3280 shows
Clear filtersBored Lord Evendale considers suicide, but his doctor persuades him to take a year away. In England, Evendale disguises himself while working for Dora’s uncle and falls in love with her; he is free to marry Dora when it emerges that Lady Evendale had previously married the doctor.
Juno seeks to prevent the Trojan Aeneas from marrying Lavinia and provokes conflict between Trojans and Latins. After a Trojan hunting party kills a Latin shepherd, King Latino resists calls for war, but Turnus leads the Latins into battle. Aeneas kills Turnus, and Latino offers Lavinia’s hand to Aeneas; Juno abandons her hostility and joins Venus and Hymen in blessing the marriage.
This early opera scenica by Francesco Cavalli treats the mythological wedding of Thetis and Peleus, with scenes involving gods, Tritons, Bacchantes, demons, chorus, and dancers.
Abandoned theatrical project based on the marriage of Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis. Monteverdi initially described it as a favola marittima; it was later projected as a sequence of intermedi before the commission was cancelled.
The opera presents the marriage of Hercules (Ercole) and Hebe (Ebe), with Giove and Giunone among its characters.
In an 18th-century German town, Sabina loves Claudio but her father has promised her to Trifoglio. She passes off Claudio’s portrait as the king’s, so the villagers treat her lover as royalty. Trifoglio withdraws when he discovers Sabina has no dowry, and Claudio wins her by agreeing to forgo one.
A two-act French opéra comique with music by Egidio Duni and a libretto by Louis Anseaume.
Prince Lindoro searches for the rightful heir to Sorrento, taken as a baby to Taranto after her father’s murder. Fisherwomen Lesbina and Nerina each hope to be the princess and compete for Lindoro, but the heiress is Eurilda; she leaves with him while the other two couples are reunited after comic deceptions.
In this comic burlesque of Faust, an elderly professor trades his reason for youth and wealth to pursue Marguerite, who has left school to teach the can-can in London. Their reunion leads to a duel in which Faust kills her brother Valentin; at Walpurgis Night, Mephisto condemns Faust to remain with the unwilling Marguerite, while Valentin is redeemed.
A French two-act opéra comique set in the Basque country. Its plot is not described in the entry.
The opera links short stories of civilians caught in wars across time. A Japanese businessman receives news of his country's surrender and later reenacts seppuku; the Roman poet Cinna is killed after being mistaken for another Cinna; two Balkan enemies trapped beneath a fallen tree begin to talk; and French hussar Épivent learns that cabaret singer Irma has been violated and infected enemy soldiers with syphilis as an act of revenge.
An Austrian commander abducts Corine, the wife of the boatman Paolo. Distraught, Paolo joins the French, who demand that the commander surrender the fort. During the French assault, the courage of a reluctant officer, aided by Paolo, wins the battle. Corine is freed, and Paolo is made a captain.
Doge Cornarino secretly returns to Venice after fleeing a naval battle, while his cousin Malatromba plots to seize the throne and pursue Catarina. Disguises and mistaken identities lead to arrests and a Council of Ten hearing, but news reveals that Cornarino’s apparent flight was a ruse that helped defeat the enemy. During carnival, the rivals joust; the 1868 version changes the contest’s result, and Cornarino is sent as ambassador to Spain.
The opera is based on an episode in M. Morton's Le Comte de Villamayor. The identified roles include Gasparillo, Teresita, Helena, Christina, Don Raphael, Don Ramiro, and the corregidor.
Des Grieux disapproves of his nephew Jean’s love for Aurore, but Tiberge persuades him to reconsider. A portrait of Manon leads to the discovery that Aurore is Manon’s niece, and Des Grieux consents to the young couple’s marriage.
Newly married postillion Chapelou leaves his innkeeper wife Madeleine when the Marquis de Corcy recruits him for the Paris Opera. Ten years later, Madeleine, now wealthy Madame de Latour, meets Chapelou, who does not recognize her and proposes marriage. She reveals her identity and deception on their wedding night, and they renew their vows.
French officer Gaston falls in love with Hélène, an Englishwoman whose fiancé Littlepool has been arrested as a spy. After both officers face execution amid the conflict, Littlepool releases Hélène to Gaston, who chooses to remain with her rather than escape.
