Lo spirito di contradizione
Don Cesarino plots to marry Lisetta, Cecchina and Countess Flaminia for their dowries and then disappear. Other men who are interested in the women thwart his scheme.
Operas
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Mozart’s unfinished comic opera concerns Bocconio Papparelli, a rich but foolish man engaged to Eugenia, and the rivalry of three women for one lover. Eugenia loves Don Asdrubale, who is also loved by Bettina and Metilde. Only about 20 minutes of the first act survive.
Lo straniero
A two-act opera with an original story featuring Old Testament characters, part of Pizzetti’s trilogy on redemption and the virtue of love.
Lodoletta
Dutch orphan Lodoletta leaves her artist lover Flammen when he suggests they live together. Later, she follows him to Paris, but seeing his New Year’s Eve party, she collapses outside in the snow and dies, deliriously asking his forgiveness.
Lodoïska
Count Floreski searches for Lodoïska, who was hidden by her father after he opposed their marriage. He learns she is imprisoned in Baron Dourlinski’s castle and allies with Titzikan, a Tartar leader whose people have suffered under the baron. Dourlinski threatens to kill Floreski unless Lodoïska marries him, but Titzikan’s forces storm the castle, defeat the baron and rescue the lovers.
Lohengrin
In Brabant, Elsa is accused of murdering her brother. A mysterious knight arrives by swan-drawn boat, defeats her accuser and agrees to marry her on the condition that she never ask his name or origin. Ortrud and Telramund undermine Elsa’s trust, and she eventually asks the forbidden questions. The knight reveals himself as Lohengrin, a Knight of the Grail, and must leave; he restores Elsa’s brother Gottfried from swan form, and Elsa dies as he departs.
Lohengrin
From Elsa’s perspective, the story follows a Vestal Virgin accused of fornication. Lohengrin marries her but refuses to consummate the marriage despite her attempts to seduce him. A pillow turns into a swan, and Lohengrin returns to the moon on its back. At the end, Elsa is revealed to be a patient in a psychiatric ward.
Lolita
The opera opens with Humbert Humbert facing a court after his relationship with Lolita. He marries her mother to gain access to the girl, then travels with Lolita after her mother dies. Lolita later escapes his control and becomes involved with filmmaker Quilty; Humbert kills Quilty and is sentenced to death.
Longing for Husband Cloud
A Chinese-language western-style opera based on a story of the Bai people.
Lord Byron
In Westminster Abbey, Byron’s friends, wife, and sister ask the Dean to permit a statue and the poet’s burial there. The arrival of the statue prompts memories of Byron’s courtship, his incestuous relationship with his half-sister Augusta Leigh, and his exile. Fearing what his memoirs might reveal, they burn the manuscript without reading it. When the Dean learns what they have done, he denies Byron burial in the Abbey. The shades of the poets in Poets’ Corner welcome Byron at the end.
Loreley
Walter seduces Loreley but leaves her to marry Anna. Loreley swears fidelity to the Rhine god and transforms into the legendary siren. At Walter and Anna’s wedding she appears and lures Walter away; Anna dies, and later Walter drowns while Loreley is restrained by her oath to Alberich.
Los amores de la Inés
One-act Spanish zarzuela in two scenes.
Lost Highway
Olga Neuwirth’s opera adapts David Lynch’s 1997 film into music theatre for singers, actors and live electronics. Its roles include Fred, Pete, Alice/Renee, Mr Eddy/Dick Laurent and the Mystery Man.
Lotario
In tenth-century Italy, Adelaide resists Berengario’s attempt to force her to marry his son after he seized the throne and killed her husband. German King Lotario comes to her aid, but both are captured and threatened. Idelberto ultimately refuses to betray Adelaide; after Lotario’s victory, Adelaide pardons her captors, gives Idelberto the Italian crown, and marries Lotario.
Lottchen am Hofe
Peasant girl Lottchen flirts with Count Astolph to teach her fiancé Jürgen a lesson. She then joins with Countess Emilie to teach both men a lesson.
Louis Riel
A bilingual opera about Métis leader Louis Riel, portraying the post-Confederation political upheavals of the Red River Rebellion and the North-West Rebellion, alongside the personal tragedy of Riel’s life and execution in 1885.
Louise
Louise, a seamstress, loves her neighbor Julien, an artist, but her parents oppose their marriage. When Julien asks her to run away with him, Louise hesitates because she loves her parents too. She eventually leaves home and moves with Julien to a cottage overlooking Paris, where she is celebrated by their bohemian friends. Her mother arrives with news that her father is ill. Moved by her parents’ distress, Julien lets Louise return home. Her father recovers and welcomes her, but Louise longs to be with Julien again. When her father angrily orders her to leave, she runs back to Julien.
