano falls in love with her and offers Andronico a kingdom if he can secure Bajazette’s consent to their marriage. Asteria feigns affection to save her father, then attempts to poison Tamerlano. Irene saves him, and Tamerlano allows Asteria and Andronico to marry; Bajazette takes the poison himself.
Il grillo del focolare
Riccardo Zandonai’s three-act opera adapts Charles Dickens’s The Cricket on the Hearth. Its characters include carrier John Peerybingle and his wife Dot, toymakers Caleb Plummer and Tackleton, and the Plummer family.
Il maestro di cappella
A one-act monodrama in which a pompous music director rehearses an orchestra, frequently imitating the instruments.
Il matrimonio segreto
Paolino and Carolina are secretly married in the household of her father Geronimo. Paolino tries to arrange a match between Count Robinson and Carolina’s sister Elisetta, but Robinson is drawn to Carolina instead. After a series of misunderstandings, Paolino and Carolina reveal their marriage; the family forgives them, while Robinson and Elisetta agree to marry.
Il mondo della luna
The three-act dramma giocoso features would-be astrologer Ecclitico, credulous Buonafede, his daughters Flaminia and Clarice, maid Lisetta, Ernesto, and Ernesto’s servant Cecco.
Il mondo della luna
Opera by Pedro António Avondano using Carlo Goldoni’s libretto, originally written for Baldassare Galuppi’s 1750 setting. The source does not provide a plot synopsis.
Il mondo della luna
The astrologer Ecclitico tricks the wealthy Buonafede into believing he has traveled to the Moon. There Buonafede is manipulated into consenting to marriages between his daughters and their chosen partners; once the deception is exposed, he relents and the couples celebrate.
Il novello Giasone
A revised Roman version of Cavalli’s Giasone, with musical additions and changes by Alessandro Stradella and a revised libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni. A distinct plot summary is not provided.
Il padiglione delle meraviglie
A two-part comic opera whose protagonist is Tiberio.
Il paria
In Benares, Idamore, a warrior leader who is secretly a Pariah, loves Neala, daughter of Brahmin high priest Akebare. Idamore plans to marry Neala and flee, but his father Zarete arrives and demands equality for Pariahs. When Idamore reveals his origins, Akebare sentences both men to death; Neala joins them, while Akebare rejoices at the prospect of taking the empire.
Il pastor fido
In Arcadia, Amarilli is expected to marry the hunter Silvio to appease Diana, though she loves Mirtillo. Eurilla tricks the lovers into a compromising situation so Amarilli will be condemned, but Diana’s priest reveals that Mirtillo is of divine parentage. The threatened sacrifice is canceled, and Mirtillo and Amarilli, as well as Silvio and Dorinda, are joined in marriage.
Il pesceballo
A one-act comic opera pasticcio for a small cast, assembled from famous melodies by Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, and Rossini, with new recitatives and choruses. It was written for amateur performers and presented as a benefit work.
Il piccolo Marat
During the French Reign of Terror, Prince Jean-Charles, disguised as the Little Marat, discovers that his mother, the Princess of Fleury, is imprisoned. He enlists Mariella and a carpenter to forge safe-conducts and arrange a boat for their escape. The Little Marat is shot while restraining the corrupt Orc, but the carpenter kills the Orc, and the Little Marat and Mariella escape to free his mother.
Il pirata
Shipwrecked pirate Gualtiero arrives near the castle of Ernesto, who married Gualtiero’s former beloved Imogene under threat to her father. Imogene shelters the strangers but hides her recognition of Gualtiero. The former lovers meet and declare that they still love each other, while Ernesto discovers them and challenges Gualtiero. Ernesto dies in their fight, and Gualtiero gives himself up to the knights; Imogene descends into madness as he is sentenced to death.
Il pomo d'oro
The gods ask Trojan prince Paris to judge which of Venus, Juno, and Pallas is fairest and should receive the Golden Apple of Discord. Paris chooses Venus. The rejected goddesses seek revenge until Jupiter ends the conflict and awards the apple to Empress Margaret Theresa.
Il prigionier superbo
Metalce overthrows Sostrate and seeks to marry Ericlea while promising Sostrate’s daughter Rosmene to Viridate. Jealous rivalries lead to death sentences and battle, but Sostrate regains his throne, Ericlea accepts a repentant Metalce, and Viridate learns Rosmene acted under duress.
Il prigioniero
A prisoner regains hope when his jailer suggests that revolt in Flanders may bring freedom. He escapes through the prison and emerges into a garden, where the Grand Inquisitor reveals that the apparent escape was another deception; the prisoner wonders whether true freedom awaits him at the stake.
Il proscritto
Otto Nicolai’s opera was first performed in Italian as Il proscritto, with a German reworking titled Die Heimkehr des Verbannten premiered in 1844.
Il proscritto
In 17th-century Scotland under Cromwell, Malvina’s Royalist husband Giorgio was believed dead after a shipwreck. Her mother and half-brother encourage her to marry the Cromwellian Arturo, and the opera opens on their planned wedding day.
Il rapimento di Cefalo
Early Italian opera about the classical myth of Cephalus and Aurora. Most of the score is lost.
Il ratto della sposa
Gaudenzio is a spendthrift. His sister Aurora is in love with Gentilino, while Donna Ortensia has designs on her employee and her maid Dorina is attracted to Gaudenzio.
