three-act opera. Adapted from the French play "The Easy King" by Victor Hugo, it was composed by the great Italian opera composer Giuse

ppe Verdi 1813-191) and written by Italian Francesko Maria Piavi, and premiered at the Phoenix Theatre in Venice on March 11th, 1851.

Plot

The main idea of the plot is that the ugly-looking hero, Ligoletto, works as a jester in the court of the Duke of Montua. The duke was young and beautiful, and took pleasure in playing with women, which caused dissatisfaction among many courtiers. Ligoletto ridiculed the misfortune of humiliating courtiers' wives and daughters, offended many people and eventually lost their daughters; His beloved daughter was so infatuated with the false duke that she was willing to die for him for love.

Comments

The composer has successfully shaped the musical images of three different characters.

2 La Traviata

Introduction

An opera in three acts, adapted from La Traviata by Dumas of France, composed by Verdi and written by Piavi, premiered at the Phoenix Theatre in Venice on March 6, 1853.

Plot

The plot describes that auletta, a famous prostitute, was moved by the sincere love of young alfred, and resolutely abandoned the life of being addicted to money. However, alfred's father, Lenos Georgiou, strongly opposed it. In order to take care of alfred's family and happiness, Wei auletta is determined to sacrifice her love and return to the romantic field. Alfred mistakenly thought that she had changed her mind and humiliated her in public. Wei auletta, who suffered from lung disease, finally couldn't bear the fatal blow and was bedridden. Soon, Lenos Georgiou's conscience found that he told his son all the true feelings. When alfred returned to Wei auletta, she was dying, and her love and life were taken away by illness and unfair society.

Comments

Music embodies the basic characteristics of Verdi's opera creation in the middle period with subtle psychological description, sincere and beautiful lyrics and touching tragic power.

3 Carmen

Introduction

Four-act Opera. Based on the novel of the same name by France's Prosper Merimee, the famous French composer Georges Bizet 1838-1875) composed the music, and France's Henry Mellac and Ludovic Halevy wrote the lyrics. On March 3, 1875, it premiered at the Xi Opera House in Paris.

Plot

The plot describes that Carmen, a beautiful and strong-willed gypsy girl, falls in love with Horsey, a sergeant, and makes her fall in love, so Horsey abandons her original lover and leaves the army to join Carmen's smugglers. But then Carmen fell in love with the matador Escamilio. As a result, the contradiction between Horsey and Carmen became increasingly fierce. Finally, the stubborn Carmen flatly rejected Hawthorne's love and finally died by Hawthorne's sword.

Comments

This is an opera that is good at chorus, and it is one of the most classical opera works performed in various countries in the past century.

4 Othello

Introduction

Four-act Opera. Based on william shakespeare's play of the same name, Verdi composed music and arrigo boito wrote lyrics, which premiered in Milan in February 1887.

Plot

The main idea of the plot is: The sinister flag officer Yago, who bears a grudge against Othello, provoked the contradiction between Othello and Cacio, and created all kinds of illusions, which induced Othello, who was suspicious by nature, to think that there was an "affair" between his wife Desdemona and Cacio, and lost his reason and strangled the innocent Desdemona. When he learned the truth, he regretted it and drew his sword beside his beloved wife.

Comments

"Othello" embodies Verdi's decades of experience in opera creation, absorbs some creative techniques of Wagner's "musical drama", pays more attention to the performance function of the band, and makes the music language closely combined with drama poetry, thus strengthening the drama of singing. Melody description is also more profound and emotional.

5 An introduction to the artist's career

Also known as Bohemian and Embroidered Woman. Four-act opera. Based on the novel Life Scenes of a Poor Artist by French Henri Muerjee, it was composed by puccini giacomao (1858-1924) in Italy, with lyrics by Giuseppe Giacosa and Lu Yiji Ilica in Italy. On February 1, 1896, toscanini conducted the first performance in Turin, Italy.

Plot

The main idea of the plot is: Rudolf, a poor poet living in poverty, met an embroidered female Mimi and fell in love at first sight. Later, their love was on the verge of breaking up. Mimi had a serious lung disease, and when she saw Rudolf for the last time, she made up again and planned everything in the future. Mimi finally died of serious illness, and Rudolf was heartbroken.

Comments

The music of this opera is novel and charming. It has stood the repeated test of time and is still never tired of watching it, making it the most popular opera for the audience. Pavarotti, the world king of songs, and the Italian Genoa Opera Troupe staged this play in their performance in China in 1986, which was warmly welcomed and highly praised by Chinese audiences.

6 Tosca

Introduction

Opera in three acts. Based on the script of Dorian Sardou, composed by Puccini and written by Ilica and Giacosa, Costanzi premiered at Costanzi Theatre in Rome on January 14th, 19.

Plot

The main idea of the plot is that the police chief threatens Tosca to commit herself to him by executing Mario, and the opera actress Tosca gives a false promise to save his lover, the Roman painter Mario Cavalradosi. Tosca stabbed the police chief after she got the exit permit issued by the police chief, but she was also cheated by the police chief's trick of "fake execution", and Mario was really executed. Tosca was exposed for stabbing the director and finally committed suicide by jumping off the wall.

Comments

The musical feelings in the play are strong and rough, and the musical effects of many dramatic scenes are extremely strong, which has become a powerful means to promote the development of the plot.

7 Madame Butterfly

Introduction

Two acts of opera. Based on john long's novels and David Belasco's plays, it was composed by Puccini and written by Italian Ilica and Giacosa, and premiered at La Scala Theatre in Milan on February 17th, 194.

