3280 shows
Clear filtersAt the wedding celebration of Margherita de’ Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Hymen presents the story of Chloris and Zephyrus. The gods arrange their union, but Cupid’s jealousy and Pan’s false accusation separate them, bringing storms to Tuscany. The truth is restored, spring returns, and Zephyrus transforms Chloris into Flora, goddess of flowers; Apollo celebrates Florence in the finale.
In 17th-century Venice, the singer Gioconda loves Enzo, who has returned in disguise to elope with Laura, his former fiancée. The spy Barnaba exposes their plans to Laura’s husband Alvise, but Gioconda saves Laura after recognizing that she once protected Gioconda’s blind mother. Gioconda later replaces the poison Alvise gives Laura with a drug that makes her appear dead. When Enzo and Laura escape together, Gioconda faces Barnaba and stabs herself; he then reveals that he has drowned her mother.
In Constance in 1414, Jewish goldsmith Eléazar has raised Rachel as his daughter. She falls in love with Prince Léopold, who is secretly a Christian and already married to Princess Eudoxie. When Eléazar and Rachel discover Léopold’s identity, they are arrested alongside him. At first Cardinal Brogni offers to spare them if they convert, but Eléazar refuses. He reveals that Rachel is not his biological daughter and that Brogni’s infant daughter survived the fire that destroyed his home years earlier. Eléazar can save Rachel by disclosing that she is Christian, but she refuses to convert. At the gallows, Eléazar tells Brogni that Rachel is his daughter and points to the boiling cauldron where she is to die. Eléazar and Rachel are executed.
Governor Fernando Bustamante confronts corruption in the colonial treasury and imprisons Auditor Torralba. Clergy and officials conspire against him, and Luisa witnesses the murder of her husband and son. Grief transforms her into La Loba Negra, who begins killing friars in revenge. She later joins rebel leader Macatangay, turning her vengeance toward the liberation of the country; before her death, she blesses a future in which the struggle continues.
Juana is passionately devoted to her husband Philip, who is unfaithful and pressures her to surrender her claim to the Spanish throne. After Philip dies, she travels with his body to Spain and sings to him. Her father Fernando tries to take the kingdom; when she refuses, he confines her in a convent and separates her from all but daughter Catalina. Later her son Carlos demands her abdication; she again refuses, and he removes Catalina and boards up her cell window. After 46 years of confinement, dying Juana is comforted by priest Miguel.
Polish princess Lodoiska loves Lovinski, but Boleslao, who is charged with her care, wants to marry her and refuses to release her. He imprisons Lovinski and Lodoiska’s father and plots the lovers’ deaths, but Tartar prince Giskano rescues them in gratitude to Lovinski.
Camille Erlanger’s first opera adapts Gustave Flaubert’s story of Saint Julien l’Hospitalier. The available text does not provide the plot.
In sixteenth-century Flanders, Marjolaine marries the wealthy Baron Van der Boom after her former lover Frickel has been away for years. Annibal, leader of a group of predatory bachelors, conspires to discredit her by trapping Frickel in her bedroom. The Baron loses a wager and his fortune. Later, after learning Annibal deceived him, the Baron cannot prevent the divorce. Marjolaine rejects both the Baron and Annibal, chooses Frickel, and claims true virtue as her prize.
The opera seria's characters include Merope, the widowed queen of Messene, her son Epitide, and Polifonte, a tyrant of Messene.
La Mère coupable is a three-act opera by Darius Milhaud, with a libretto by Madeleine Milhaud. It is based on Beaumarchais' 1792 play of the same name, the third work in his Figaro trilogy.
Anita offers to assassinate an enemy commander to earn the dowry demanded by her beloved Araquil’s father. She succeeds, but Araquil dies before learning why she went to the enemy camp; on discovering the truth, he dies, and Anita loses her sanity.
A three-act opera seria featuring Amasi, king of Egypt; his son Sammete; the shepherdess Beroe; princess Nitteti; and Amenofi, ruler of Cyrene.
An experimental chamber mystery play structured as scenes rather than a coherent narrative. A mezzo-soprano portrays Justine and Juliette, figures from de Sade’s novels, while instrumentalists also act and sing.