Love Counts
Patsy Bear, a boxer who cannot read or recognize numbers reliably, meets Avril Ainger, a mathematics lecturer. She helps him learn basic arithmetic, though Patsy is more interested in sex. Avril discusses her abusive first marriage and asks Patsy to leave boxing; after she cuts up his gear, he becomes ill and falls into a coma. His doctor says conversation may restore his memory. In the final scene, Avril pushes him in a wheelchair along the street where they met, and they repeat their counting routine.
Love and Malice
In the early 16th century near Split, Ljubica loves Obren, though her father Velimir has promised her to Vukosav. Vukosav plots to seize Ljubica and kill Velimir. After Velimir forces Ljubica to reject Obren by letter, Vukosav's men capture them. Ljudevit leads peasants to their rescue and shoots Vukosav as he tries to stab Ljubica. The characters kneel in prayer.
Love and Other Demons
Maria lives neglected by her father and prefers the company of servants and slaves. After a dog bites her, she is taken to a convent for exorcism, where Father Delaura falls in love with her. Once their feelings are discovered, she is removed from the convent, and the bishop conducts the exorcism. Maria dies during the process.
Love in the Age of Therapy
Paul Grabowsky’s opera with a libretto by Joanna Murray-Smith premiered for OzOpera at the Melbourne Festival in October 2002.
Love's Labour's Lost
An English-language opera based on Shakespeare’s play, with scenes centered on the couples and a plot stretched over four seasons.
Luceafărul
The Evening Star falls in love with a mortal princess and asks God to send him to earth, despite the other angels’ objections. The princess ultimately marries another mortal, leaving the Evening Star condemned to immortality.
Luci mie traditrici
At the home of Count and Countess Malaspina in the late sixteenth century, the couple declare eternal love. The Countess then has an affair with a visiting Guest. That evening the Count forgives her; later he discovers the Guest’s corpse in her bed and stabs the Countess, who collapses beside the dead man.
Lucia di Lammermoor
In seventeenth century Scotland, Lucia Ashton and Edgardo Ravenswood secretly pledge to marry despite their families’ feud. Lucia’s brother Enrico forges a letter to make her believe Edgardo has been unfaithful, and pressures her to marry Arturo. Edgardo arrives after she signs the contract and curses her. Lucia later kills Arturo in a state of madness and dies; when Edgardo learns of her death, he stabs himself.
Lucile
On her wedding day, Lucile learns from the peasant Blaise that she was secretly exchanged as an infant after his wife nursed Timante’s child. Her poorer birth seems to threaten her marriage to Dorval, but Timante persuades Dorval’s father to let the wedding proceed. The opera ends in celebration.
Lucio Silla
Roman dictator Lucio Silla seeks to marry Giunia, whose father, Gaius Marius, was his enemy. Giunia loves the exiled senator Cecilio, whom Silla has falsely reported dead. Silla threatens Giunia and imprisons Cecilio, but his sister Celia and Giunia’s friend Cinna work to protect the couple. At a public assembly, Silla surprises Rome by freeing Cecilio and allowing him to marry Giunia. He also pardons Cinna, arranges Cinna’s marriage to Celia, and relinquishes his dictatorship to restore liberty to Rome.
Lucky-Peter's Journey
On Christmas Eve, fifteen-year-old Peter escapes a church tower and meets Lisa, but pursues wealth and power to win her rather than returning her love. He becomes king, leads a reform movement and then rejects it, before despairing in a stormy seascape and calling for Death. Guided by the Good Fairy and gnome Loki, he recognizes that love is the only thing he values; Lisa returns, they reconcile, and his father’s spell is broken.
Lucrezia
In Rome in 509 BC, Sextus Tarquinius, Brutus and Collatinus discuss their wives’ fidelity. Tarquinius becomes infatuated with Collatinus’s wife Lucrezia, enters her home and rapes her. The following day she asks Collatinus to avenge her and takes her life. Brutus leads a rebellion that overthrows the monarchy.
Lucrezia Borgia
Gennaro, an orphan unaware that Lucrezia Borgia is his mother, becomes entangled in her husband Alfonso’s suspicion and revenge. After Lucrezia saves him from one poisoning, she later poisons his companions; Gennaro chooses to die with them, and Lucrezia dies mourning her son.
Ludovic
Corsican farmer Ludovic manages a farm owned by Francesca, who is preparing to marry her cousin Gregorio. Ludovic shoots Francesca, and though he is sentenced to death she recovers and realizes she loves him.
