La farsa amorosa
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.
Operas
3280 shows
Clear filtersLa fausse esclave
An intrigue is devised to secure a father’s consent to his daughter’s marriage.
La fauvette du temple
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.
La favorite
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.
La fedeltà premiata
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.
La festa d'Imeneo
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.
La fiamma
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.
La fida ninfa
An opera by Vivaldi to a libretto by Scipione Maffei.
La fiera di Venezia
A three-act Italian opera buffa, or commedia per musica, by Antonio Salieri with a libretto by Giovanni Gastone Boccherini.
La figlia del mago
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.
La figlia di Iorio
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.
La fille du régiment
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.
La fille du tambour-major
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.
La finta giardiniera
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.
La finta giardiniera
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.
La finta parigina
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.”
La finta pazza
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.
La finta pazza Licori
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.
La finta savia
A sequel to La finta pazza, this opera uses a Latin story that looks toward the future founding of Rome.
La finta semplice
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.
La forza del destino
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.
La fuga in maschera
Comic opera by Gaspare Spontini; the plot is not summarized.
La fée Urgèle, ou Ce qui plaît aux dames
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.
La gazza ladra
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.
La gazzetta
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.
La grand’tante
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.
La grotta di Trofonio
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.
La guirlande
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.
La hija de Rappaccini
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.
La jacquerie
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.
La jolie fille de Perth
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.
La jolie parfumeuse
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.
La journée aux aventures
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.
La leggenda di Sakùntala
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.
La lettera anonima
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.
La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina
The sorceress Melissa, disguised as a man, seeks to free Ruggiero from the spells of the evil sorceress Alcina.
La llama
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.
La magicienne
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.
La maison du docteur
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.
La marquise de Brinvilliers
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.
La mort d’Abel
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.
La mort d’Adam
A three-act French tragédie lyrique on a biblical theme, combining material from Klopstock, Genesis, and Paradise Lost.
La morte d'Orfeo
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.
La morte di Cesare
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.
La muette de Portici
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.
La naissance de la lyre
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.
La naissance d’Osiris
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.
La nave
An opera in a prologue and three episodes adapted from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s play of the same title.
La nonne sanglante
Agnès and Rodolphe love one another despite the feud between their families. They plan to elope with Agnès disguised as the ghost of a murdered nun. Rodolphe mistakenly marries the actual ghost, who later reveals that she can be released only when her murderer is killed. At a wedding feast, she identifies Rodolphe’s father Ludorf as her killer. When Moldaw’s retainers plan to abduct Rodolphe, Ludorf impersonates his son and is murdered in his place. The nun accepts his sacrifice and ascends to heaven.
La notte di un nevrastenico
One-act opera by Nino Rota to a libretto by Riccardo Bacchelli.
La part du diable
Singer Carlo Broschi protects his sister Casilda from the Spanish court and helps her lover Raphael by pretending to be the Devil and sharing his winnings. When the king orders Raphael’s death and the deception is exposed, Carlo secures their happiness by revealing the truth.
La pastorella nobile
The shepherdess Eurilla is pursued by Marchese Astolfo, who is engaged to Donna Florida. Eurilla is attracted to Don Calloandro, son of the mayor, Don Polibio.
La perle du Brésil
Zora, a young Brazilian brought to Portugal by Admiral Salvador, becomes a favorite at court. She and Lieutenant Lorenz fall in love, and he follows her disguised aboard the ship taking her back to Brazil. When local people threaten the crew, Zora’s song calms them, and Salvador consents to her marriage with Lorenz.
La permission de dix heures
Soldier Larose Pompon wants to marry Nicole, but her wealthy aunt Madame Jobin forbids it until she remarries. Larose tries to pair Jobin with Sergeant Lanternick, but a series of mistaken identities leads each soldier to court the wrong woman. The confusion ultimately brings Lanternick and Jobin together, clearing the way for Larose and Nicole.
