Operatic Declarations

I Puritani

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:34:00 +0100

(V. Bellini, 1835)

Setting: A garden
Lover: Lord Arturo Talbo, a Royalist
Beloved: Elvira, the daughter of an Anti-Royalist
What’s so operatic about it? She had actually liked the windows.

Eugene Onegin

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:32:00 +0100

(P. Tchaikovsky, 1879)

Setting: The drawing room of a nobleman’s mansion in St. Petersburg
Lover: Eugene Onegin, a wealthy Russian
Beloved: Tatyana, the wife of another wealthy Russian
What’s so operatic about it? He shouldn’t have waited to the end of the opera.

La bohème

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:14:30 +0100

(G. Puccini, 1896)

Setting: An attic in a wintery Paris
Lover: Mimì, a seamstress
Beloved: Rodolfo, a poet
What’s so operatic about it? She seems to have a cold or so.

Thaïs

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:33:30 +0100

(J. Massenet, 1894)

Setting: A monastery in the Egyptian desert
Lover: Athanaël, a Cenobite monk
Beloved: Thaïs, a courtesan
What’s so operatic about it? Nothing. A man just declares his love to a dying prostitute in a lonely, forsaken place, thereby breaking his vow of chastity.

Mefistofele

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:20:09 +0100

(A. Boito, 1868)

- no comment -

Un ballo in maschera

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:32:33 +0100

(G. Verdi, 1859)

Setting: On the outskirts of Stockholm
Beloved: Gustavo, King of Sweden
Lover: Amelia, wife of the royal secretary
What’s so operatic about it? Amelia is the wife of the royal secretary.

Der Rosenkavalier

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:34:00 +0100

(R. Strauss, 1911)

Lover: Princess Marie Thérèse von Werdenberg
Beloved: Count Octavian Rofrano
Setting: A luxurious bedrooom
What’s so operatic about it? The difference in age is astonishing.

Roméo et Juliette

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:52:25 +0100

(Ch. Gounod, 1867)

Setting: A subterranean crypt, in Verona
Lover: Juliette, a Capulet
Beloved: Roméo, a Montaigu
What’s so operatic about it? Roméo is dead.

La forza del destino

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:08:00 +0100

(G. Verdi, 1862)

Lover: Leonora, the daughter of the Marquis of Calatrava
Beloved: Don Alvaro, a young nobleman from South America
Setting: Leonora’s bedroom, in Seville
What’s so operatic about it? Both father and destiny are against it.

Lohengrin

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:52:00 +0100

(R. Wagner, 1850)

Setting: A meadow on the banks of the Scheldt near Antwerp
Lover: Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail
Beloved: Elsa of Brabant
What’s so operatic about it? They first met a few minutes ago.

Carmen

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:08:00 +0100

(G. Bizet, 1875)

Setting: A tavern in Seville
Lover: Don José, a corporal in the Spanish army
Beloved: Carmen, a gypsy girl
What’s so operatic about it? Carmen’s reply, to begin with: “Non! tu ne m’aimes pas!”