Read expert-written show guides with context, plot, characters and video examples.
Armide (Gluck)
After victoriously defeating the armies of King Godefroi of Jerusalem using only her magic power, Ar...
Billy Budd
Billy Budd is proud to be a new sailor aboard the H.M.S. Indomitable. Nevertheless, Billy's strengt...
Béatrice et Bénédict
With her cousin dating Claudio, Beatrice always ends up having to talk to his best friend, Benedict....
La Canterina
Originally intended as a moment of light relief to be performed between the acts of an opera seria,...
Dead Man Walking (opera)
Set in 1980s Louisiana, Dead Man Walking concerns the relationship between a death row inmate, Josep...
Death in Venice
In Death in Venice, the German writer, Aschenbach, decides to travel to Venice. Upon his arrival, he...
Der Freischütz
Max is usually the ruling marksman of all the foresters, but today in the tournament he has missed e...
Dido and Aeneas
Based on Book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid, Dido and Aeneas is Purcell’s only true opera, and his first com...
Donna del lago, La (The Lady of the Lake)
Ellen, daughter of the rebel chief, Douglas, loves Malcolm but is promised by her father to Roderigo...
Elektra
King Agamemnon has sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia for the prosperity of his kingdom and his wife,...
La forza del destino
Is it possible to escape your destiny? Verdi’s opera La forza del destino asks that very question. W...
La gazza ladra
Preparations are underway for the return of Giannetto, a beloved village hero, and son to Lucia and...