Méhul's one-act opéra comique features Guillaume IX, Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine; Bérenger, his troubadour; and members of the Touraille family. The opera had a short initial run of 13 performances.
Jean de Leyde, a Dutch innkeeper, is drawn into an Anabaptist uprising after Count Oberthal abducts his fiancée Berthe and threatens his mother Fidès. The movement’s leaders proclaim Jean a prophet and king in Münster, where he takes power and later confronts Fidès. He repents and reunites with Berthe and his mother, but when imperial forces and the Anabaptists turn against him, Berthe dies and Jean destroys the palace, killing those inside.
In 1582, Marguerite de Valois plots to help Isabelle, a Béarnaise countess, marry Baron de Mergy and return to Navarre. Their plans are threatened by Comminge, who expects to marry Isabelle. Isabelle and Mergy wed secretly during the festivities for Nicette and Girot. Mergy defeats Comminge in a duel, and the couple escape to Navarre with Cantarelli.
After defeating the Saxons, King Arthur praises Lancelot. Lancelot and Guinevere, Arthur’s wife, meet secretly, but Mordred discovers them and is wounded by Lancelot. The lovers flee to Lancelot’s castle, and Merlin foretells the fall of the Round Table. Arthur pursues them; Lancelot refuses to fight his king, Guinevere takes her own life, and Arthur forgives the mortally wounded Lancelot before departing for the Ideal.
Margared abandons her arranged marriage after Mylio returns, but learns he loves her sister Rozenn. In jealousy she helps Karnac open the sea gates protecting Ys; when the city floods, Margared sacrifices herself, and Saint Corentin calms the waters.
In eleventh-century Lahore, priestess Sita loves King Alim, but Scindia, the king’s minister, also desires her. Scindia arranges an ambush and usurps the throne after Alim is mortally wounded. The god Indra restores Alim’s soul to life as a humble man for as long as Sita lives. Scindia plans to marry Sita, but Alim reaches Indra’s sanctuary and reunites with her. Sita stabs herself to escape Scindia; Alim becomes a spirit again, and the lovers are united in paradise.
A three-act French opéra-comique by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine. No plot description or premiere information is available in the reviewed text.
After promising the king that he will present a son at court, the Marquis disguises the peasant Benoit as his heir. Benoit helps his four sisters escape unwanted marriages and ultimately wins permission to marry Javotte, while the family’s deception is resolved to their advantage.
Henri de Valois, elected king of Poland, longs to return to France. He joins a conspiracy against himself, disguises himself as his friend Nangis, and maneuvers among the conspirators while pursuing Alexina. When Henri escapes toward the frontier, Alexina helps him; Nangis and Minka are reunited, and Henri is brought back and acclaimed as king.
Libertine Gennaro refuses to marry Elvire and pursues wealth instead. Elvire disguises herself as an old woman; when Gennaro’s ventures fail, he marries her for financial protection. A potion restores her youth, and he is accused of murdering his wife. Facing execution, he would rather die than see Elvire become old again, convincing her of his love.
A two-act Italian dramma giocoso expanded by Traetta from an earlier one-act intermezzo. The original cast included Lelio, Giacinta, Palmetta, and Giannino; the expanded version added Don Grillo, Carlina, and Letanzio.
In late 18th-century London, Sir James Turner discovers that gold has been disappearing from his home. Like the money-lender in Balzac's source story, Turner is found to have taken his own property while sleepwalking. Unlike the source character, he survives the discovery.
During the siege of Corinth, Governor Cléomène learns that his daughter Pamira loves Maometto, the Turkish leader, whom she once knew as Almanzor. Pamira is torn between love and loyalty to Greece and finally joins her father and the Greek defenders. After the city falls, Pamira and the women kill themselves rather than submit, and Corinth is shown burning.
Queen Elizabeth and Olivia take refuge at a tavern and encounter a drunken William Shakespeare. Later, Olivia impersonates a mysterious figure that Shakespeare believes to be his muse; Lord Latimer challenges him to a duel, and Shakespeare flees into a river. At court, the Queen arranges for the night’s events to be treated as a dream, inspiring the play Shakespeare will write.
The Count’s eccentric conduct drives a comic opera.