La pietra del paragone
At his country villa, Count Asdrubale is unsure whether three women who claim to love him are sincere, and whether Clarice prefers him or his friend Giocondo. With his majordomo Fabrizio, he pretends to have lost his fortune and disguises himself as the creditor who has acquired his estate. Fulvia and Aspasia leave, while Clarice and Giocondo remain loyal. The guests then turn on one another, and a hunting outing and false duel bring further jealousies to the surface. Clarice disguises herself as her returning twin brother to make Asdrubale fear he has lost her. He sends her a note admitting his jealousy; she reveals her identity, and the lovers reconcile.
La poupée de Nuremberg
Toymaker Cornelius plans to animate a doll as a bride for his son, while mistreating his nephew Miller. Miller and his fiancée Bertha use the doll and a disguise to frighten Cornelius, recover Miller’s inheritance, and escape.
La pravità castigata
In Denzio’s Don Juan drama, Don Giovanni kills the Commendatore, pursues women through disguises and promises of marriage, and is ultimately dragged to hell for his unrepented crimes.
La princesse de Trébizonde
A travelling fairground performer, Zanetta, impersonates a broken waxwork of a princess and attracts Prince Raphaël. After the troupe wins a castle, she reveals the deception; Raphaël’s father eventually accepts their match after learning his own past connects him to Zanetta’s family, and three couples prepare to marry.
La princesse jaune
In Holland, Léna loves her cousin Kornélis, who is obsessed with Japan and a portrait of a Japanese woman named Ming. He drinks an opium potion and hallucinates that he is in Japan. Mistaking Léna for Ming, he declares his love, frightening her. After he wakes, Léna rebukes him for loving an imagined woman; he realizes his love for her and apologizes. They confess their feelings and reconcile.
La púrpura de la rosa
The work begins with a prologue honoring Philip V. In the opera, Venus is rescued from a wild boar by Adonis, who says he has renounced love because of his incestuous birth. Venus pursues him, and Cupid shoots him with a golden arrow, making him desire her. Mars becomes jealous and plans revenge. After Mars arranges for a boar to attack Adonis, the animal mortally wounds him. Venus mourns his death, but Jupiter raises the lovers to Olympus, transforming Adonis into an anemone and Venus into the Evening Star.
La reine Fiammette
Based on Catulle Mendès’s dramatic tale set in Renaissance Italy.
La reine de Chypre
In fifteenth-century Venice, Catarina is forced into marriage with the King of Cyprus, separating her from Gérard. The disguised King saves Gérard, and later spares him after he attempts revenge. As the King dies from Venetian poisoning, Catarina and Gérard resist a Venetian takeover; Catarina takes the crown while Gérard renounces his love.
La reine de Saba
Adoniram, architect of Solomon’s Temple, prepares a great bronze basin. His workers Amrou, Phanor and Méthousaël demand better pay and plot against him. When Balkis, Queen of Sheba, visits Jerusalem, she is impressed by the temple and gives Adoniram a necklace, provoking Solomon’s jealousy. The workers sabotage the casting of the basin, but it is later completed after the mould is mysteriously repaired. Balkis and Adoniram confess their love. The workers reveal their relationship to Solomon, and Balkis drugs Solomon, takes back her engagement ring and arranges to elope with Adoniram. The workers kill Adoniram when he refuses their renewed demands. Balkis finds him dead, places the ring on his finger and mourns him.
La rencontre imprévue
A three-act comic opera about pilgrims to Mecca; the plot is not detailed.
La romanziera e l’uomo nero
A one-act farsa by Gaetano Donizetti that satirizes Romanticism. In its finale, Antonina tells her father she will give up willows, cypresses, urns and ashes for singing, dancing and opera.
La rondine
At a party in Paris, courtesan Magda meets Ruggero, a young man visiting the city. Disguised as a shop girl, she meets him again at Bullier’s and falls in love. They live together on the Riviera, where Ruggero asks his mother for money and permission to marry. Magda learns that his family expects a virtuous bride and tells him about her past. Though Ruggero begs her to stay, she returns to her former protector Rambaldo and leaves him heartbroken.
La rosa bianca e la rosa rossa
Set in England against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, the opera is based on René-Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt’s play La rose blanche et la rose rouge.