San Carlo, secretly married to Graziella, hides her identity from the jealous Podestà of Bergamo, who once caught him with his own wife. At court, a chain of mistaken identities leads Rodolpho to believe he can seduce Graziella in revenge; after learning the truth and being persuaded to release the group, he lets the couple go, briefly making San Carlo fear that Graziella’s honor was the price.
Princess Liana inherits her father’s castle, but banker Pilade plans to sell it. Pilade’s son Wilfredo loves Liana, while his former lover, the Golden Scarab, seeks reconciliation. Liana goes to Monte Carlo with her aunt Clotilde, where they lose their winnings and agree to join Zozó’s circus. Pilade disinherits Wilfredo and says he will marry Lulú, but Lulú tells Liana that Wilfredo remained devoted to her. Liana’s equestrian act succeeds, and she and Wilfredo reunite after the Golden Scarab reveals her schemes.
A three-act comedy with ariettes inspired by the rosière festival tradition of the French village of Salency. André Grétry later presented a new version with a reworked libretto in 1774.
Leonardo Vinci’s 1725 opera setting of Silvio Stampiglia’s Partenope libretto, based largely on Domenico Sarro’s earlier setting and incorporating new arias by Vinci.
Emperor Alessandro’s mother Giulia grows jealous of his wife Salustia and plots against her. Salustia protects Giulia from two murder attempts by her father Marziano, who is arrested and sentenced to fight a wild beast; Salustia secures his pardon. Meanwhile Albina and Claudio reconcile and marry.
The three-act opera is based on Pietro Metastasio’s libretto Semiramide riconosciuta.
A three-act Italian pastoral opera. The source provides no plot summary.
The opera adapts Victorien Sardou’s play La Sorcière. The entry does not describe its plot.
Spinalba disguises herself as a man to discover whether her unfaithful lover Ippolito still cares for her. Her father Arsenio’s delusions create confusion, while her cousin Elisa falls for the disguised Spinalba; eventually the disguise is revealed, Arsenio recovers, and the lovers pair off.
Statira and Barsimo compete for the throne of Persia.
Amid the ruins of Mycenae, archaeologist Léonard, his sister Hebé, colleague Alexandre, and Alexandre’s wife Anne are caught in a web of lives and loves.
A distinct musical setting of Pietro Metastasio’s Siface re di Numidia libretto by Michelangelo Valentini. Performed during the 1761 Carnival at Teatro Omodeo, Pavia. The source provides no version-specific plot description.
Wally loves the hunter Giuseppe Hagenbach, but her father orders her to marry Vincenzo Gellner or leave home. After her father dies, Wally learns that Hagenbach is engaged to the innkeeper Afra. When Hagenbach wins a bet to kiss Wally, she becomes furious and orders Gellner to kill him. Gellner throws Hagenbach into a ravine, but Wally rescues him. Later, in the Alps, Hagenbach returns and confesses his love. As he seeks a safe path down the mountain, his call triggers an avalanche that carries him away. Wally throws herself from the precipice.
A three-act opéra comique by Daniel Auber and Eugène Scribe. The entry does not describe its plot.
Arrigo returns to Milan after being presumed dead and finds that Lida, his former love, has married his friend Rolando. Arrigo joins the Knights of Death to fight the German emperor Federico Barbarossa. When Rolando discovers Lida’s note to Arrigo, he locks the pair in a tower to keep Arrigo from battle. Arrigo escapes and fights; after the Lombard League’s victory, he dies after assuring Rolando that Lida was faithful.
The opera is based on Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty and features a princess, prince, king, queen, fairies, and other fairy-tale characters.
A French opéra comique, first presented in three acts and later revised into four.
In Paris, the poet Rodolfo meets Mimì, a seamstress, and they fall in love. They join his fellow bohemian artists at Café Momus, where Marcello reunites with Musetta. Later, Rodolfo and Mimì separate because he fears her illness will worsen in poverty, but they agree to stay together through the winter. When Mimì returns gravely ill, the friends try to comfort her; she dies in the garret as Rodolfo mourns.