While Isabelle’s lover Léandre is away, Cassandre persuades her to marry him. Léandre returns and she changes her mind, asking Cassandre’s portrait to accept the change; Cassandre is revealed to have been hiding behind the picture.
After Apollo defeats Envy’s attack on the Temple of Glory, the opera presents three rulers tested by its standards. Bélus learns that kings should bring happiness rather than wage war; Bacchus is denied entry because fame won through debauchery is not lasting glory. Trajan returns victorious from Armenia but frees the conquered kings and asks that the Temple of Glory become a Temple of Happiness for all.
The artist Conrad is obsessed with gold and is captivated by his painting of Circe, embodied by the ballerina Fiammetta. Dr. Spiridion gives Conrad a silver bell that grants the gold he desires at the cost of someone’s death. In the end, Conrad realizes that the events have taken place only in his fevered imagination.
Coraline, a former Paris opera singer unhappily married to retired bullfighter Don Belflor, meets her old admirer Tracolin in Barcelona. They exchange letters, and Tracolin enters the house after rescuing Belflor from attackers. Tracolin says he is arranging a meeting between Belflor and the dancer Caritéa, but gives him Coraline’s letter. Coraline mistakes her husband’s confusion for evidence that her own affair is exposed. Tracolin later explains Belflor’s infidelity with Caritéa. Belflor admits it and begs forgiveness; Coraline accepts if she can keep Tracolin as her lover, and Belflor agrees.
On the wedding day of Xaïma and Manoël, Ben-Saïd arrives to demand twenty virgins as tribute after the Moors’ victory at Zamora. Xaïma and her friend Iglésia are selected. Manoël follows Xaïma in disguise, but Ben-Saïd wins her at auction. Hermosa, a madwoman taken captive in the battle, helps Manoël and later recognizes Xaïma as her daughter. When Ben-Saïd refuses to spare Xaïma, Hermosa kills him with Manoël’s dagger. Hadjar pardons Hermosa on the grounds of insanity.
Midshipman Duval has taken the role of clerk to Jocard because he loves Agathe, Jocard’s pupil. Jocard, whose wife has died, has begun to take an interest in Agathe. She and Duval promise to remain faithful, but Duval’s impersonation is soon threatened when Jocard sends him to handle a case for an uncle who does not know the truth. The available synopsis stops before the story’s resolution.
Dorval loves Lucile, but her uncle Géronte forbids their relationship while seeking to buy Dorval's house cheaply. Crispin exploits Géronte's habit of eavesdropping by inventing a story about a buried treasure in Dorval's cellar. Géronte buys the house to claim the treasure, but the chest is empty except for a note praising work and thrift. Dorval agrees to cancel the sale if Géronte permits his marriage to Lucile; news that Dorval's father has made a fortune helps secure the uncle's consent.
A two-act opera set in Shetland, with scenes at Barlow’s home and village, and at a point on the island near a monastery and an anchored ship.
In Andorra, Stéphan tries to escape conscription and faces execution for desertion. Rose-de-Mai steals money to ransom him, claiming it came from Georgette; a twist reveals Rose is Thérèse’s long-lost daughter, leaving her and Stéphan free to marry.
Pierre faces conscription and needs money to marry Reinette. Their guardian, village fiddler Père Mathieu, plays a mysterious violin that frightens Pierre; when the instrument is broken, a letter reveals Mathieu is rightful owner of a castle. Mathieu gives the couple the money they need but chooses to remain a poor fiddler.
A two-part German-language opera based on Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. The entry does not provide a detailed account of the opera’s plot.
A documentary opera about Rosemary Kennedy, who was left with learning difficulties after birth complications and underwent a lobotomy at age 23 in 1941. Her condition worsened and she spent the remainder of her life institutionalized. The work assembles archival tests, speeches, interviews and books rather than using a conventional libretto.
As the Trojan War approaches, Agamemnon plans a sacrifice, prompting Klytaemnestra to send their son Orest away with his nurse Anastasia. Iphigenia disappears during the attempted sacrifice. Years later, she appears to King Thoas, while Orest and Anastasia reach Athens.