La rose de Saint-Flour
At Pierrette’s cabaret in Saint-Flour, her suitors Marcachu and Chapailloux bring her a cooking pot and shoes, respectively. A quarrel over the presents leads to a fight and a disastrous shared soup; Pierrette chooses Chapailloux, but Marcachu returns with more gifts, and the three end by making peace and dancing.
La scala di seta
Giulia is secretly married to Dorvil, who visits by climbing a silken ladder to her window. Her guardian Dormont wants her to marry Blansac, so Giulia tries to match Blansac with her cousin Lucilla. A series of overheard conversations makes Dorvil jealous and confuses the household, until Blansac falls for Lucilla and Dormont discovers that both couples are happily matched.
La schiava in Bagdad
Syrian prince Nadir searches Baghdad’s harems for Zora, the woman abducted from him. His former servant, shoemaker Mustafà, learns she has been sold to the Caliph’s seraglio and helps Nadir enter in disguise. Their rescue attempt is discovered and Nadir faces execution, but a medallion reveals that Zora is the Caliph’s long-lost daughter. Nadir is spared and the lovers reunite.
La scuola de’ gelosi
A two-act comic opera of love intrigues, attempted seductions, and jealousy among aristocratic, bourgeois, and working-class characters.
La secchia rapita
In 14th-century Modena, Renoppia receives a bucket taken from Bologna as a trophy from her lover Manfredi. Bologna’s ambassadors demand the bucket and Renoppia and Countess Ghereda as brides; Modena’s council rejects the offer and declares war. Later, Lorenzo and Antibo negotiate, with Bologna demanding either the bucket or Renoppia. During a banquet, the guests fear a bowl of soup is poisoned, then rush out to defend the city when Bologna attacks. The conflict ends in duels: Manfredi wins, while the Count feigns an injury and flees. The opera closes with the characters proclaiming the bucket’s seizure more historically famous than other legendary abductions.
La serva padrona
The maid Serpina has become so assertive that her employer, the elderly bachelor Uberto, orders his servant Vespone to find him a wife. Serpina and Vespone trick Uberto by having Vespone pose as a suitor who demands a large dowry. Uberto agrees to marry Serpina, then realizes he loves her and accepts her as mistress of the household.
La sirène
A three-act opéra comique by Daniel Auber with a libretto by Eugène Scribe.
La sonnambula
Amina is engaged to Elvino in a Swiss village. Count Rodolfo, the long-lost son of the former lord, returns and recognizes the area. That night, Amina sleepwalks into his room; Rodolfo leaves without disturbing her, but villagers find her there and Elvino rejects her as unfaithful. Elvino plans to marry Lisa instead. Rodolfo explains that Amina is a sleepwalker, but Elvino demands proof. As Amina crosses a mill bridge in her sleep, she relives her grief at his rejection and safely reaches the other side. Elvino restores her ring, she wakes, and they reconcile.
La sposa fedele
Rosinella and Pasqualino are separated when their ship is wrecked near the Marchese del Vento Ponente’s home. The Marchese and Count Lelio desire Rosinella, but she remains faithful to Pasqualino.
La statue
In Damascus, wealthy Sélim meets Margyane and falls in love, but leaves to seek a buried treasure. Spirits promise him a thirteenth jeweled statue if he marries an innocent girl and delivers her to them. In Mecca, he marries Margyane, unaware she is the girl from the desert. Torn between his vow and love, he refuses to surrender her, but Amgiad takes her away while Sélim sleeps. He returns to claim the treasure and plans to smash the statue; Margyane appears in its place, and Amgiad reveals that love is a greater treasure than gold.
La straniera
Count Arturo falls in love with Alaide, a mysterious woman living in exile, despite his engagement to Isoletta. He mistakenly believes Alaide and Valdeburgo are lovers and wounds Valdeburgo in a duel, only to learn he is Alaide’s brother; Alaide is then tried for murder. At Arturo’s wedding, Alaide reveals herself as Queen Agnes, but the news that she must return to Paris drives Arturo to suicide.
