Stories From The Operas

Owing to the appreciation which has been accorded to my three series of "Stories from the Operas," it has been decided to re-issue the collection in one volume, and to include in this additional stories of new and popular operas recently produced in England.

The plan of the work, as before, is to present all the incidents of each libretto in the clear, readable form of a short story; and it is hoped that the combined volume will continue to prove of interest, not only to opera-goers but to all lovers of dramatic tales. The three volumes have been entirely reset and re-collated in a manner which it is hoped will make them easier for reference.

By : Gladys Davidson

01 - Auber – Fra Diavolo 02 - Balfe – The Bohemian Girl 03 - Beethoven – Fidelio 04 - Bellini – La Sonnambula 05 - Bellini – I Puritani 06 - Benedict – The Lily Of Killarney 07 - Bizet – Carmen 08 - Donizetti – Lucrezia Borgia 09 - Donizetti – Lucia Di Lammermoor 10 - Donizetti – The Daughter Of The Regiment (la Figlia Del Reggimento) 11 - Flotow – Martha 12 - Gounod – Faust 13 - Gounod – Philemon And Baucis 14 - Gounod – Romeo And Juliet 15 - Halevy – The Jewess (la Juive) 16 - Humperdinck – Die Konigskinder (the Kingly Children) 17 - Leoncavallo – I Pagliacci (the Mountebanks) 18 - Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana (rustic Chivalry) 19 - Meyerbeer – Robert The Devil (robert Le Diable) 20 - Meyerbeer – The Huguenots (les Huguenots) 21 - Meyerbeer – Star Of The North (l’etoile Du Nord) 22 - Mozart – The Marriage Of Figaro (le Nozze Di Figaro) 23 - Mozart – Don Juan (don Giovanni) 24 - Nicolai – The Merry Wives Of Windsor 25 - Offenbach – The Tales Of Hoffman (les Contes D’hoffmann) 26 - Puccini – Manon Lescaut 27 - Puccini – La Boheme 28 - Puccini – Madam Butterfly 29 - Rossini – The Barber Of Seville (il Barbier Di Seviglia) 30 - Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier (the Rose-bearer) 31 - Strauss – Elektra 32 - Thomas – Mignon 33 - Tschaikovsky – Eugine Onegin 34 - Verdi – Ernani 35 - Verdi – Rigoletto 36 - Verdi – Il Trovatore, Or The Gipsy’s Vengeance 37 - Verdi – La Traviata 38 - Verdi – The Masked Ball (un Ballo In Maschera) 39 - Verdi – Aida 40 - Verdi – Othello 41 - Wagner – The Flying Dutchman (der Fliegende Hollander) 42 - Wagner – Tannhauser 43 - Wagner – Lohengrin 44 - Wagner – Tristan And Isolda 45 - Wagner – The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg (die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg) 46 - Wagner – The Nibulungs’ Ring (der Ring Der Nibelungen) Part I The Rhinegold (das Rheingold) 47 - Wagner – Part II The Valkyrie (die Walkure) 48 - Wagner – Part III Siegfried 49 - Wagner – Part IV The Twilight Of The Gods (die Gotterdammerung) 50 - Wagner – Parsifal 51 - Wallace – Maritana 52 - Wallace – Lurline 53 - Waltershausen – Colonel Chabert (oberst Chabert) 54 - Wolf-Ferrari – The Jewels Of The Madonna 55 - Short Biographies Of The Composers

One bright Easter Eve, early in the nineteenth century, a lively group of carbineers were gathered together in the inn of Terracina near Naples, drinking success to the enterprise they were engaged upon; for they were just about to attack a horde of brigands supposed to be in that neighbourhood, and were expecting to meet with many exciting adventures.

The captain of the outlaw band, Fra Diavolo, was the most celebrated bandit in Italy, and fully justified his sinister name, for his daring raids and impudent roguery had made him a terror to the country-side, and the mere mention of his name caused peaceful travellers to tremble in their shoes.

All previous attempts to capture the cunning outlaw had proved ineffectual; so when at last a troop of carbineers was sent out from Naples to lie in wait for the whole band, joy was felt in every village round about, and the peasants hoped to be freed from their dreaded enemy at last.

The soldiers had been awaiting news at the inn of Terracina, but on learning that Fra Diavolo and his rogues had been seen in the neighbourhood, they at once received orders to start off in pursuit. In merry haste, they drank the stirrup-cups poured out for them by old Matteo, the inn-keeper, and his pretty daughter, Zerlina; for a price had been set upon the head of Fra Diavolo, and they were eager to win the reward...