A Dutch-language opera based on Rodolphe Töpffer’s illustrated comic book about butterfly collector Mr. Vieux Bois. A cited review describes the opera’s protagonist, Festus, as a butterfly-obsessed fantasist who flees his sister and encounters bizarre situations.
Vilma, an orphan raised by the village, attracts the attention of married men, provoking the women to complain to the mayor. Vilma loves Hermann, but her guardian Bums refuses consent. Hussar Janos engineers comic secret meetings that expose the villagers’ hypocrisy, then recognizes Vilma as his daughter through a song she learned from her mother. He secures the mayor’s agreement to Vilma and Hermann’s marriage before the regiment departs.
A Chinese-language opera based on Cao Yu’s play Thunderstorm and set in 1930s Shanghai.
A Czech-language opera by Karel Bendl.
Cadet Leo leaves his sweetheart Nellie to fight in the Anglo-Zulu War, where he earns the Victoria Cross. He returns to reunite with her.
An opera by Paul Dessau based on Georg Büchner’s play of the same name.
Leonora disguises herself as a man to enter the prison where her husband Florestano is imprisoned by his enemy Don Pizarro. She fools the jailer Rocco into giving her a job. When Pizarro learns that Governor Don Fernando is approaching, he orders Florestano’s execution. Leonora accompanies Rocco to the underground cell and threatens him with a pistol until Don Fernando arrives and frees Florestano.
In Granada in the late 15th century, Abencerrage warrior Almanzor is to marry Zegri princess Noraïme, despite the feud between their families. Almanzor has also negotiated peace between Muslims and Christians with his friend Gonzalve of Cordoba. Called away to suppress a revolt, Almanzor loses Granada’s sacred standard and is condemned to exile. He returns secretly to Noraïme but is captured and sentenced to death unless a champion defends him. Gonzalve appears with the standard, defeats the Zegris’ champion, and proves that Octaïr and other conspirators hid it. Almanzor and Noraïme marry.
Two French wives, Gabrielle and Eglantine, are accidentally sent with a group of prospective brides to an island of male colonists. Their husbands follow them and disguise themselves to reach them, while the governor threatens the intruders; the arrival of the long-missing first ship ends the conflict and allows the four French visitors to return home.
Danaus orders his daughters to kill their new husbands, the sons of Aegyptus. Hypermnestra alone refuses, helps her husband Lynceus escape, and survives as he destroys the Danaïdes and their father; Danaus is condemned to eternal torment in Hades.
A French one-act opéra comique about the romantic adventures of Lucie, the president’s niece. The surviving description names her lover Damis and the household members but gives no further plot details.
In a French village during the 1704 Cévennes conflict, Rose Friquet and Sylvain secretly aid Protestant refugees while dragoons search the mountains. Rose uses the hermit's bell to protect Georgette from the corporal Belamy, then helps the refugees escape by a hidden path. When Sylvain wrongly suspects Rose of betraying them, she proves their safe passage; Belamy's superior arrives before the corporal can retaliate, and Rose and Sylvain marry.
After their mother’s death, siblings Paul and Elisabeth live in an isolated, shared fantasy world. Elisabeth marries Michael, who dies the next day, leaving her a fortune. Paul’s friend Gérard and Gérard’s friend Agathe, who resembles Paul’s idol Dargelos, join them. Elisabeth manipulates events to prevent Paul and Agathe from forming a life together. Dargelos later sends Paul a poisoned ball; Elisabeth kills herself and Paul, preserving their adolescence in death.
Three-act French adaptation of Stephen Storace’s opera, with a new libretto by Pierre-Ulric Dubuisson. The reviewed entry gives no version-specific plot synopsis.
Hector Berlioz's unfinished three-act opera, with a libretto by Humbert Ferrand, is set in medieval Germany and concerns secret Vehmic trials, stormy passions, and rescue from oppression. The opera was never staged, and most of its music was destroyed.
A five-act French grand opéra by Benjamin Godard to a libretto by Louis Gallet.
A French tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri, with a text by Nicolas-François Guillard after Corneille’s play Horace.