La tabernera del puerto
A three-act Spanish zarzuela by Pablo Sorozábal with libretto by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández-Shaw. The roles include barmaid Marola, her father Juan de Eguía, her lover Leandro and a former sailor named Simpson.
La taupe et les papillons
Méhul's one-act French comédie lyrique was composed in 1797–1798, but its planned 1799 staging was prevented by political censorship.
La tempesta
An Italian-language opera adapting Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with roles including Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. The entry does not summarize the plot.
La tentation
A hermit struggles against temptation as demons repeatedly try to ensnare him. They create Miranda, who is marked by a black spot, but she is moved by the hermit’s prayer and the mark disappears. At the end she joins Marie in prayer; Astaroth’s forces kill Miranda, and angels carry the hermit to heaven.
La toison d’or
Jason and the Argonauts reach Colchis after Jason defeats fire-breathing bulls. His wife Hypsipyle, who followed him, learns Medea is expected to marry him. Medea discovers Jason is already married and vows revenge. Jason and Hypsipyle reconcile, but Medea summons a storm that wrecks the fleet and stabs Hypsipyle. Later, Medea plans to kill Jason but instead helps the Argonauts defeat earth-born giants and puts the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece to sleep, allowing Jason to take it. Medea asks to accompany Jason to Greece; when he refuses, she curses him and flies away in a dragon-drawn chariot.
La traviata
Violetta Valéry, a celebrated Parisian courtesan, meets Alfredo Germont and begins to imagine a different life. Their relationship is tested by social expectations, family pressure, and Violetta’s failing health in Verdi’s intimate opera.
La vedova scaltra
Widow Rosaura is courted by four suitors from different countries. She disguises herself to test their fidelity, discovers that three are willing to deceive her, and chooses the one who resists her advances; he accepts her for love and their shared nationality.
La vera costanza
Three-act dramma giocoso about fisherwoman Rosina and Count Errico, her secret husband who has abandoned her.
La vera costanza
Rosina is secretly married to Count Errico and has a young son, but he has left her. Baroness Irene pressures her to marry Villotto so Irene can marry Marquis Ernesto. Misunderstandings lead Errico to believe Rosina is unfaithful, and he orders her and her brother killed. After learning the truth, he finds Rosina and their child and repents. The Baroness later tries to separate the couple with forged letters, but they see through the deception and reconcile; she accepts them and agrees to marry Ernesto.
La verbena de la Paloma
During Madrid’s La Paloma festival, jealous Julián suspects that Susana is seeing Don Hilarión. Their argument follows them through the crowds and brings in the police, but Susana ultimately reconciles with Julián and the festival continues.
La verità in cimento
Sultan Mamud had his sons exchanged at birth, leaving Melindo believed to be the heir although Zelim has the rightful claim. When Melindo is to marry Rosane, whom Zelim loves, Mamud decides to reveal the truth. After further complications, Zelim receives the larger part of the empire, while Melindo takes Rosane’s kingdom and marries her.
La vestale
After returning victorious to Rome, Licinius finds that Julia has become a Vestal Virgin. He tells her he intends to reclaim her. At the temple, they reunite and the sacred flame goes out; Julia refuses to identify Licinius and is sentenced to death. As she is about to be buried alive, a thunderstorm begins and lightning reignites the flame. The high priest interprets this as divine approval, releases Julia, and she marries Licinius.
La vestale
Emilia becomes a Vestal Virgin after believing her lover Decio is dead. When Decio returns victorious, the two renew their love and arrange a secret meeting in the Temple of Vesta. The sacred flame goes out, and Emilia is tried and condemned to death. Her friend Giunia offers to take the blame, but Emilia refuses. Emilia regains her reason as she approaches her tomb; Decio arrives too late and commits suicide.
La vida breve
Young Salud, a Romani woman from Granada, is passionately in love with Paco, a well-to-do man who is already engaged to a woman of his social class. Her uncle Sarvaor and grandmother try to prevent her from interrupting Paco’s wedding after she learns the truth. Salud and Sarvaor gate-crash the celebration. Paco says he does not know her and orders her removed; Salud collapses and dies at his feet.
