3280 shows
Clear filtersDon 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.
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.
One-act opera by Nino Rota to a libretto by Riccardo Bacchelli.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Based on Catulle Mendès’s dramatic tale set in Renaissance Italy.
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.
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.
A three-act comic opera about pilgrims to Mecca; the plot is not detailed.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A two-act comic opera of love intrigues, attempted seductions, and jealousy among aristocratic, bourgeois, and working-class characters.
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.
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.
A three-act opéra comique by Daniel Auber with a libretto by Eugène Scribe.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Méhul's one-act French comédie lyrique was composed in 1797–1798, but its planned 1799 staging was prevented by political censorship.
An Italian-language opera adapting Shakespeare’s The Tempest, with roles including Prospero, Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. The entry does not summarize the plot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Three-act dramma giocoso about fisherwoman Rosina and Count Errico, her secret husband who has abandoned her.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
An Arthurian opera about Lancelot by Victorin de Joncières.
An opera by Paul Dessau based on Evgeny Schwartz’s play Der Drache (The Dragon).
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.
A zarzuela, described in a cited reference as a three-act lyric drama.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Set in Brittany, the opera concerns a love affair between a local girl and a man raised by the Huron people in America.
Alfred Bruneau’s four-act opera in eight tableaux adapts a story by Hans Christian Andersen.
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.
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.
At his daughter’s wedding, innkeeper Mathias hears sleigh bells that recall a Polish Jew he murdered 15 years earlier. In a dream, he is tried for the murder and confesses the attack and disposal of the body. He dies of a heart attack.
The Persian general Zarastra loves the captive Turanian queen Anahita, while Varedha loves Zarastra. After the high priest Amrou engineers Zarastra’s banishment, Anahita refuses a forced marriage, a revolt destroys the city, and Zarastra and Anahita are reunited while Varedha dies.
After fifteen years away, a sailor returns wealthy but unrecognized and visits his wife disguised as a stranger. He tells her that her husband is coming home, then rents a room at her bar. When she later finds him asleep, she kills him with a hammer and takes his valuables, while her father-in-law helps conceal the body. Still believing her husband will return, she sings of his approaching homecoming.
After a shipwreck, Breton fisherman Tual recovers in Iceland at the home of Jörgen and his daughter Kaethe. Tual and Kaethe fall in love and marry, but Tual grows homesick for Brittany. Although Kaethe tells him she is pregnant and he promises they will stay together, news of fishermen from his home awakens his longing. He dreams of Brittany and tries to cross the Hrafuaga swamp; it breaks beneath him and swallows him as Kaethe watches.
The very young Duke of Parthenay and Blanche have been married by their families but are sent away from one another: she to a school and he to command a regiment. The duke disguises himself as a peasant girl to reach the school; when war forces him to leave, Blanche escapes and joins him at the front, where his regiment helps secure victory and the couple reunites.
In 1594, Henri IV seeks to capture Paris without battle. Disguised as a soldier, he persuades the boatman Claude to ferry him across the Seine; a convoy that appears to carry supplies instead contains the King’s army, and the city is taken peacefully.
Angélique, adopted by Hubert and Hubertine, falls in love with Félicien, whose father is a bishop. The bishop refuses to let his son marry. Angélique falls gravely ill, but the bishop’s change of heart and prayer precede her recovery and reunion with Félicien.
An operatic setting of François Villon’s 1461 Le Testament, characterized by sparse instrumentation and detailed rhythmic notation intended to reproduce the text’s rhythms.
Roberto and Anna celebrate their engagement before Roberto leaves to collect an inheritance. He is enchanted by a siren and forgets Anna, who waits through the seasons and dies in winter. Her father calls on the Villi, spirits who punish those who betray women who die of heartbreak. When Roberto returns, penniless and remorseful, Anna and the Villi lure him into the forest and dance him to death.
A four-act Italian dramma giocoso with roles including Bellina, her tutor Dottor Romualdo, her lover Filandro, and her friend Ersilia.
This three-act opéra bouffon by four composers premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1803 and ran for four performances.
During the 1558 siege of Calais, the Duc de Guise disguises himself as sailor André to enter the city and bring in French troops. The English governor surrenders, restoring Calais to France; a subplot follows the Countess’s prediction that she may become Guise’s duchess.
Marco Tutino’s Italian-language opera is based on Sándor Márai’s novel Embers. The available text does not provide plot details.
The Cadi neglects his wife Fatime while flirting with other women. Zelmire, who loves Nuradin, disguises herself as Omar’s supposedly unattractive daughter Ali and tricks the Cadi into planning to divorce Fatime and marry her. The deception is eventually exposed.
The Cadi neglects his wife Fatime while flirting with other women. Zelmire, who loves Nuradin, disguises herself as Omar’s daughter Ali and tricks the Cadi into planning to divorce Fatime and marry her. The deception is eventually exposed.
Caliph Isaoun roams Baghdad in disguise as Il Bondocani. Zétulbé loves him after he rescued her from brigands, but her mother Lémaïde refuses the match because he appears shabby. When Isaoun’s followers bring gifts, Lémaïde suspects he is a brigand and the police try to break in. Isaoun eventually reveals that he is the caliph, allowing him and Zétulbé to marry.
Three country women aspire to become bel canto singers with help from the ignorant choirmaster Don Bucefalo and would-be singer Don Marco. Their plans are complicated when Carlino, a soldier thought lost in Spain, returns as Rosa’s jealous husband.
During Carnival in Venice, Léandre chooses Isabelle over Léonore, who joins the jealous Rodolphe in plotting revenge. Rodolphe’s attempt to kill Léandre fails, and the lovers plan to flee. A staged tale of Orpheus and Euridice ends with the couple separated forever after Orpheus looks back.
In French-controlled Algeria, the miserly caïd Aboul-y-far offers his daughter Fathma to the hairdresser Birotteau in exchange for a supposed protective talisman, overlooking Birotteau’s engagement to Virginie. The caïd’s steward encourages Fathma’s romance with drum-major Michel, and the complications end with the talisman revealed as a baldness-curing pomade. Virginie and Birotteau marry, as do Fathma and Michel, while the caïd regrets the expense.
Daniel believes Bettly has accepted his love, but she reveals that friends forged her letter and rejects marriage. When her brother Max returns with soldiers, he conceals his identity and frightens Bettly into thinking she is at their mercy. Daniel offers himself to enlist in her defense; impressed by his courage, Bettly signs a marriage contract, and Max secretly signs too, ensuring their union.
Péki loves the poor farmhand Yan-Ko, who vanished into the sky on a bronze horse, and resists an arranged marriage to the polygamous mandarin Tsing-Sing. Yan-Ko returns but is later turned to stone along with Tsing-Sing and Prince Yang. Péki rides the horse to Princess Stella’s palace on Venus and obtains a magic bracelet that frees Yan-Ko and Yang, securing her marriage to Yan-Ko.
After losing his position when the regent Philippe d’Orléans succeeds Louis XIV, Raoul d’Harmental joins the Cellamare conspiracy to seize the regent and give power to Philip V of Spain. The plot fails, but Raoul falls in love with Bathilde; Buvat pleads for Raoul’s life and their marriage.
Toto returns to Normandy after squandering his fortune and puts his ancestral castle up for auction. His neighbor plans to seize it, but Pitou disguises himself as a general and wins the sale with Jeanne’s dowry. After a series of disguises and courtships, Jeanne marries Toto, who keeps the castle and returns to country life.
In Metastasio’s drama, Lisinga and her friends Tangia and Sivene entertain her brother Silango with contrasting performances, including tragic, pastoral, and comic scenes.
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