Il re
Rosalina is engaged to Colombello, but after seeing the King in his regal splendor she falls in love with him and breaks off the engagement. When she meets the King privately and sees him without his crown or clothes, her infatuation ends and she returns to Colombello.
Il re Teodoro in Venezia
Giovanni Paisiello’s comic opera with a libretto by Giovanni Battista Casti premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1784.
Il re pastore
The opera features Alessandro, king of Macedonia; Aminta, a shepherd and rightful heir to Sidon; Elisa, a noble nymph; Tamiri, a fugitive princess; and Agenore, a Sidonian nobleman.
Il re pastore
Alessandro seeks the rightful heir to Sidon and discovers that the shepherd Aminta is its king. Aminta and Elisa love one another, while Alessandro proposes political marriages that would separate them and Tamiri from Agenore; after hearing the couples plead, he relents, allows both couples to marry, and crowns Aminta.
Il ricco d’un giorno
A three-act Italian dramma giocoso by Antonio Salieri, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after an earlier work by Giovanni Bertati.
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria
After the Trojan War, Ulisse returns to Ithaca, where Penelope remains beset by suitors. With Minerva’s help he disguises himself, reunites with his son Telemaco, defeats the suitors, and at last convinces Penelope of his identity.
Il ritorno di Don Calandrino
Don Calandrino, son of the podestà of Monte Secco, pretends to know everything but cannot reason well. Livietta, a wealthy peasant girl, tries to behave like a lady; Monsieur Le Blonde boasts of places he does not know; and Irene is simple and humble. After various turns, Don Calandrino pairs with Livietta, while Le Blonde pairs with Irene.
Il segreto di Susanna
Count Gil suspects his wife Susanna is having an affair when he smells tobacco in their home. Susanna admits a secret but withholds it, and Gil searches the house. After he returns repeatedly, he catches her smoking with their servant Sante; they reconcile and smoke together.
Il signor Bruschino
Sofia and Florville are in love, but her guardian Gaudenzio has arranged her marriage to Bruschino junior, whom she has never met. When the young man is detained at an inn over an unpaid bill, Florville takes his place. Bruschino senior arrives, but after a series of complications he accepts Florville as his son and Sofia’s husband.
Il signor Fagotto
Bertolucci plans to marry his daughter Clorinda to the antiquities dealer Caramello, although she loves her music tutor Fabricio. Bertolucci’s servant Bacòlo disguises himself as the admired composer Signor Fagotto, praises Fabricio’s music and wins Bertolucci’s approval; the deception is exposed, but both Clorinda and Bacòlo find partners.
Il sogno di Scipione
In a dream, Fortuna and Constanza offer to guide Scipio through life, but he must choose between worldly power and steadfast virtue. In the Temple of Heaven, he meets ancestral heroes and learns that he must return to Earth for a mission. He chooses Constanza, withstands Fortuna’s storm, and awakens; Licenza praises the choice and the work’s dedicatee, Archbishop Colloredo.
Il tabarro
As stevedores unload Michele’s barge on the Seine, his wife Giorgetta grows close to Luigi, a stevedore. Michele refuses her request to bring wine to the workers and becomes increasingly estranged from her. Luigi asks to be dismissed but later admits that he and Giorgetta plan to meet after dark and escape together. Michele remembers their dead child and the days when he could shelter his wife beneath his cloak. Suspecting her infidelity, he lights his pipe; Luigi mistakes the glow for Giorgetta’s signal and returns to the barge. Michele confronts him, forces him to confess the affair, strangles him, and hides his body under his cloak. When Giorgetta returns, Michele reveals Luigi’s body.
Il templario
In Scott’s Ivanhoe story, Vilfredo loves Ravena, while Rebecca falls in love with the wounded Vilfredo she nursed. The Templar Briano abducts Rebecca and she is condemned to die unless a champion defends her. Vilfredo defeats Briano, who is killed by a bolt from heaven; Rebecca confesses her love to Vilfredo, then dies when he tells her they cannot be together.
Il trionfo d'amore
For a celebration of King João V’s name-day, this pastoral serenata tells of Nerina’s planned marriage to Adraste. The gods frustrate the arrangement because Nerina loves Arsindo more.
Il trionfo dell’onore
Riccardo Albenori, a dissolute young man, flees to Pisa with his soldier friend after trouble in Lucca, where he seduced Leonora and then pursued Doralice. Leonora and Doralice both follow him. Leonora’s brother Erminio arrives and vows revenge. Riccardo plans to elope with Doralice, but Erminio challenges him to a duel. Wounded, Riccardo repents his former life and accepts Leonora’s hand in marriage.
Il trionfo di Clelia
The opera concerns the siege of Rome by Etruscan king Porsenna, who seeks to restore the monarchy, and Roman hostage Clelia, whose intended husband is republican ambassador Orazio.
Il trionfo di Clelia
During a siege of Rome, hostage Clelia rejects Tarquinio’s advances and uncovers his treacherous attack. After escaping across the Tiber, she exposes his guilt to King Porsenna, who makes peace with Rome and frees her.
Il trittico
A cycle of three one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini: Il tabarro, set on a barge on the Seine; Suor Angelica, set at a convent near Siena; and Gianni Schicchi, set in Florence. The works are linked by their treatment of the concealment of a death and contrast in tone, from dark drama to religious redemption and farce.
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