Luisa Miller
In a Tyrolean village, Luisa loves a young man she knows as Carlo, who is actually Rodolfo, son of Count Walter. Wurm, who wants Luisa for himself, tells her father Miller the truth and later coerces Luisa into writing a false letter to save her father from execution. Rodolfo believes the letter and agrees to marry Federica. After Miller is freed, Rodolfo gives Luisa poisoned water; as they die, she tells him the letter was forced. Rodolfo kills Wurm and dies.
Lulu
Queen Periferihme sends Prince Lulu to rescue her daughter Sidi from the wizard Dilfeng, giving him a magic flute. Dilfeng prepares to marry Sidi; Lulu uses the flute to put the villains to sleep and reclaim a rose tied to Sidi’s true love and her power over nature, before Dilfeng conjures a storm.
Lulu
Lulu’s first husband dies after finding her with the Painter, who later kills himself when he learns how she was exploited and married off. She marries Dr. Schön, whom she kills when he tries to force her to commit suicide. After escaping prison with help from Geschwitz, Lulu and Alwa flee to Paris, where a stock-market crash leaves them destitute in London. Lulu’s clients kill her, Alwa, and Geschwitz.
Luna
An opera by José María Cano, presented in concert version at the Palau de la Música de València in 1998.
Lurline
Lurline, a Rhine nymph, falls in love with Count Rudolph. After he loses his engagement to Ghiva, Lurline gives him a magic ring and brings him to her underwater palace. Rudolph misses his former life and returns to the surface with Rhine treasure, promising to come back. Ghiva steals and throws away his ring, and Rudolph forgets Lurline. When his friends plot to murder him for his wealth, Lurline returns the ring and calls on the Rhine spirits. The flood drowns the conspirators, while Rudolph is spared and returns with Lurline to her palace.
Lycksalighetens ö
King Astolf is carried by Zephyr to the Isle of Bliss, where he marries Queen Felicia and remains for three centuries. Nyx returns him to Hyperborea, where he finds the land decadent and vows to return to Bliss. As Time takes him in death, his horse Pegasus flies on to the isle.
Lysistrata, or The Nude Goddess
An English-language two-act opera based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata.
Léandre et Héro
A tragédie en musique based on the Greek legend of Hero and Leander.
Léonore, ou L’Amour conjugal
A two-act opéra-comique by Pierre Gaveaux to a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. Bouilly’s work later served as a model for Paër’s Leonora and Mayr’s L’amor coniugale; a German translation also inspired Beethoven’s Leonore and Fidelio. No plot description is available in the reviewed text.
L’Africaine
In Lisbon, Vasco da Gama seeks support for an expedition and is imprisoned. Sélika, queen of a newly encountered land, saves him, but Vasco later joins Don Pédro’s voyage. Nélusko steers the ship into a storm and leads an attack on the Europeans, sparing Vasco. Sélika saves Vasco from execution and calls him her husband, but when he hears Inès’s voice, Sélika releases the lovers to return to Europe and takes her own life beneath a poisonous tree; Nélusko follows her.
L’Alidoro
Luigi, a servant in Giangrazio’s household, is actually the missing son Alidoro and uses the name Ascanio to remain near Faustina, whom he loves. Giangrazio plans to marry his son Don Marciello to Faustina, though Don Marciello loves innkeeper Zeza, who loves miller Meo. Misunderstandings and jealous rivalries end when a birthmark reveals Ascanio’s identity. He marries Faustina, Zeza and Meo reconcile, and Giangrazio suggests that Don Marciello marry Elisa.
L’Amour de loin
The troubadour Jaufré longs for a distant, ideal love, and the Pilgrim tells him that Clémence, Countess of Tripoli, exists and has heard his songs. Clémence begins to imagine this devoted stranger, but hesitates to meet him. Jaufré travels to Tripoli and arrives gravely ill; he and Clémence declare their love before he dies. She enters a convent, praying ambiguously to God or to her lost lover.
L’Ange de Nisida
Exiled soldier Leone seeks Countess Sylvia, who is the mistress of King Fernand of Naples. The king arranges Leone’s marriage to Sylvia while keeping her as his mistress; Leone leaves to become a monk. Sylvia follows in disguise, but dies as they attempt to flee together.
L’Argia
Selino, actually the kidnapped Lucimoro, abandons his pregnant wife Argia and later falls in love with Dorisbe, unaware she is his sister. Argia searches for him in disguise, while her brother Feraspe also arrives. The identities are revealed, Argia and Selino reconcile, their son reunites Selino with his birth father, and Dorisbe marries Feraspe.