During the French Wars of Religion, Catholic noble Valentine and Huguenot Raoul fall in love, but Raoul mistakenly believes she is Count de Nevers’s mistress and rejects her. The Queen attempts to arrange their marriage to reconcile Catholics and Protestants. Valentine marries Nevers, while conflict intensifies between the religious factions. She warns Raoul of a plot against him, and he realizes her love. On the night of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Nevers is killed defending Protestants. Valentine joins Raoul and his servant Marcel in refusing to renounce their faith. They are killed by Catholic soldiers, and Saint-Bris realizes too late that he has murdered his daughter.
Hébé and Cupid redirect the pursuit of love from Europe to distant lands. In four entrées, Émilie and Valère reunite through Osman’s generosity; the Inca princess Phani chooses Carlos over the priest Huascar; Persian lovers resolve their disguises and suspicions; and Zima chooses Native American Adario over two European suitors. The Flowers entrée exists in two versions and was later omitted from Rameau’s 1761 form.
Argie loves the paladin Atis, but her guardian Anselme wants to marry her and holds her captive with her friend Nérine. Atis and the paladins disguise themselves to rescue Argie, while Nérine repeatedly distracts jailor Orcan. Fairy Manto transforms the castle and helps expose Anselme’s infidelity; he admits defeat, and Argie and Atis reunite.
Alfred Bruneau’s four-act opera adapts Émile Zola’s short story Les Quatre journées de Jean Gourdon. Its acts follow Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, with the characters aging across the changing seasons.
As Troy celebrates the apparent end of the Greek siege, Cassandra foresees the city’s destruction, but the Trojans bring the wooden horse inside their walls. The Greeks emerge and sack Troy. Cassandra and the Trojan women choose death rather than capture, while Aeneas escapes with survivors. In Carthage, Queen Dido welcomes the Trojans and falls in love with Aeneas after they help defend the city. The gods summon Aeneas to found a new Troy in Italy, and he sails away. Dido, abandoned, takes her own life on a funeral pyre and foretells Carthage’s destruction and Rome’s rise.
This three-act opera concerns the reconciliation of two warring peoples and centers on the Amazons and the founding of Thebes. Its intended allegory was the peace between France and Austria.
The widowed farmer Ragonde loves the young Colin, who wants to marry her daughter Colette. Lucas also loves Colette, but Ragonde will not allow their marriage unless Colin marries her. Colette, Lucas, and Thibault disguise village boys as goblins and frighten Colin into agreeing to marry Ragonde. The opera ends with a double wedding and a charivari.
In an allegory of Louis XIV’s peaceful reign, the Arts and a group of warriors are drawn into conflict between Peace and Discord. Discord and the Furies briefly prevail, but Peace appeals to Jupiter, whose thunderbolts drive them back to Hades.
King Pausole’s daughter Aline runs away with Mirabelle, prompting the king and his page Giglio to pursue them. After romantic entanglements at a farm and an inn, Giglio leaves with Aline and the king abdicates.
A three-act tragédie lyrique featuring Floria, chief vestal virgin, and Marcomir, leader of the Barbarians; the opera was originally intended for the Roman theatre of Orange.
Penniless poet Roland hides from his creditors and wins entry to Sarmiento’s home by promising to silence the wealthy man’s talkative wife, Béatrix. His endless chatter overwhelms her, while he courts her niece Inès; a ruse with love letters makes Sarmiento jealous, pays Roland’s debts and wins approval for the marriage.
In 1682 at Benares, Rajah Démaly loves Laméa, a bayadere forbidden to marry. Mahratta general Olkar captures the city and imprisons Démaly. Laméa tricks Olkar and the bayaderes disarm the occupiers during a celebration, enabling a rescue army to defeat them. Démaly is supposedly dying from a poisoned arrow, and Laméa’s vow is released when Hyderam says Vishnu once married a bayadere; the couple marry.
A projected multi-act opéra-ballet planned around Anacreon; manuscript evidence links it to the one-act works Nélée et Myrthis, La naissance d’Osiris and Anacréon.
In Arcadia, Myriame and Daphné fall in love despite their parents’ plans to dedicate them to the gods. When Myriame mistakenly believes hunters have killed Daphné, he attempts suicide, but Eros saves him and sends the lovers through different eras. At a Louis XV mansion, they return as Colin and Annette amid flirtation and intrigue. In the final pastoral, they become La Rouge and Nicot, while Eros stirs jealousy at a wedding feast before the antique visitors ascend to the heavens.
