Opera

Operas discussed as more than a passing mention or reference on Exotic and Irrational Entertainment, listed alphabetically by composer and linked to the relevant E&I post(s).

Agnesi–Handel | Haydn–Puccini | Purcell–Ziani

Maria Theresa Agnesi, Sofonisba (ca. 1749)

Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio (1814)

Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens (The Trojans, 1858)

John Blow, Venus and Adonis (1684)

Benjamin Britten, The Rape of Lucretia (1946)

Francesca Caccini, La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall' Isola d'Alcina (The Liberation of Ruggiero from Alcina's Island, 1625): Magnificat 2009 | Boston Early Music Festival 2023

Antonio Caldara, Il giuoco del Quadriglio (The Card Game, 1734)

Gustave Charpentier, Louise (1900)

Marc-Antoine Charpentier:

• Actéon (1684)
• David et Jonathas (1688)
• La Descente d’Orphée aux enfers (The Descent of Orpheus into Hades, 1686)
• Médée (1693)

Félicien David, Lalla-Roukh (1862)

Henri Desmarest, Circé (1694); also, Favorites of 2023: Music

Gaetano Donizetti:

• Lucia di Lammermoor (1835)
• Maria Stuarda (1834)

Philip Glass, The Fall of the House of Usher (1988)

Christoph Willibald Gluck, Iphigénie en Tauride (1779)

George Frideric Handel:

• Acis and Galatea (1718): Boston Early Music Festival 2011 | Mark Morris Dance Group 2014 | American Bach Soloists 2025
• Agrippina (1709) | Erato recording 2019
• Alceste (1750)
• Alcina (1735): Opera Guide 6 | Glyndebourne 2022
• Apollo e Dafne (1710)
• Ariodante (1735): San Francisco Opera 2008 | Royal Opera 2020 | Boston Baroque 2025
• Atalanta (1736)
• Floridante (1721)
• Giulio Cesare (1720): Glyndebourne 2018 | The English Concert 2025
• Partenope (1730)
• Rodelinda (1725)
• Serse (Xerxes, 1738)
• Tamerlano (1724)

Joseph Haydn:

• L'Anima del Filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice (The Soul of the Philosopher, or Orpheus and Eurydice, 1791)
• Armida (1784)
• La Fedeltà Premiata (Fidelity Rewarded, 1781)
• L'Incontro Improvviso (The Unexpected Meeting, 1775)
• Il Mondo della Luna (The World on the Moon, 1777)

Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Céphale et Procris (1693)

John Frederick Lampe, The Dragon of Wantley (1737)

Ruggero Leoncavallo, La Boheme (1897)

Jean-Baptiste Lully:

• Atys (1675)
• Cadmus et Hermione (1673)
• Persée (1682)

Marin Marais, Sémélé (1709)

Vicente Martin y Soler,

• L'arbore di Diana (The Tree of Diana, or The Chastity Tree, 1787)
• Una cosa rara (A rare thing, or Beauty and faithfulness, 1786)

Claudio Monteverdi:

• L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea,1642): Opera Guide 5 | Boston Early Music Festival 2015
• L'Orfeo (Orpheus, 1607)
• Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The return of Ulysses to his homeland, 1640)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

• Ascanio in Alba (1771)
• La clemenza di Tito (The mercy of Titus, 1791)
• Così fan tutte (All women are like that, 1790)
• Don Giovanni (1787)
• Lucio Silla (1772)
• Mitridate, re di Ponto (Mitridate, King of Pontus, 1770); also, Mozart in Italy, part 2: "We have won the first battle"
• Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786): Opera Guide 2 | San Francisco Opera 2010 | San Francisco Opera 2015
• Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791) | San Francisco Opera 2024

Jacques Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann, 1881)

Giovanni Paisiello, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile (The barber of Seville, or the futile precaution, 1782)

Giacomo Puccini,

• La Bohème (The Bohemians, 1896): Opera Guide 4 | The other Boheme
• Madama Butterfly (1904)
• La Rondine (The Swallow, 1917)
• Tosca (1900)
• Il Trittico (Triptych: Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, 1918)

Henry Purcell:

• The Fairy Queen (1692)
• Dido & Aeneas (1689): Opera Guide 1 | The mysteries of Dido & Aeneas | A brief survey

Jean-Philippe Rameau:

• Les Boréades (1763)
• Hippolyte et Aricie (1733)
• Pygmalion (1748)
• La Temple de la Gloire (1745)

G. Herbert Rodwell, Jack Sheppard (1839)

Gioachino Rossini: Early Operas:

• La cambiale di matrimonio (The marriage contract, 1810)
• La scala di seta (The silk ladder, 1812)
• L'occasione fa il ladro (Opportunity makes the thief, 1812)
• Il signor Bruschino (1813)
• Il barbiere di Siviglia (The barber of Seville, 1816)

Antonio Salieri,

• La scuola de' gelosi (1778)
• La Grotta di Trofonio (1785)

Antonio Sartorio:

• with Marc' Antonio Ziani: La Flora (1681)
• L'Orfeo (1672)

Giuseppe Scarlatti, Dove è amore è gelosia (Where there's love, there's jealousy, 1768)

Agostino Steffani, Niobe, Regina di Tebe (Niobe, Queen of Thebes, 1688)

Richard Strauss:

• Der Rosenkavalier (The Rose-Bearer, 1911): Opera Guide 3 | The Rosenkavalier trio | The Marschallin's farewell: Der Rosenkavalier at the Met 2017 | Glyndebourne 2018 | Garsington 2022
• Arabella (1933)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin (1879): I. The Letter | II. The Duel | The 1958 film

Claude Terrasse, L'ingénu libertin (The young libertine, 1907)

Various composers, The Enchanted Island (2011)

Giuseppe Verdi,

• Aida (1861)
• La Traviata (The Lost One, 1853)

Leonardo Vinci, Astianatte (Astyanax, 1725)

Antonio Vivaldi, Juditha Triumphans (1716)

Pietro Andrea Ziani, La Circe (1665)