L’Arianna
After helping Theseus escape Crete, Ariadne accompanies him to Naxos, where he abandons her. She waits for his return and sings a lament before Bacchus arrives. Venus and Cupid arrange the union of Ariadne and Bacchus, who promises her immortality and a crown of stars.
L’Egisto, ovvero Chi soffre speri
The impoverished Egisto loves the young widow Alvida, who refuses him unless he destroys what he values most: his inherited tower and favorite falcon. He does so, and Alvida marries him. In the tower’s ruins they discover buried treasure and a stone that cures Alvida’s gravely ill son. In a subplot, Lucinda disguises herself as a man to pursue Egisto; after he rejects her, she nearly kills herself, but is revealed as his long-lost sister.
L’Enfant roi
Alfred Bruneau’s French opera, with a libretto by Émile Zola, has an autobiographical basis in its author’s life.
L’Idalma, ovvero chi dura la vince
An Italian commedia per musica by Bernardo Pasquini.
L’Ipermestra
An Italian opera seria in three acts by Josef Mysliveček, set to Metastasio’s libretto Ipermestra.
L’Olimpiade
Megacle enters the Olympic Games under the name of his friend Licida, who hopes to win Aristea’s hand. Megacle and Aristea already love each other, but he has promised to compete for Licida. Argene, Licida’s former betrothed, arrives in disguise. Megacle wins, reveals the truth, and leaves; Licida is rejected and banished. Megacle survives a reported drowning, while Licida considers killing the king. Argene offers herself to save him and reveals a chain that identifies Licida as the king’s abandoned son. Licida is reinstated and accepts Argene, while Megacle and Aristea reunite.
L’Olimpiade
Three-act opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio.
L’Olimpiade
Megacle enters the Olympic Games in disguise as Licida, whose beloved Aristea is to marry the victor, though Megacle and Aristea love each other. After Megacle wins and reveals the truth, Licida is banished and later considers killing King Clistene. Argene offers herself in Licida’s place; a chain reveals Licida is the king’s long-lost son, and the couples are reunited.
L’Orfeide
This three-part opera opens as Orpheus disrupts an impresario’s commedia dell’arte performance, locks the masked players away, and introduces new figures of human life. The middle part, Sette canzoni, consists of seven unrelated mini-operas: a girl abandons her blind companion; a friar hurries a praying woman from church; a mother fails to recognize her son returned from war; a drunkard is mistaken for a lover; a serenader goes unheard beside a death; a bellringer sings while warning of a fire; and a clown meets a masked woman after a funeral procession. In the final part, courtiers watch a violent puppet drama about Nero and Agrippina. Orpheus sings, puts the audience to sleep except for the queen, and escapes with her.
L’Ormindo
Princes Amida and Ormindo both love Erisbe, the unhappy wife of the elderly King Hariadeno. Amida is reminded that he abandoned Princess Sicle, who he believes died after his betrayal. A séance reveals Sicle is alive, and Amida realizes he still loves her. Erisbe and Ormindo plan to elope, but the King orders his captain Osmano to poison them. At the urging of Erisbe’s confidante Mirinda, Osmano substitutes a sleeping potion. The King later learns that Ormindo is his son and forgives the lovers, ceding the kingdom to him.
L’Ouragan
Alfred Bruneau’s opera has a libretto by Émile Zola. A production was given in Moscow in Russian translation in 1905.
L’accademia di musica
A farsa by Johann Simon Mayr for the Teatro di San Samuele.
L’amant jaloux, ou Les fausses apparences
Merchant Don Lopez opposes the remarriage of his widowed daughter Léonore, who loves the jealous Don Alonze. A veiled Isabelle is mistaken for Léonore’s secret lover, while Florival also arrives seeking a woman he rescued and mistakenly believes the housekeeper is her. When Alonze recognizes his sister, the lovers’ misunderstandings clear; an inheritance permits Alonze to marry Léonore, and Florival marries Isabelle.
L’ambizione delusa
Formerly poor rural siblings Lupino and Cintia suddenly become rich. Their maid Delfina teaches them to behave aristocratically.
L’amore dei tre re
Blind King Archibaldo suspects that his daughter-in-law Fiora is unfaithful to his son Manfredo. Fiora is having an affair with Avito, a former prince. Archibaldo kills Fiora, then poisons her lips so her lover will die. Avito kisses her and reveals the affair to Manfredo before dying. Grief-stricken, Manfredo also kisses Fiora and dies; Archibaldo hears his son’s final voice.
L’amore innocente
In an Alpine village, Despina loves the shepherd Despino, while her cousin Guidalba also desires him and longs for city life. Guidalba schemes to separate them, but Despino and Despina ultimately reunite and plan to marry in the countryside.