Brigand chief Falsacappa and his daughter Fiorella plan to rob the wedding delegation of the Duke of Mantua and Princess of Granada. Through disguises, they impersonate the delegates, but the dowry has already been squandered by the Duke’s treasurer. When the real parties arrive, Fiorella reminds the Duke that she once saved him; he grants the brigands amnesty, and they promise to reform.
During the first winter of World War I, four orphaned children shelter in their burned farmhouse. When Clara says Père Noël will not come, their elderly neighbour Père Jean disguises himself as Père Noël and brings gifts and messages from their dead parents, asking the children to love one another. Pierre receives a rifle. When a German soldier orders him to kneel, Pierre shoots him. Père Jean rescues the pursued children by boat and hides them in a riverside cave.
Coelio asks his friend Octave to help him win Marianne, who is married to magistrate Claudio. Marianne offers Octave an assignation, but he yields the chance to Coelio. Claudio has the supposed lover ambushed, and Coelio is killed, believing Octave betrayed him. Octave renounces pleasure, while Marianne is heartbroken.
In a Nuremberg tavern, the poet Hoffmann tells of three loves. In Paris, he falls for Olympia, an automaton, and discovers the deception when she is destroyed. In Munich, he reunites with Antonia, whose singing under the influence of Dr. Miracle leads to her death. In Venice, Hoffmann loves Giulietta, who steals his reflection at the request of Dapertutto. Returning to the tavern, Hoffmann declares that the three women represent facets of the singer Stella. Nicklausse reveals herself as the Muse and claims Hoffmann for poetry; Stella leaves with Lindorf.
In Smyrna, the speculator Martin and banker Gripon search a pyramid for treasure. When Martin says there is none, Gripon suspects him of cheating and locks him inside. Jérôme and Henriette fall in love but must escape both men; after further misfortunes, Gripon learns he has been cheated and despairs of finding honesty.
Two fake blind beggars compete for the best spot on a Paris bridge through music, card-playing and exaggerated stories. Their tricks reveal that they can see well enough to retrieve dropped coins, exposing their pretended blindness in a comic contest.
The opera's characters include two blind musicians, Nuguez and Don Brusco; Mendoce, who poses as Pedro and as their pupil; Flora, Nuguez's niece; and Jacinthe, the musicians' housekeeper.
Water carrier Mikeli helps Count Armand and his wife Constance escape Paris, which is surrounded by Cardinal Mazarin’s soldiers. Mikeli disguises Constance as his daughter and hides Armand in his cart. They reach Gonesse, where Mikeli reports that the queen has pardoned the parliamentarians, allowing the couple to reunite safely.
Portuguese princess Catarina becomes involved with bandits after she is forced to sell the crown diamonds. A more detailed plot is not provided.
A one-act French opéra-comique by Philidor, with a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine after Jean de La Fontaine’s tale Les rémois. The source notes that its plot is similar to Mozart’s Così fan tutte but gives no further plot details.
The first act recounts Venus and Adonis: Mars plots against his rival, Adonis is killed in a hunt and turned into an anemone, but Jupiter restores him. In the second act, Jupiter’s celebration helps Bacchus succumb to the nymph Erigone’s love. In the third, jealous Venus punishes Psyche; after a Fury causes a shipwreck and Psyche drowns, Cupid rescues her from the underworld and declares his love. Venus restores Psyche’s beauty and blesses the couple.
The prologue celebrates the French victory at Fontenoy. The first entrée depicts Hercules marrying Hebe; the second tells how Seleucus gives up Stratonice when he learns that his son Antiochus loves her. In the third, Argélie’s love redeems Zimès from the evil fairy Alcina.
Alphonse, king of Castile, has imprisoned Fatime, princess of Granada, after killing her father. Her confidante Isbé persuades her that Alphonse’s son Ramire may be less cruel. Warriors and fortune-tellers bring hope, and Ramire finally appears and pledges himself to Fatime, who accepts his love.
After Cupid and Hymen reconcile in the prologue, Osiris wins the Amazon queen Orthésie through peaceful gifts of dance and art. Canopus saves Memphis from sacrifice, reveals himself to her, and grants mercy to the people. In the final entrée, Aruéris establishes an arts festival where Orie wins the singing contest and becomes his bride.