In Paris, innkeeper Gaudenzio tries to evict the Bohemians, who cannot pay their bill, until Barbemuche pays for them. After Musette’s lover stops paying her debts, her furniture is seized, and the Bohemians gather in her courtyard, where a quarrel with the neighbors becomes a fight. Musette decides to leave Marcello, while Mimì leaves Rodolfo for Count Paul but later returns. In Rodolfo’s garret, Mimì arrives near death. Musette sells her jewels to buy fuel, but Mimì dies as the Christmas chimes sound.
Dorothée is tired of nannying and hopes marriage will make her mistress of her own home. While her employers are out, the fireman Mitouflard and chimney sweep Gargaillou both court her, leading to comic complications. She chooses Brin d’Amour, a trumpeter in the Royal Dragoons, and invites both suitors to the wedding.
Cecchina, a maid, is loved by the Marquis of Conchiglia, but their match is opposed because of her apparent social status. After jealous rivals and a succession of complications, a German soldier reveals that Cecchina is a baron’s daughter, allowing the couple to marry.
The two-act dramma per musica concerns the fall of the giants.
English merchant Tobias Mill arranges a marriage contract between his daughter Fanny and Canadian businessman Slook. Fanny is secretly in love with the poor Edoardo, and she rejects Slook when he arrives. Edoardo joins her in threatening Slook, who retreats. Learning that Fanny is already in love and that Mill is treating the marriage like a business deal, Slook refuses to go through with the contract. Mill challenges him to a duel. Slook discovers Fanny and Edoardo embracing, hears their situation and promises to make Edoardo his heir so they can marry. Before the duel, Slook secretly replaces Mill’s pistol with a peace pipe. With the household pleading for an end to Mill’s financial pretensions, Slook persuades him to consent to the marriage.
When the Faun throws Enrico’s church bell into a lake, the bell maker despairs. Elf Rautendelein enters the human world and restores his strength. They fall in love, and Enrico abandons his wife Magda, who kills herself by jumping into the lake. Hearing the bell ring underwater, Enrico rejects Rautendelein. She becomes Ondino’s wife; later, as Enrico is dying, she visits him once more and kisses him.
The singer Gasparina and her mother Apollonia take advantage of two suitors: Don Ettore, who courts Gasparina with stolen gifts, and Don Pelagio, her singing teacher and benefactor. The men discover the deception and threaten to evict the women. Gasparina persuades Don Pelagio to forgive them, then feigns a faint to secure more money and jewels. The men recognize her greed but still hand over their riches.
Over one day in a villa near Naples, the vain Ciprigna makes life miserable for her husband Bonario, his children, and their servants. Fiuta, Bonario's major domo, devises a series of schemes to curb her behavior. Ciprigna flirts with Lelio, who loves Isabella, and later plans to have Isabella abducted. Fiuta disguises himself as an ambassador who promises Ciprigna an imaginary kingdom. After being locked out in a storm, she asks forgiveness and agrees to change; the family reconciles.
On a caravan to Cairo, Saint-Phar wins his freedom by helping the slave trader Husca repel an attack, but Husca keeps Saint-Phar’s wife Zélime enslaved. The Pasha buys her for his harem, and Saint-Phar attempts to rescue her. The Pasha’s guest Florestan discovers that Saint-Phar is his lost son, and the Pasha releases the couple so the family can reunite.
Callisto uses an allegedly haunted house for smuggling and keeps the orphan Annetta there, hoping to marry her. The owner, Don Raimondo, offers the house rent-free to a poor tenant, and poet Eutichio arrives with his jealous wife. Disguises and mistaken identities expose Callisto’s schemes. Raimondo and Annetta agree to marry, while Eutichio and his wife reconcile.
Spanish-language opera by Gustavo Díaz-Jerez based on Pilar Mateos’s short story of the same title.
Adone flees from Mars and takes refuge in the realm of the enchantress Falsirena. She falls in love with him and keeps him captive with an invisible magic chain, then disguises herself as Venere to discover whom he loves. The real goddess arrives, frees Adone, and binds Falsirena to a rock with her own chain.
