San Antonio College Library

The tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices...

Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder and suicide,...

Snegurochka, the daughter of Frost and Spring, is deaf to her parents' warning, and resolves to leave her woodland solitude and to seek the companionship of mortals. Her numb heart is warmed by the songs of Lel, the shepherd, but her inclination for him meets with no response, for Lel is in love with Kupava. She is the affianced of Mizguir, a Tatar, and in his breast Snegurochka kindles so fierce a flame of passion that he deserts his betrothed. Snegurochka,...

The story centers on the struggle between sacred and profane love, and redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's mature work.

A practical joke. A secret rendezvous. One man?s elaborate plan for revenge leads to a rousing evening of mistaken identities, flirtations, and light-hearted deceit. Set in 19th-century Vienna, this delightful farce is filled with effervescent melodies, lilting waltzes and charming sentiment.

The story of the opera is based on the legends of the Greek poetess Sappho, her love for Phaon and her suicide. Place: Olympic Games and on the isle of Lesbos. Time: 6th century BC.