In the prologue, Hébé escapes the unwanted attention of Momus and joins celebrations of the arts. The three entrées tell of Sappho and Alcaeus reunited through an allegorical play, Tyrtaeus winning Iphise through victory in battle, and shepherdess Eglé choosing Mercury as her husband.
A flexible opéra-ballet set in Venice, built from independently plotted entrées that changed over time. In one entrée, Léandre’s love triangle with Isabelle and Léonore leads to a revenge plot. In another, Orpheus enters Hades for Euridice but loses her forever when he looks back.
Thérèse rebels against her submissive life, becomes the male Tirésias, and leaves to wage a campaign against childbirth. Her husband vows to find a way to have children without women, then gives birth to 40,049 children in one day. Amid the resulting famine in Zanzibar, Tirésias returns in disguise as a fortune-teller; the couple reunite and the cast urges the audience to heed the lessons of war and have children.
A three-act French drame lyrique by André Grétry with text by Barnabé Farmian Durosoy. Its story is not described in the available account.
In Roman-ruled Armenia, Polyeucte secretly converts to Christianity while his wife Pauline still mourns Sévère, the Roman officer she once loved and believed dead. Pauline discovers Christians worshipping in the catacombs and begs Polyeucte to renounce his faith. Sévère returns alive and learns that Pauline is married. After Polyeucte is arrested for his faith, he publicly destroys pagan relics. Pauline pleads with her father Félix and Sévère to save him, but Polyeucte refuses to recant. A vision leads Pauline to convert. At the amphitheatre, she joins her husband and the other Christians as they await execution.
A comic opera by Fromental Halévy. The entry does not describe its plot.
In Perpignan, Olivette loves Valentine, nephew of the sea captain De Merimac to whom she is engaged. When De Merimac is away at sea, Valentine disguises himself as his uncle and secretly marries Olivette, but on the captain's return their marriage is challenged. Disguises and a shipboard escape cause further confusion until Olivette and Valentine prove their case, their marriage is upheld, and the Countess acknowledges the Duke's advances.
A one-act French opéra comique by Victor Massé; its story is not documented in the available account.
At Versailles, Music and Conversation disagree: Music wants to sing, while Conversation prefers to drink chocolate. Comus attempts to reconcile them with chocolate, wine, and sweets. They eventually agree to help King Louis relax after his wars.
Pearl fishers Zurga and Nadir renew their vow of friendship, unaware that Leïla, the priestess who arrives to pray for their safety, is the woman they once loved. When Nadir and Leïla reunite, Zurga’s jealousy condemns them, but he recognizes Leïla as the child who once saved his life and frees the pair during a fire. Later productions altered the ending, sometimes having Zurga killed.
Dugravier leaves his country home to arrange marriages for Reine and Louise. While he is away, each young woman plans to meet her lover, and Julie favors Jasmin over Bertrand. When Dugravier returns unexpectedly, the three young men hide, then pretend to be the wealthy suitors’ sons and win approval for all three marriages.
During the coronation of Sybaris’s new queen, Hersilide, the neighbouring city of Croton invades. Hersilide welcomes the attackers with flowers, and their general Astole falls in love with her. He agrees to let Sybaris keep its laws and acknowledges Cupid’s power; the two peoples celebrate together.
The original prologue celebrates peace after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In La lyre enchantée, Urania falls under a spell of love but Linus remains devoted to Parthenope; in Adonis, Cupid helps Venus win Adonis while Diana discovers her own love for Endymion. A 1757 revision removed the prologue, revised these entrées, and added Anacréon, in which a poet chooses love alongside Bacchus rather than excluding it.
The opera interweaves a film crew making a story about three wishes with the film itself. In the film, a fairy grants Juste and his wife Indolenda wishes for wealth, youth and love. Their new riches sink a boat, and after Indolenda becomes young she chooses her cousin Adolf over Juste. The fairy’s final wish makes the formerly wealthy Eblouie Barbichette fall in love with Juste, but her jealousy turns violent and he dies. The film succeeds, while the actors playing Indolenda and Adolf begin an affair in real life; the epilogue leaves Artur alone, proud of the film but fearing others mock him.
