Read expert-written show guides with context, plot, characters and video examples.
The Old Maid and the Thief
Originally written for NBC radio, Gian Carlo Menotti’s one-act opera The Old Maid and the Thief expo...
Orphée aux Enfers
Orphée and his wife Eurydice have grown apart. Orphée’s love of his violin, and of a local shepherd...
Parsifal
The legend of the Holy Grail is one that has had many retellings. The Holy Grail is an important sym...
The Pearl Fishers
A tale of love, betrayal, and sacrifice, The Pearl Fishers centers around two friends, Nadir and Zur...
Pelleas et Melisande
Lost in the forest, Golaud discovers a mysterious woman who is weeping near a pool. He tries to help...
Peter Grimes
The tragic story of Peter Grimes revolves around the tormented title character, a fisherman who find...
Salome
Salome is Oscar Wilde’s twist on the biblical story of Herod, Herodias, and Salome. The story tells...
Semele
Semele’s father, the King of Thebes, has arranged a marriage for her with Athamas, a Prince of Boeot...
La serva padrona
Considered by many to be the first example of opera buffa, Pergolesi’s short opera La serva padrona...
Siegfried
In the third installment of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen we meet our hero Siegfried, the son of...
Simon Boccanegra
A child born out of wedlock, to the daughter of a wealthy family, is hidden away by her father until...
Street Scene
The claustrophobic reality of living in a six-storey walk-up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan is...
