100 Great Operas and Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses

First Anchor Books Edition, 1989

Copyright © 1957, 1960 by Doubleday

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor
Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. 100 Great Operas was originally published as
Festival of Opera
in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1957. The Anchor Books edition is published by arrangement with Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.

Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks
of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Simon, Henry W. (Henry William), 1901–1970.
100 great operas and their stories / by Henry W. Simon.
—A new rev. and abridged ed., 1st Anchor Books ed.
        p. cm.
     Rev. and abridged ed. of: Festival of opera. 1957.
     1. Operas—Stories, plots, etc. I. Simon, Henry W.
(Henry William), 1901–1970. Festival of opera. II. Title.
III. Title: One hundred great operas and their stories.
MT95.S59      1989      88-36697
782.1′3—dcl9

MN

eISBN: 978-0-307-77370-8

www.anchorbooks.com

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CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO
,
Mozart

L’AFRICAINE
,
Meyerbeer

AÏDA
,
Verdi

ALCESTE
,
Gluck

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS
,
Menotti

L’AMORE DEI TRE RE
,
Montemezzi

ANDREA CHÉNIER
,
Giordano

ARABELLA
,
Strauss

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS
,
Strauss

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
,
Verdi

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
,
Rossini

IL BARBIERE DI
si
VIGLIA
,
Rossini

THE BARTERED BRIDE
,
Smetana

BASTIEN UND BASTIENNE
,
Mozart

THE BAT
,
Strauss

LA BOHÈME,
Puccini

BORIS GODOUNOFF
,
Moussorgsky

CAPRICCIO
,
Strauss

CARMEN
,
Bizet

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
,
Mascagni

LA CENERENTOLA
,
Rossini

CINDERELLA
,
Rossini

THE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE
,
Cimarosa

THE CLOAK
,
Puccini

THE CONSUL
,
Menotti

LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN
,
Offenbach

LE COQ D’OR
,
Rimsky-Korsakoff

COSÌ FAN TUTTE
,
Mozart

DIDO AND AENEAS
,
Purcell

DON CARLOS
,
Verdi

DON GIOVANNI
,
Mozart

DON JUAN
,
Mozart

DON PASQUALE
,
Donizetti

ELEKTRA
,
Strauss

L’ELISIR D’AMORE
,
Donizetti

DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL
,
Mozart

ERNANI
,
Verdi

EUGEN ONEGIN
,
Tchaikovsky

THE FABLE OF ORPHEUS
,
Monteverdi

FALSTAFF
,
Verdi

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST
,
Puccini

FAUST
,
Gounod

LA FAVOLA D’ORFEO
,
Monteverdi

FIDELIO
,
Beethoven

DIE FLEDERMAUS
,
Strauss

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER
,
Wagner

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN
,
Wagner

THE FORCE OF DESTINY
,
Verdi

LA FORZA DEL DESTINO
,
Verdi

FOUR SAINTS IN THREE ACTS
,
Thomson

DER FREISCHÜTZ
,
Weber

GIANNI SCHICCHI
,
Puccini

LA GIOCONDA
,
Ponchielli

THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST
,
Puccini

GIULIO CESARE
,
Handel

THE GOLDEN COCKEREL
,
Rimsky-Korsakoff

DIE GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG
,
Wagner

GUILLAUME TELL
,
Rossini

HÄNSEL UND GRETEL
,
Humperdinck

L’HEURE ESPAGNOLE
,
Ravel

LES HUGUENOTS
,
Meyerbeer

JULIUS CAESAR
,
Handel

THE KNIGHT OF THE ROSE
,
Strauss

KNYAZ IGOR
,
Borodin

LAKMÉ
,
Delibes

LOHENGRIN
,
Wagner

LOUISE
,
Charpentier

THE LOVE OF THREE KINGS
,
Montemezzi

THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES
,
Prokofieff

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
,
Donizetti

LYUBOV K TREM APELSINAM
,
Prokofieff

MADAMA BUTTERFLY
,
Puccini

THE MAGIC FLUTE
,
Mozart

MANON
,
Massenet

MANON LESCAUT
,
Puccini

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
,
Mozart

MARTHA
,
Flotow

A MASKED BALL
,
Verdi

THE MASTERSINGERS OF NUREMBERG
,
Wagner

IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO
,
Cimarosa

THE MEDIUM
,
Menotti

MEFISTOFELE
,
Boito

DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
,
Wagner

MIGNON
,
Thomas

NORMA
,
Bellini

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
,
Mozart

OBERON
,
Weber

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
,
Gluck

OTELLO
,
Verdi

PAGLIACCI
,
Leoncavallo

PARSIFAL
,
Wagner

PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE
,
Debussy

PETER GRIMES
,
Britten

PORGY AND BESS
,
Gershwin

PRINCE IGOR
,
Borodin

PRODANÁ NEVŠTA
,
Smetana

I PURITANI
,
Bellini

THE RAKE’S PROGRESS
,
Stravinsky

DAS RHEINGOLD
,
Wagner

RIGOLETTO
,
Verdi

THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG
,
Wagner

      DAS RHEINGOLD

      DIE WALKÜRE

      SIEGFRIED

      DIE GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
,
Gounod

DER ROSENKAVALIER
,
Strauss

RUSTIC CHIVALRY
,
Macagni

SALOME
,
Strauss

SAMSON ET DALILA
,
Saint-Saëns

THE SECRET OF SUZANNE
,
Wolf-Ferrari

IL SEGRETO DI SUSANNA
,
Wolf-Ferrari

LA SERVA PADRONA
,
Pergolesi

SIEGFRIED
,
Wagner

SIMON BOCCANEGRA
,
Verdi

SISTER ANGELICA
,
Puccini

THE SPANISH HOUR
,
Ravel

SUOR ANGELICA
,
Puccini

IL TABARRO
,
Puccini

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN
,
Offenbach

TANNHÄUSER
,
Wagner

THE TELEPHONE
,
Menotti

THAÏS
,
Massenet

TOSCA
,
Puccini