Lubin and Lucas, dissatisfied with their fiancées Margot and Fanchon, decide to exchange partners. The women agree but make the men regret the change; they are accepted back only after apologizing and agreeing to each woman’s terms.
A two-act opéra-comique by François-Adrien Boieldieu based on Emmanuel Dupaty’s comedy Le séducteur en voyage. A revised version premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1920. No plot description or original premiere date is available in the reviewed text.
In 1282 Palermo, Sicilian patriot Procida returns from exile and plans an uprising against French rule. Hélène, whose brother was executed by the French, joins him and Henri in plotting resistance. Henri learns that Montfort, the French governor, is his father; at a ball he saves Montfort from assassination, angering the Sicilians. Montfort pardons the rebels and consents to Henri and Hélène’s marriage. Procida intends to use the wedding as the signal for a massacre, and when the bells ring, the Sicilians attack the French.
A fantasized biography of Nikola Tesla, represented as Gregor, who arrives in America in 1884. He clashes with Edison and receives help from the entrepreneur Parker, philanthropists Ethel and Norman, and journalist Betty. Gregor increasingly obsesses over impractical projects and imagined contact with extraterrestrials.
Destiny orders the elements to replace chaos and promises Venus that they will favour the young Louis XV. Four independent entrées follow: Ixion’s love for Juno ends in punishment; Neptune blesses the marriage of Leucosie and Arion; Cupid saves Emilie and Valère’s wedding; and Vertumne wins Pomone after disguising himself as a woman.
An opéra-ballet in a prologue and three acts, organized around youth, maturity, and old age and their differing forms of love.
King Edward’s devotion to Gaveston draws Mortimer’s opposition as the realm suffers. Isabel joins Mortimer’s campaign; after Gaveston’s death, the King is imprisoned and forced to abdicate, while his son takes the throne, rejects Isabel, and orders Mortimer’s death.
A television opera about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, incorporating letters and other texts attributed to him. A described scene depicts Joseph Haydn accusing Mozart of plagiarism in court, with Michael Nyman appearing as a court pianist asked to play the disputed passage.
Leucippo falls in love with Dafne, a priestess who has taken a vow of chastity. The three-act pastoral opera explores the conflict between love and duty.
During the Napoleonic occupation of Germany, Theodor Körner joins Major von Lützow’s Freikorps, leaving his betrothed Toni to fight for German liberation. After battle near Leipzig, Körner is wounded and hidden by farmer Häusser; Johanna nurses him and helps him escape to Leipzig. He later rejoins Lützow, Friesen and Elise. When the enemy approaches, Körner senses his impending death and returns to battle. The Freikorps wins, but Körner is killed, and Lützow orders his men back into battle in vengeance.
Leyli and Geys fall in love, but her father refuses their marriage and promises her to Ibn Salam. Geys leaves for the desert and becomes known as Majnun; despite attempts to change her father’s mind, Leyli marries Ibn Salam. She dies in her husband’s arms while longing for Majnun, who later dies at her grave.
The daughter of a Romanian landowner is engaged to a young nobleman but is attracted to a Romani violinist, who is her intended’s half-brother. Complications unfold at her engagement party, and she dreams of her future.
A farsetta for six voices by Gaspare Spontini, set among a wealthy farmer’s daughter, the count she intends to marry, his brother, and the count’s household. No fuller plot is available in the reviewed text.
Carlo leaves Belluccia, his former love, for Ciomma. Disguised as a man, Belluccia pursues him and attracts several local women, including Ciomma. When Belluccia’s father Federico threatens Carlo, Belluccia intervenes, and she and Carlo reconcile and marry. The newlyweds sail home on Federico’s galley.
The Czech princess Libuše rules on a dispute between brothers over their father's estate, but the elder rejects her judgment because she is a woman. She calls Přemysl to become her husband and prince; after the brothers reconcile and Chrudoš apologizes, Libuše prophesies the future glory and trials of the Czech nation.
Stockhausen’s seven-part opera cycle follows the intertwined figures Michael, Eve, and Lucifer across seven operas named for the days of the week. Its music combines vocal, instrumental, electronic, and theatrical elements in a work lasting about 29 hours.
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