L’amore medico
A two-act opera by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari based on Molière’s comedy L’Amour médecin. The work has an Italian libretto by Enrico Golisciani and premiered in a German version by Richard Batka.
L’anima del filosofo
An operatic setting of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, with roles including Orfeo, Euridice, Plutone, Creonte, and a chorus.
L’arbre enchanté, ou Le tuteur dupé
A one-act opéra comique later revised for performance in 1775.
L’artisan
An opéra comique by Fromental Halévy with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, set in a shipyard in Antibes.
L’attaque du moulin
A four-act French drame lyrique based on Émile Zola’s short story, with the setting changed from the Franco-Prussian War to the French Revolution.
L’avaro
The characters include elderly miser Orgasmo, who loves Laurina; his son Stefanello, also in love with Laurina; and Rosalinda, who is engaged to Macrobio but loves Felicino.
L’ebreo
During the siege of Granada, Issachar, magician to King Boabdil, betrays him in hopes of gaining freedom for his people under Spanish rule. His daughter Leila loves the Moorish general Adèl-Muza. The Inquisition sentences Issachar to the stake, but he escapes by burning the Spanish camp. Leila is taken to Ferdinand and Isabella, who try to convert her. At her baptism Issachar appears and stabs her; Adèl-Muza reveals himself, and both men are sentenced to the stake.
L’enfant et les sortilèges
After his mother scolds him, a child throws a tantrum, destroys objects in his room, and harms nearby animals. The furniture, decorations, homework figures, and animals come to life and tell him how he has hurt them. The room becomes a garden, where the creatures initially reject him. The child calls for his mother, and the animals attack one another in the ensuing confusion. When he bandages a squirrel’s wound, they change their minds, help him return home, and sing in his praise. The child greets his mother.
L’equivoco stravagante
Ermanno loves Ernestina, who is attracted to the wealthy but foolish Buralicchio. Ermanno’s scheme leads to Ernestina being arrested on suspicion of deserting from the army and being a man in disguise. He rescues her, and the story ends happily.
L’honestà negli amori
A three-act dramma per musica by Alessandro Scarlatti. Its aria “Già il sole dal Gange” is sung by Saldino, a page admiring the sunrise in Algeria.
L’impresario delle Isole Canarie
In this satirical intermezzo, singer Dorina awaits an impresario and complains about the ornamented audition music of the day. Nibbio is more intent on seduction than artistic judgment and tries to persuade her to sing. During a second meeting, Dorina lists extravagant contract demands; Nibbio accepts them, but still fails to achieve his goal.
L’incantesimo
Folco summons his wife Giselda’s former suitor Rinaldo and the necromancer Salomone to interpret a vision of a white hind with Giselda’s face. Salomone says Folco must return to the forest and carry the wounded animal home as if it were Giselda. While Folco searches, Rinaldo declares his love to Giselda. Folco returns unable to see Giselda, seeing the doe in her place; the garden blossoms, and Giselda yields to Rinaldo.
L’incontro improvviso
Ali, Prince of Balsora, and Princess Rezia eloped but were separated when pirates captured her. In Cairo, Ali discovers that Rezia is in the Sultan’s harem. His slave Osmin becomes a mendicant dervish under the Qalandar, who recognizes Ali and helps the couple plan an escape. The Sultan returns unexpectedly, and the Qalandar later betrays them for a reward. Ali disguises himself as a French painter but is caught. The Sultan forgives him and Rezia and blesses their union; at their request, he pardons the Qalandar but banishes him from Cairo.
L’incoronazione di Dario
An Italian dramma per musica by Antonio Vivaldi.
L’infedeltà delusa
Filippo plans to marry his daughter Sandrina to wealthy farmer Nencio, though she loves Nanni. Nanni and his sister Vespina, who herself loves Nencio, plan revenge. Vespina uses four disguises to make Filippo believe Sandrina will marry a marquis, while Nencio thinks she will marry one of the marquis’s servants. Nanni, disguised as a servant, signs the marriage contract; when the ruses are revealed, Sandrina is married to Nanni. Filippo accepts the outcome, and Vespina expects to marry Nencio.
L’inganno felice
After Isabella rejects Ormondo, he spreads rumors about her and bribes Batone to cast her adrift. A miner, Tarabotto, rescues her and hides her as his niece Nisa. Ten years later, Isabella reveals her identity to Tarabotto just before her husband, Duke Bertrando, visits the mines. Bertrando still loves Isabella but believes the rumors that she was unfaithful. Batone recognizes Isabella and conspires with Ormondo to abduct her, but Tarabotto overhears their plan. The two villains are exposed, and Isabella reveals her duchess’s clothes and a portrait of Bertrando. The couple are reunited.