La vie parisienne
After singer Métella rejects them, Parisian dandies Gardefeu and Bobinet decide to pursue more respectable mistresses. Gardefeu takes the place of a Swedish couple’s guide and deceives them about their lodgings so he can court the baroness, while Bobinet stages a party with servants impersonating aristocrats. At a masquerade, Métella reconciles with Gardefeu, and the baron’s anger subsides when his wife intervenes; the company toasts Paris.
La villanella rapita
At a pre-wedding banquet, the Count becomes attracted to Mandina, lures her from her bridegroom Pippo and abducts her while she is drugged. After experiencing the Count’s luxuries, Mandina establishes her innocence and marries Pippo.
La virtù de' strali d'Amore
Pallante loves Cleria, while Meonte's love for Cleria leaves his former lover Erabena disguised as her servant. Love is redirected through the arrows of Cupid: Erabena wounds Cupid with one, and Cleria accidentally pricks herself with another. Pallante frees Darete from the sorceress Ericlea; it is then revealed that Pallante and Meonte are brothers. The separated lovers reunite, and Cupid reconciles with Psyche.
La virtù trionfante dell'amore e dell'odio, overo Il Tigrane
A three-act pasticcio based on Pietro Andrea Bernardoni’s libretto, with music by Benedetto Micheli, Antonio Vivaldi, and Nicola Romaldi. The available text does not summarize the complete plot.
La voix humaine
Alone in her bedroom, Elle answers a call from the lover who has left her. She initially hides that she took twelve sleeping pills the previous night and was rescued by a friend and doctor. As interruptions and suspicions about his location unsettle her, the call repeatedly fails; she eventually wraps the telephone cord around her neck, tells him she loves him, and drops the receiver.
La zingara
Argilla, a clever gypsy girl, helps Ines and Fernando reunite, saves the Duke of Alziras, and frees Don Sebastiano, who proves to be her father. Meanwhile, Don Ranuccio’s servant searches in vain for gold in an old cistern. All ends happily.
Labyrinth
A one-act opera created specifically for television by Gian Carlo Menotti, with an English libretto by the composer. It was designed to use screen effects that could not be recreated on a live stage.
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Katerina lives unhappily with her husband Zinovy and his father Boris. She begins an affair with Sergei, a worker on the family estate. After Boris catches Sergei leaving Katerina’s room and has him beaten, Katerina poisons Boris. When Zinovy discovers the affair, Katerina and Sergei kill him and hide his body. They marry, but the corpse is found and both are sent to a Siberian prison camp. Sergei pursues another convict, Sonyetka, and tricks Katerina into giving up her stockings for her. After the other convicts mock her, Katerina pushes Sonyetka into an icy river and falls in herself.
Lady Magnesia
Weinberg's Russian-language comic opera adapts George Bernard Shaw's play Passion, Poison and Petrifaction. It is a one-act work with opus number 112.
Lady Sarashina
Across nine tableaux, Lady Sarashina narrates her life using fragments of her 11th-century diary, reflecting on nature and landscapes, travels and pilgrimages, dreams, life, and death.
Lajla
Lajla, raised as the daughter of Sami leader Laagje, is promised to Mellet but loves Norwegian Olav Lind. Mellet plots against Lind. As Lajla’s wedding to Mellet begins, Lind arrives, and Laagje reveals that Lajla is the child of Lind’s uncle, found after her parents died in a snowstorm. Laagje approves their marriage, and Lajla leaves with Lind.
Lakmé
In British-ruled India, Lakmé, daughter of the Brahmin priest Nilakantha, meets British officer Gérald after he remains behind to sketch her jewellery. They fall in love, and Nilakantha vows revenge for the officer’s intrusion. At a bazaar, Nilakantha makes Lakmé sing the Bell Song to expose Gérald, then stabs him. Lakmé hides and nurses him in the forest. When Gérald’s fellow officer reminds him of his military duty, Lakmé realizes he will leave her. She takes poison from a datura leaf; she and Gérald drink from a spring said to grant eternal love, and Lakmé dies.