Alvar plans to elope with Léonore, but a coach accident delays him. Her fiancé, who is Alvar's friend, offers him a sedan chair. Meanwhile, Gil Blas robs Léonore's uncle Ambrosio. In a robbers' cavern, Gil Blas frees the kidnapped Léonore, and she and her rescuers escape. In the forest, the characters reunite amid gunshots, and the story ends to everyone's satisfaction.
Gil Blas is captured by robber Rolando’s band and held in their cavern with noblewoman Séraphine. Her husband is captured while searching for her in disguise. Rolando repents and discovers he is Séraphine’s brother. Gil Blas escapes and returns with a rescue party, who free the prisoners.
In Renaissance Florence, Giannetto engineers an elaborate revenge on Neri and Gabriello after they humiliate him and Neri takes his mistress Ginevra. Neri is driven to genuine madness; believing Gabriello is Giannetto, he kills both Gabriello and Ginevra, then realizes the truth.
The elderly lawyer Fortunio suspects his young wife Laurette of an affair with his clerk Valentin and plans to dismiss him. When the clerks sing the old song Fortunio once used to seduce his employer’s wife, Fortunio recognizes his own hypocrisy. The song then magically wins new girlfriends for the clerks.
Guido’s cat Minette is transformed into a woman by the conjurer Dig-Dig, who claims she contains a beautiful young woman’s soul. Minette behaves like a cat and repeatedly threatens to leave; Dig-Dig and Marianne eventually reveal that Minette is Guido’s cousin and Dig-Dig is his uncle’s intendant, prompting Guido to reconsider marriage.
Roderick Usher lives in his crumbling ancestral home with his twin sister Madeline and her doctor. Roderick’s friend arrives. After Madeline is found dead and buried in a vault, the friend reads Roderick a medieval tale as a storm rises. At its climax, Madeline appears bloodied: she was buried alive and drags her brother to his death. The house collapses as the friend escapes. Debussy’s version heightens Roderick’s incestuous feelings and makes the doctor, his rival for Madeline, more sinister.
Scottish lord Fideling searches for a lost noblewoman he once loved. Mayor’s daughter Lisotta is betrothed to Sandrino but believes she is the woman he seeks, while shepherdess Eurilla loves Fideling; Eurilla’s noble birth is revealed, and she and Fideling reunite.
In eighteenth-century Flanders, prudent Charlotte and impulsive Thérèse are cousins. Thérèse leaves the village for Bruges, becomes a florist and then an opera singer under a duke’s patronage. She discovers that the duke and Frantz have used her as cover for their affair with the duchess. Thérèse publicly exposes the deception and leaves the city. Months later, she returns exhausted and dreams that her family rejects her; they find and comfort her. Frantz’s love proves sincere, and Thérèse accepts his proposal.
Lieutenant Alexis Zouboff once escaped a Russian general’s advances by disguising himself as Prascovia. When he revives the disguise during an amateur play, he is captured with Olga by a Circassian sultan, but the sultan’s other wives help them escape. Back in Moscow, Alexis wins Olga’s hand, while their friend Lanskoi invents letters that convince Orsakoff that Prascovia has died for love of him.
Antonio Caldara’s original setting of Metastasio’s libretto La clemenza di Tito, featuring the Roman emperor Tito and the characters Sesto, Annio, Vitellia, Servilia, and Publio.
Set in Rome in 79 AD, Vitellia persuades Sextus, who loves her, to join a plot to assassinate Emperor Titus. The Capitol burns, but Titus survives. Sextus is exposed and condemned by the Senate; Titus tears up the death sentence. Vitellia confesses her role, and Titus pardons the conspirators, including her, and grants a double wedding for Sextus and Vitellia and for Annius and Servilia.
Vitellia plots revenge against Emperor Tito by persuading Sesto to assassinate him. The conspiracy fails, and the Senate condemns Sesto, but Tito tears up the death warrant and extends clemency to both Sesto and Vitellia after she confesses; marriages unite the two couples.
Vitellia, daughter of a deposed emperor, seeks revenge against Tito and persuades Sesto, who loves her, to join a plot against him. Sesto takes part in an attack on the Capitol, believing Tito has been killed, but the emperor survives. The Senate condemns Sesto, and Tito initially accepts the verdict. After wrestling with the decision, Tito destroys the execution warrant and chooses mercy. Vitellia confesses that she instigated the plot; Tito pardons her as well as Sesto, and the people praise his generosity.