L’innocenza giustificata
The one-act festa teatrale features Claudia, a vestal virgin, her sister Flaminia, Roman consul Valerio, and knight Flavio.
L’isle déserte
An opéra comique about Constanze, her sister Laurette, Droval and Sainville, who are stranded on an island. Constanze believes Droval abandoned them; Laurette struggles to understand her sister’s distrust of men. A ship eventually arrives, enabling a happy reunion.
L’isola disabitata (Scarlatti)
An opera setting by Giuseppe Scarlatti of Carlo Goldoni’s unrelated libretto, concerning a Chinese woman and Dutch sailors.
L’ivrogne corrigé
The two-act opéra comique features Mathurin, his wife Mathurine, their niece Colette, her lover Cléon, and vine grower Lucas.
L’occasione fa il ladro
During a storm, Alberto and Don Parmenione take shelter at an inn. Alberto is travelling to meet his betrothed, while Parmenione is searching for a friend’s missing sister. After the storm, they accidentally exchange luggage. Finding a portrait among Alberto’s papers, Parmenione decides to pose as Alberto and claim the bride. At Don Eusebio’s house, Berenice also disguises herself as a maid so she can judge her intended husband, while her friend Ernestina pretends to be Berenice. Parmenione courts Ernestina, and the real Alberto falls for Berenice. When both men claim to be Alberto, Berenice’s questioning exposes Parmenione’s deception. Berenice marries Alberto, and Parmenione marries Ernestina, who proves to be the friend’s sister he had sought.
L’oiseau bleu
Tyltyl and Mytyl, the children of a poor woodcutter, see a wealthy neighbour preparing for Christmas. Fairy Berylune asks them to find the blue bird to restore her sick child’s happiness. A magic cap makes objects and animals speak. The children visit the Land of Memory, the Palace of the Night, the Garden of Happiness, a cemetery, and the Kingdom of the Future but cannot capture the bird. In the morning, they discover their own turtle dove has turned blue and give it to a neighbour’s sick child. The bird eventually escapes.
L’oracolo in Messenia
A three-act pasticcio based on Apostolo Zeno’s libretto and Francesco Scipione Maffei’s play Merope.
L’ultimo giorno di Pompei
Appio, a tribune in love with magistrate Sallustio’s wife Ottavia, conspires with Pubblio and his son Clodio to dishonour her. Disguised among Ottavia’s attendants, Clodio is exposed and claims she seduced him. Sallustio must put her on trial to uphold Roman law. Despite her protestations of innocence, omens lead to a sentence of burial alive. As Ottavia is taken to the tomb, Vesuvius erupts; Sallustio halts the execution, and Pubblio confesses Appio’s role. Appio and Pubblio are sealed in the tomb instead. Their son Menenio rescues his parents by chariot as the eruption consumes Pompeii.
L’Éclair
In contemporary Boston, Englishman George and American Lyonel pursue sisters Henriette and the widow Mme. Darbel. Their shifting preferences complicate the pairings, and a lightning strike temporarily blinds Lyonel.
L’école de la jeunesse ou Le Barnevelt françois
A three-act French opéra comique based on George Lillo’s play The London Merchant.
L’écume des jours
Colin and Chick meet Alise and Chloé amid surreal Parisian scenes, and Colin marries Chloé. After a flower grows in Chloé’s lungs, he struggles to keep flowers around her while working in a strange military factory. Chick dies over his book obsession, Alise sets fire to the bookshops, and Chloé dies; the closing tableau leaves Mouse seeking death.
L’épreuve villageoise
A two-act French opéra bouffon by André Grétry and Pierre Desforges, revised from the earlier Théodore et Paulin.
L’étoile
King Ouf searches his city in disguise for someone to execute as a birthday celebration. A visiting ambassador and his party are traveling incognito, with Princess Laoula disguised as the ambassador’s wife, and they intend her to marry Ouf. Laoula and the peddler Lazuli fall in love. When Lazuli insults the disguised king, Ouf orders his execution, but the astrologer Siroco warns that their fates are linked. Lazuli escapes harm, and after plans to elope and a failed attempt to flee, Ouf blesses his marriage to Laoula.
L’étoile du nord
Peter the Great, disguised as a carpenter, falls in love with Catherine, who disguises herself as her brother to take his place among drafted recruits. In a military camp, Peter mistakes her disguise for a man and orders her shot; when he realizes his error, she escapes and exposes a plot against the Tsar. Later, Peter restores Catherine’s sanity with her favorite tune and marries her.