Plot

The main idea of the plot is: Qiao Qiao Sang, a naive and lively Japanese girl, is called "Butterfly Girl" and is committed to Captain Pinkel of the US Navy. Shortly after the marriage, Pinkel returned to China, and there was no news for three years. Originally, Pinkel has another new marriage, leaving Lady Butterfly behind. When he returned to Nagasaki with the American wife, Mrs. Butterfly, who had been waiting for three years, was filled with grief and indignation. After handing over her clever son, she cut her sword and committed suicide.

Comments

The lyric style of this opera is extremely strong, and the music is beautiful and touching, which has successfully shaped the moving image of Madame Butterfly as pure, gentle, affectionate and loyal.

8 Faust

Introduction

Faust is a poetic drama with a length of 12,111 lines. The first part has 25 scenes, without any curtain. The second part consists of five acts and twenty-seven scenes.

Comments

There is no coherent plot in the whole drama, but the development and change of Faust's thought is the clue. Grand in conception, complex in content, huge in structure, changeable in style, melting realism and wave-temperature doctrine in one furnace, mixing real description with unrestrained imagination, contemporary life with ancient myths and legends, and being good at arranging scenes, allocating characters, being humorous at times, satirizing and praising, having various forms and mottled colors by using the method of contradiction and contrast, thus reaching a very high artistic realm.

9 Introduction to Country Knight

One-act opera, co-edited by G．Targion-Tozzeti Guido Menasci, based on G．Verga's original short story, was composed by P. Mascagni in Rome on May 2th, 189.

Comments

This play is Mascagni's masterpiece. At that time, the Italian Milan Art Institute offered a reward for a one-act opera. When Mascagni learned the news, he finished the opera in just eight days. Indeed, it won the championship and was warmly welcomed by the audience. Even the Italian emperor was awarded the crown of honor, which is a rare honor among opera writers.

1 Turandot

The ballet Turandot is adapted from the opera of the same name. Among more than 8 world operas, Puccini's Turandot is the only one with a theme of China, which has been performed for many years with its profound ideological content and superb artistic level. "No one sleeps tonight" is widely sung and has become a "popular song" among opera selections.

11 AIDA

An opera with four acts and seven scenes is an ancient legend set in the era of Egyptian pharaohs. Aida tells the eternal theme of loyalty and betrayal, love and war, which has been performed on the world opera stage for more than 1 years. Aida is recognized as one of the top ten classic operas in the world, and has been staged nine times in the form of open-air landscape operas in Egypt, Canada, Australia, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, China and Shanghai, causing a sensation. As the tenth landscape opera of AIDA performed in the open air in the world, this performance in Beijing will become a classic of this international drama performance season and will create a new world.

12 figaro's wedding

a four-act comic opera, based on the comedy of the same name by French comedian Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, was composed by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791) and written by Italian Lorenzo da Ponte. It premiered in Vienna on May 1st, 1786.

Plot

In the 17th century, Figaro, the servant of Count Almaviva, a nobleman in Seville, was preparing to marry Suzanne, the maid of Countess Rosina. The count once renounced the noble's first night right to the bride when the serfs got married, but attempted to restore this shameful right to Susan, which caused a fierce struggle. Finally, Figaro and Suzanne punished the count's lewd behavior through their own intelligence, and they became happy partners.

Comments

Opera reflected the thoughts, wishes and interests of the third class in France at that time. Figaro's victory in the play means the victory of the French people's anti-feudal struggle.

13 Magic Flute

Two acts of opera. It is Mozart's last opera. Lyrics by German emanuel Sikan Nedel, premiered in Vienna on September 3th, 1791.

Plot

The plot describes that the Egyptian prince Emino carries a magic flute with him in search of Pamina, the daughter of the Night Queen. With the help of Salaste Luo, a symbol of light, she has withstood all kinds of tests and twists and turns, and finally got rid of the night queen and the Moors, who represent the dark and evil forces, and happily combined with Pamina, and Baba Gennuo also found her own satisfactory lover Baba Genna.

Comments

This opera is written in the form of German national opera "Sing Piecl", which consists of spoken English and numbered music, and the dramatic actions are carried out in spoken English. The music is popular and simple, with a strong German national color. For Germans, The Magic Flute has a special charm. The brilliant chorus in the play keeps the tradition of German male chorus. The songs in the play are really German-style ballads; The lyric music in the play is sincere, completely getting rid of the superficial and flashy style of Italian opera at that time.

14 Barber in Seville

Two acts of comic opera. Based on Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais's comedy of the same name, it was composed by the famous Italian composer gioachino antonio rossini (1792-1868) and written by cesare Steby, and premiered at the Agintina Theatre in Rome on February 2th, 1816.

Plot

The plot describes a story that happened in Seville, Spain in the 17th century. Almaviva, the Earl, is in love with Rosina, a rich and beautiful girl, but barto Rowe, Rosina's guardian and a greedy and cunning doctor, is also playing tricks on Rosina, and Basilio, a music teacher, advises him. Under the ingenious arrangement of the witty, humorous and upright barber Figaro, the Earl and Rosina broke through the obstruction and prevention of barto Rowe, and all shall be well.

Comments

The composer absorbed exaggerated humor techniques from German and French comedies, and combined with the characteristics of Italian opera that pay attention to melody and singing skills, so that the bright, colorful and unique musical comedy style was fully reflected in many famous arias, singing songs, romances and duets of the opera.