A two-act Italian opera buffa, originally an intermezzo for four roles, composed by Antonio Sacchini to a libretto by Niccolò Tassi.
Princess Atalanta decides to free Kalydon from the Calydonian boar. She wounds it so Prince Meleagro can kill it, then insists he receive the credit. They ultimately dedicate the honor to Diana.
An Italian dramma per musica by Antonio Vivaldi, revived in 1718 under the title Artabano, re de’ Parti.
A widowed Countess enjoys the attention of twelve suitors, while her sister the Baroness disapproves. When the Countess’s engagement to the Commander is revealed, he and a new Chevalier challenge each other to a duel; the Countess keeps each suitor hoping until the Commander and Chevalier instead turn toward the Baroness, then accepts the Commander herself.
Henrique Oswald’s first opera is a three-act Italian work whose 237-page manuscript score contains recitatives, arias, duets, quartets, choruses, and intermezzi.
In 1685, sea-captain Adhémar plans to marry his ward Antoinette to his nephew René, though Antoinette loves the lawyer Frontignac and René longs for Dora, a Creole girl he met in Guadeloupe. When Adhémar returns with Dora, Antoinette and René pretend to be married to conceal their own arrangements. A letter aboard ship leads Adhémar to permit René and Dora to wed.
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s three-act commedia lirica adapts Lope de Vega’s 1613 play La dama boba. The available text does not provide the plot.
In Scotland, Anna disguises herself as the White Lady to protect the Avenel estate from steward Gaveston. She guides the English officer Georges Brown to buy the estate at auction and later discovers he is the missing Julien Avenel. With the Avenel treasure revealed, Julien and Anna are reunited.
At sunset shepherd Tirsi bids farewell to Nice, who is leaving to dance. He admits jealousy of her other admirers; after an argument, the lovers swear fidelity.
After Euridice dies from a snakebite on their wedding day, Orphée follows her to the underworld. His music soothes the condemned and persuades Pluton to let him return with Euridice, provided he does not look back at her before they leave the realm of the dead.
Poor lovers Giannino and Dorina scheme with innkeeper Falco to deceive treasure-seeker Don Poppone. Poppone mistakes them and the visiting Count and Countess for other guests, including Turks, amid a series of misunderstandings. Disguised as devils, Dorina and Giannino terrify and beat Poppone while pretending to search for his treasure. After the truth emerges, Falco explains the deception; Giannino inherits a fortune, Poppone forgives the couple, and agrees to marry Ghiandina.
After the Titans are defeated, the Olympian gods divide the world. Venus drives the central conflict by tempting the other gods into debauchery; Saturn is the exception.
King James, traveling in disguise as Uberto, falls in love with Elena, who loves Malcolm but is betrothed to rebel leader Rodrigo. During the Scottish uprising Rodrigo is killed, while Elena uses Uberto’s ring to plead for her father and Malcolm; the king pardons them and blesses Elena and Malcolm’s union.
King Altidòr falls in love with fairy Miranda. Her father curses him that if he curses her, she will turn into a snake.
The source identifies the principal characters as Albina, King Stellio, Uberto and Falena, and refers to a conflict between a virtuous king and an evil protagonist.
During the California Gold Rush, Minnie runs the Polka saloon and guards the gold the miners have collected. She becomes close to Dick Johnson, whom she had met earlier, and learns that he is the bandit Ramerrez. When Sheriff Jack Rance captures Johnson, Minnie wagers her future against Rance at poker and wins his release. Johnson is captured again, but Minnie persuades the miners to spare him by reminding them of all she has done for them. They forgive him, and Minnie and Johnson leave California to begin a new life.
Riccardo Zandonai’s three-act comic opera adapts Alarcón’s novel El sombrero de tres picos. The libretto moves the action to Lombardy while retaining Spanish names and includes two love-lorn donkeys, Ciccio and Checca.
An intrigue is devised to secure a father’s consent to his daughter’s marriage.
In 1840, flower-seller Thérèse’s fiancé Pierre is sent to Algeria for military service. She follows him with her friend Zélie and singing teacher Saint-Angénor; after a series of captures and rescues, Pierre and Thérèse reunite.