Lalla-Roukh
Mughal princess Lalla-Roukh travels to marry the King of Samarkand, accompanied by her confidantes. She falls in love with Nourreddin, a poet-singer in her caravan, and plans to refuse the arranged marriage. At the palace, she discovers that Nourreddin is the king she was promised to wed.
Lancelot
An Arthurian opera about Lancelot by Victorin de Joncières.
Lanzelot
An opera by Paul Dessau based on Evgeny Schwartz’s play Der Drache (The Dragon).
Larmes de couteau
Eleonore falls in love with a hanged neighbor, Saturn, while her mother expects the handsome Satan to visit. Satan declares love for both women and marries Eleonore to Saturn. When Saturn does not return Eleonore’s affection, Satan appears as a cyclist; Eleonore and her mother are attracted to him until his head cracks and reveals the devil. Eleonore stabs herself, but Saturn comes to life and she revives. She embraces him, then his head bursts open to reveal Satan, who flees after kissing both women.
Las golondrinas
A zarzuela, described in a cited reference as a three-act lyric drama.
Last Days
Blake, a musician recently out of rehab, is pressured to return to touring while surrounded by people who intensify the chaos around him. A shotgun remains onstage throughout the opera and is eventually used by Blake to end his life. The work’s focus is Blake’s isolation and the pressures around him, rather than a biographical portrayal of Kurt Cobain.
Le 66
Two impoverished travelers, Grittly and Frantz, meet a pedlar on their way to Strasbourg. Frantz believes he has won a large lottery prize with ticket 66, but the number is 99; the pedlar is a wealthy relation staging a lesson against extravagance.
Le Château des Carpathes
A French-language opera based on Jules Verne’s novel Le Château des Carpathes, with roles including La Stilla, Franz de Télek, an innkeeper and Baron de Garz.
Le Cid
Rodrigue kills Chimène’s father to avenge an insult to his own father, then leads the king’s forces against the Moors. Believed dead after battle, he returns victorious; Chimène finally pardons him and declares her love.
Le Cœur et la Main
Princess Micaëla and Prince Gaëtan are ordered into an arranged marriage, though each secretly falls in love with the other while Micaëla is disguised as a gardener. Their wedding night is repeatedly disrupted by mistaken identities and the gardener Joséfa’s new husband; Gaëtan eventually learns that his beloved is his royal bride, and the court celebrates their marriage and expected heir.
Le Diable à Paris
The devil offers a young lover wealth and an old man renewed youth. Both have been rejected in love, and the bargain allows the devil to stay in Paris.
Le Grand Macabre
In the imaginary country of Breughelland, Nekrotzar, the figure of Death, announces that the world will end and recruits the drunken Piet as his companion. They head toward the palace, where the bumbling Prince Go-go and his officials are caught up in political and personal disorder. Nekrotzar drinks so much wine that he cannot carry out the apocalypse; the characters survive, and the opera ends with a chorus urging people not to fear death.
Le Huron
Set in Brittany, the opera concerns a love affair between a local girl and a man raised by the Huron people in America.
Le Jardin du Paradis
Alfred Bruneau’s four-act opera in eight tableaux adapts a story by Hans Christian Andersen.
Le Jour et la Nuit
In Portugal, Don Braseiro awaits the bride chosen by proxy while he guards the border. His steward Miguel’s fiancée Manola arrives fleeing the prime minister and pretends to be Braseiro’s bride. The real bride, Béatrix, agrees to help the couple by exchanging places with Manola in the dark. A series of disguises and mistaken identities culminates in a confrontation at an inn. Once the deception is explained, Braseiro accepts Béatrix, the king dismisses the prime minister, and both couples are happy.
Le Juif errant
A French grand opera by Fromental Halévy, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, loosely based on Eugène Sue’s novel. The opera begins in Amsterdam in 1190 and makes the Wandering Jew, Ahasuerus, a leading character; no plot synopsis is supplied.
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