L’île de Merlin, ou Le monde renversé
The one-act opéra comique centers on Merlin and includes his nieces Argentine and Diamantine, Pierrot, Scapin, and other characters.
L’île de Tulipatan
Romboïdal blames his wife Théodorine for their daughter Hermosa’s boyish behavior, while Hermosa finds Prince Alexis charming. The young pair fall in love, and Alexis asks Romboïdal to seek the Duke’s consent to their marriage. Théodorine reveals that Hermosa is really a boy, whom she registered as a girl to spare him military service. Romboïdal then reveals that Alexis is really a girl; the Duke and Romboïdal had hidden this to secure a male heir. Hermosa appears dressed as an officer, and Alexis wears a dress. The confused parents confess their deception, and the Duke agrees to the marriage before deciding to marry again and try for a son.
L’œil crevé
Fleur de Noblesse loves carpentry and young cabinetmaker Ernest. At an archery contest to decide her marriage, she rigs the targets so Ernest will win. When forester Alexandrivoire challenges the result, Fleur deflects his arrow and it pierces her eye. The gendarme imprisons Alexandrivoire, but Dindonette, who loves him, removes the arrow from Fleur’s eye. After mistaken identities and confusion, everything ends happily.
M. Choufleuri restera chez lui le...
M. Choufleuri’s planned musical evening collapses when its three celebrated Italian singers become ill. His daughter Ernestine and her musician sweetheart Babylas impersonate two singers, while Choufleuri poses as a third, fooling the guests with comic Italianate performances. Choufleuri rewards Babylas by agreeing to his marriage with Ernestine.
MR (Marina and Rainer)
A multilingual chamber opera frames the letters between Marina Tsvetaeva and Rainer Maria Rilke with scenes featuring Sappho and Alcaeus, and the Japanese poets Yakamochi and Sakanoue. Tsvetaeva and Rilke never meet; her last letter reaches him after his death.
Ma mie Rosette
In 1579, farmer’s daughter Rosette gives Henri of Navarre milk while he hunts nearby. She and her fiancé Vincent fall asleep, and Rosette dreams that Henri brings them to court, makes Vincent a marquis, then sends him away so that he can pursue her. Vincent returns, catches them together and challenges the king. Rosette wakes from the dream on her father’s farm; Henri arrives to bless her marriage to Vincent and gives her a dowry.
Macbeth
After witches prophesy that Macbeth will become king and that Banco’s descendants will rule, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murder Duncan and seize the throne. Macbeth orders Banco and his family killed, but Banco’s son escapes; haunted by Banco’s ghost and emboldened by further prophecies, Macbeth continues his rule through violence. Malcolm and Macduff lead an assault that fulfills the apparitions’ warnings, and Macbeth is killed. The 1847 version ends with Macbeth’s death aria, while the 1865 revision concludes with a victory chorus.
Macbeth
A three-act French opera by Ernest Bloch with a libretto by Edmond Fleg, adapting Shakespeare’s play and compressing its five acts into seven tableaux.
Macbeth: tre atti senza nome
Salvatore Sciarrino’s Macbeth is built from permutations of a few simple recitation figures and unfolds across three acts.
Madama Butterfly
In Nagasaki, the young Cio-Cio-San marries U.S. naval officer B. F. Pinkerton, who regards the marriage as temporary. After Pinkerton leaves, she waits three years and gives birth to their son. Pinkerton returns with his American wife, who plans to raise the child. Cio-Cio-San agrees to give him up, bids farewell to her son, and dies by suicide.
Madame Bovary
An opera based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary.
Madame Chrysanthème
French sailor Pierre arrives in Nagasaki and falls in love with a geisha. Through marriage broker Kangourou, he contracts a temporary Japanese marriage with Chrysanthème. She is affectionate but rebuffs Pierre’s declarations, while their friends celebrate. At a festival, jealousy sparks arguments between Pierre and his friend Yves. The couple reconcile before Pierre and Yves sail for Brittany. At sea, Pierre reads Chrysanthème’s letter: she asks him to remember that Japanese women also love and grieve. He casts the lotus flowers she gave him into the sea and asks to forget the marriage.
Madame Favart
Madame Favart escapes from a convent where she was confined after refusing the advances of Marshal de Saxe and reunites with her husband. The couple help their friends Hector and Suzanne marry, using a series of disguises to outwit the Governor. At a military camp, Madame Favart performs before the King and secures the Governor’s resignation, freeing the young couple and helping her husband win an appointment at the Opéra-Comique.