Fernand leaves a monastery to seek the woman he loves, Léonor, without knowing she is the mistress of Alphonse, King of Castile. After Fernand distinguishes himself in battle, the king agrees to his request to marry Léonor. She tries to tell Fernand about her past, but her messenger is arrested, and Fernand learns the truth only after the wedding. He breaks his sword and leaves her to return to religious life. The king’s wife dies, and Léonor arrives at the monastery exhausted. Fernand finally accepts her, but she collapses and dies in his arms.
In Cumae, lovers are sacrificed to a lake monster until a faithful lover offers his life. The priest Melibeo manipulates several couples in pursuit of Amaranta and tries to arrange a match between Celia and Lindoro. Celia is in love with Fileno, who believes she is dead. Melibeo frames Celia and the cowardly Count Perrucchetto as lovers and sends them to be sacrificed. Fileno offers his own life to save Celia; the monster becomes Diana, who accepts his selfless act and ends the city’s curse. Diana strikes down Melibeo, and the three couples unite.
Nicola Porpora’s serenata, with a libretto by Paolo Rolli, was composed to mark the marriage of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. The available text does not provide its plot.
Silvana, daughter of a woman accused of witchcraft, loves her stepson Donello. After her husband Basilio dies, his mother accuses Silvana of causing his death by sorcery. Unable to swear an oath of innocence, Silvana is condemned as a witch.
An opera by Vivaldi to a libretto by Scipione Maffei.
A three-act Italian opera buffa, or commedia per musica, by Antonio Salieri with a libretto by Giovanni Gastone Boccherini.
Prince Tenor returns from an exotic land with Princess Soprano, but his father King Baritone rejects her as a foreigner and daughter of a sorcerer. Her father King Bass tries to take her home and magically turns exotic animals against Baritone’s court. Tenor saves his father but is still denied permission to marry. That night King Bass’s sea monster attacks Baritone, and Tenor drives it away. Baritone wakes, sees Tenor with a sword and falsely accuses him of attempted patricide, condemning the couple to death. King Bass arrives to rescue Soprano, who takes his wand and enchants the two fathers into a frantic dance until they consent to the marriage. Everyone celebrates.
At a wedding in Lama dei Peligni, villagers accuse Mila of witchcraft and demand her death. Aligi, who loves her, breaks off his arranged marriage and leaves with her for a cave. He travels to Rome to appeal to the Pope. While Aligi is away, the villagers burn Mila alive.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Marie, a canteen girl raised by the Twenty-First Regiment after being found as a baby, falls in love with Tyrolean Tonio. The Marquise of Berkenfield takes Marie to her castle and tells her she is the daughter of an aristocratic family. Marie is later revealed to be the Marquise’s own daughter. After the regiment arrives and recounts Marie’s upbringing, the Marquise accepts her love for Tonio and consents to their marriage.
During the French occupation of northern Italy, convent pupil Stella falls in love with Lieutenant Robert. She discovers that her true father is Monthabor, the French drum-major, and rejects the aristocratic identity imposed on her. After disguises and military reversals thwart a forced marriage to Bambini, Stella and Robert reunite, while Claudine pairs with Griolet.
An opera by Pasquale Anfossi to the libretto commonly attributed to Giuseppe Petrosellini, though another attribution is reported. This is Anfossi’s setting, distinct from Mozart’s later opera to the same libretto. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
The Marchioness Violante, presumed dead after Belfiore stabbed her, hides as the gardener Sandrina with her servant Roberto. At Don Anchise’s estate she encounters Belfiore, now engaged to Arminda. After Arminda abducts her, Violante and Belfiore lose their senses, then recover and reunite; Arminda returns to Ramiro and Roberto pairs with Serpetta.
A three-act Italian comic opera about the amorous misadventures of a group that includes the innkeeper Cardillo, his sister Rosalina, local nobles, a French doctor, and Donna Armida, called the “fake Parisienne.”
On Skyros, Achilles lives disguised as a princess to escape the coming Trojan War. His lover Deidamia, with whom he has a son, feigns madness to keep him on the island when Ulysses and Diomedes arrive seeking allies. Achilles and Deidamia marry and leave together.
Unfinished comic opera about Licori, who disguises herself first as a man and then as a woman and feigns madness to win her lover Aminta.
A sequel to La finta pazza, this opera uses a Latin story that looks toward the future founding of Rome.
At Cassandro’s estate near Cremona, Fracasso and Simone love Giacinta and Ninetta, but the brothers Cassandro and Polidoro oppose marriage. Rosina feigns naïveté, makes both brothers fall for her, and helps secure the couples’ marriages. The brothers believe Giacinta and Ninetta have fled with the family money and promise the finder a marriage and the loot. In the end, the young couples are united; Rosina marries Cassandro, leaving Polidoro alone.
Leonora and Don Alvaro plan to elope, but when her father discovers them, Alvaro’s pistol accidentally kills him. Leonora and Alvaro are separated, and her brother Carlo seeks revenge. Leonora takes refuge as a hermit, while Alvaro joins the Spanish army under an assumed name and becomes friends with Carlo, who is also disguised. Carlo discovers Alvaro’s identity, and the two men repeatedly confront each other. In the revised ending, Carlo mortally wounds Leonora before Alvaro can reunite with her; the Father Superior urges Alvaro to seek forgiveness. In the original version, Alvaro kills Carlo and then throws himself into a ravine.
Comic opera by Gaspare Spontini; the plot is not summarized.
Knight Robert is imprisoned in a seventh-century French court controlled by women and must answer the question of what gives women the most pleasure. He must agree to marry an old woman, who is transformed into the beautiful Marton.
Ninetta, a servant, is in love with Giannetto, whose mother Lucia accuses her of stealing a silver spoon. Ninetta is also hiding her father Fernando, a deserter sentenced to death. She sells family silver to help him, and the mayor uses the transaction to strengthen the theft accusation. Ninetta is tried and condemned. Fernando arrives with a royal pardon, while Pippo and Antonio discover that a magpie took the missing silver. Ninetta is released and reunited with Giannetto.
Don Pomponio travels in search of a husband for his daughter Lisetta and advertises in newspapers. A succession of unsuitable suitors appears, including a Quaker and a hotel waiter. Pomponio eventually abandons his search and allows Lisetta to marry Filippo, her lover and the suitor he has resisted.
After returning from military service in Africa, Guy de Kerdrel claims an inheritance from a great-uncle he never met. He learns that the widow Alice had burned an unsigned will leaving the estate to her, allowing Guy to inherit. Guy has fallen in love with Alice and gives her the great-uncle’s portrait as a keepsake. A signed version of the will is found hidden in its frame; Alice doubts Guy’s honesty, but he leaves her the property and promises to return.
Two sisters love two friends with contrasting temperaments. The magician Trofonio invites the pairs into his cave, where he reverses their personalities, first the men’s and then the women’s; the confusion is eventually resolved happily.
Shepherds Zélide and Myrtil each have a magic garland that remains fresh while they are faithful to each other. When Myrtil falls for Amaryllis, his garland withers. He places it at Cupid’s altar, hoping it will be restored. Zélide switches his garland with her own, so Myrtil believes the god has revived it, while hers appears wilted. He refuses to believe she was unfaithful, and both garlands are restored.
In Padua, medical student Giovanni lodges in Isabela’s home and sees Dr. Rappaccini’s daughter Beatriz in her father’s garden. Beatriz’s touch is poisonous, and Giovanni becomes ill after meeting her. Baglioni warns him that Beatriz is dangerous and gives him an antidote. Giovanni returns to the garden, where Rappaccini claims his experiments have cured both young people and warns that the antidote will kill them. Beatriz takes the vial and drinks it despite their protests; she dies.
In 1358, during the Jacquerie uprisings, Robert loves the aristocratic Blanche. He tries to protect her from the mob, is wounded, and dies in Blanche's arms.
Blacksmith Henry Smith loves Catherine Glover, who catches the attention of the Duke of Rothsay. Mab, Queen of the Gypsies, helps the Duke deceive Smith by appearing at his ball disguised as Catherine. Smith believes Catherine betrayed him, but Mab later helps restore Catherine’s sanity, and the couple reconcile.