Madame Sans-Gêne
In 1792 Paris, laundress Caterina Hubscher hides wounded Austrian officer Count Neipperg, with help from her fiancé Sergeant Lefebvre. Years later, Lefebvre has become Duke of Danzig and Caterina his duchess, whose frank behavior scandalizes Napoleon’s court. Napoleon orders Lefebvre to divorce her, while Neipperg is suspected of an affair with the Empress. When Neipperg is sentenced to death, Caterina proves his innocence and wins his pardon. Napoleon accompanies her into the salon for a hunt.
Madame White Snake
An English-language opera based on the Chinese folk tale known as the Legend of the White Snake. No opera-specific plot synopsis is available in the reviewed record.
Madame l’archiduc
At an inn near Parma, servants Giletti and Marietta accept money to impersonate a conspiratorial count and countess. The Archduke Ernest falls for Marietta, abdicates in her favor, and is later caught trying to visit her incognito. He recovers his crown, while Giletti and Marietta use their reward to buy the inn.
Maddalena
In 15th-century Venice, Maddalena is married to artist Genaro but has an affair in disguise with his friend Stenio, an alchemist. Stenio tells Genaro about the mysterious woman and then recognizes Maddalena. The men turn on her, but she provokes them to fight. Genaro kills Stenio and is wounded; as he dies, he urges Maddalena to kill herself. She wonders which man she loved, then calls from the window for help and claims a stranger killed her husband.
Madeleine
Paris Opera star Madeleine cannot persuade her admirers or maid to dine with her on New Year’s Day, as each has promised to dine with their mother. Her childhood friend Didier invites her to dinner with his parents, but she refuses and dines alone before a portrait of her mother.
Madeline Lee
After the 1943 disappearance of the bomber Lady Be Good over Libya, a Major leads a search party to survey the wreck. The dead crew and the Major’s internal relationship reveal their intertwined fate. The opera culminates in a re-enactment of the bomber’s final mission and the Major recovering his suppressed memories of the event.
Mademoiselle Fifi
In 1871, German soldiers occupying a château near Rouen summon women from the nearby town. During dinner and entertainment, Lieutenant von Eyrik, nicknamed “Mademoiselle Fifi,” taunts Rachel and boasts that Germany will conquer France and its women. Rachel sings a patriotic song, stabs him, and escapes; he dies as prayers are said and church bells toll.
Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle
An opera based on Alexandre Dumas’s 1839 play. The work has a French libretto by Paul Milliet and an Italian text by Amintore Galli for its Genoa premiere.
Mae Naak
An English-language opera by Somtow Sucharitkul based on Thailand’s Mae Nak Phra Khanong ghost story. A plot synopsis is not provided.
Mala Pasqua!
On Easter morning in a Sicilian village, Carmela confronts Turiddu, her former lover, who is now involved with Lola. She curses him and tells Lola’s husband Alfio about the affair; Alfio challenges Turiddu to a knife fight and kills him.
Mala vita
Tubercular dyer Vito vows to marry a prostitute if God cures him. He promises Cristina he will rescue her from the brothel, but he continues his affair with Amalia. After seeing them together, Cristina pleads with him to keep his vow; Vito leaves with Amalia, and Cristina returns to the brothel and faints.
Malvina di Scozia
Arturo secretly marries Malvina, who has borne his two children, despite his betrothal to Princess Morna. King Malcolm imprisons Malvina but later accepts her and the children. The rejected Wortimer murders the children and poisons Malvina; she dies, and Arturo kills Wortimer.
Mam’zelle Nitouche
At a convent, organist Célestin secretly composes operettas as Floridor. Denise, a convent boarder promised to Fernand, discovers Célestin’s secret and learns his score. In Paris, she takes the stage as Mam’zelle Nitouche when the star refuses to perform. At the barracks, she disguises herself as a dragoon while escaping with Célestin. Fernand realizes he loves Denise, and the pair marry after she reveals her identity.
Man and Boy: Dada
Twelve-year-old Michael meets aging Dada artist Kurt Schwitters while collecting bus tickets. Schwitters, a refugee facing deportation, befriends Michael and gradually earns his mother’s trust. He hopes the mother will marry him so he can become a naturalized citizen, though she has no romantic interest. When Schwitters gives Michael an unrideable Dada bicycle instead of the bicycle he wanted, the boy explains that he values its uniqueness. Schwitters, believing he is too eccentric for the family, decides to leave, but Michael asks him to stay.
Man on the Moon
The opera follows the Apollo 11 preparations, journey, and Moon landing, alongside Buzz Aldrin’s marital breakup and the brief duration of public fame.
Mana and Mani
A Persian-language children’s opera written in 1979.
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