On her wedding night, perfume seller Rose is led to the home of her husband’s wealthy godfather, La Cocardière, who attempts to seduce her. She adopts the identity of a Toulouse dancer and later teases her suspicious husband, Bavolet, while La Cocardière’s mistress Clorinde searches the shop for him; the misunderstandings resolve with the couples paired off.
Méhul's three-act opéra comique was a major success at the Opéra-Comique and helped remedy the theatre's financial problems. It was later revived in a German translation in Berlin.
King Dushyanta meets Sakùntala at her forest monastery and gives her a ring before leaving. A curse makes him forget her; pregnant Sakùntala arrives at court but has lost the ring, and the King does not recognize her. A fisherman returns the ring, restoring the King’s memory, but Sakùntala has been taken to heaven, leaving their infant son with the King.
On the day Countess Rosina and Captain Filinto plan to marry, an anonymous letter claims that he is already married to someone else. The letter is eventually proved false, and the wedding preparations resume.
The sorceress Melissa, disguised as a man, seeks to free Ruggiero from the spells of the evil sorceress Alcina.
Usandizaga's Spanish-language opera was left unfinished and completed by his brother Ramón. Its final three-act form was produced posthumously in San Sebastián in 1918.
Mélusine, bound by a pact with the sorcerer Stello, falls in love with René and uses magic to make him believe that his fiancée Blanche has betrayed him. When Stello exposes her deception, René leaves her and seeks Blanche's forgiveness. Mélusine repents and asks Blanche to forgive her. As demons try to drag her to hell, Mélusine proclaims her Christian faith and dies in Blanche's arms.
A one-act French opéra comique by Georges Bizet with libretto by Henry Boisseaux. The surviving music is in piano-score form; an orchestration of the score was performed in 2012.
The Marquise separates Hortense and Arthur, who love one another, and arranges Hortense’s marriage to Vernillac. Her poisoning scheme kills Vernillac, and she later poisons her accomplice Galifard. Before the Marquise can permanently separate the lovers, Galifard exposes her crimes and she is taken to trial.
In the later shortened version, Cain’s family pleads with him to reconcile with Abel. Cain agrees, but the demon Anamalech curses their happiness and destroys Cain’s altar. Anamalech shows Cain a vision of his descendants’ suffering and gives him a club from Hell. Abel urges Cain to return to the family, but Cain kills him during a storm. Cain confesses, descends into guilt and madness, and flees with his family; angels carry Abel to heaven.
A three-act French tragédie lyrique on a biblical theme, combining material from Klopstock, Genesis, and Paradise Lost.
After failing to save Eurydice from the underworld, Orpheus renounces wine and the love of women. Bacchus, offended by this, urges his female followers to kill him, and the Maenads tear Orpheus apart. The gods invite him to Olympus, but he wants to reunite with Eurydice in Hades. Mercury shows him that she no longer remembers him after drinking from Lethe, and Orpheus agrees to ascend to Olympus.
Cassio, Bruto and Porzia lead a conspiracy to murder Giulio Cesare in Rome. Cesare’s loving relationship with Calfurnia forms a subplot; the assassination itself is not shown, and the body remains visible during the closing scenes.
Fenella, a mute woman seduced by Alfonso, reveals his betrayal to his bride Elvire and her brother Masaniello. Masaniello leads a Neapolitan uprising against Spanish rule, but refuses to kill Alfonso and protects him and Elvire. Poisoned by the rebels, Masaniello dies fighting as Vesuvius erupts; Fenella leaps to her death, and the nobles regain control of Naples.
The newborn Hermes steals his brother Apollo’s cattle. Led by Silenus, the satyrs track Hermes down and discover that he has made a lyre from one animal’s horns. Apollo is delighted by the instrument, adopts it and forgives his young brother.
Egyptian shepherds celebrate a peaceful land and make offerings to Jupiter. After a storm frightens them, the high priest assures them the god is pleased. Jupiter descends and announces the birth of the hero Osiris, promising peace; the priests and shepherds celebrate, and Cupid remains to rule the earth.
An opera in a prologue and three episodes adapted from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s play of the same title.
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