Opera 100

Gandhi is inspired by the Bhagavad Gita andthe poet Rabindranath Tagore. In South Africa, Gandhi and followers build Tolstoy Farm and protest the governmental introduction of identity cards and movement restrictions of the ‘Black Act’. In Durban violence threatens to erupt but is prevented by the Police Superintendent’s wife. Gandhi founds the ‘Indian Opinion’ newspaper, using it to foment rebellion and a ritual burning of identity cards when the government retracts its earlier promises. Following Gandhi’s example of peaceful truthful protest, the miners of New Castle march with the ‘Satyagraha Army’, presaging Martin Luther King’s struggles of the future. 

Interrupting a party Count Monterone curses the libertine Duke of Mantua for the seduction of his daughter, but also the Duke’s unpopular jester Rigoletto for malevolence. Returning home Rigoletto encounters the assassin Sparafucile, and then greets his daughter Gilda. Unbeknownst to Rigoletto, Gilda loves a student, Gaultier Malde (the disguised Duke). Assuming she is Rigoletto’s mistress, the Duke’s courtiers abduct Gilda, and the Duke then ravishes her. The vengeful Rigoletto hires Sparafucile, whose sister Maddalena lures the Duke to his fate. But Gilda, witness to the plot, sacrifices herself in his place. Rigoletto finds her dying and recalls Monterone’s curse.  

Realising she’s pregnant, Jenůfa anxiously awaits Števa. He arrives drunk, provoking Jenůfa’s foster-
mother the Kostelnička (Sacristan) to postpone their marriage. Števa’s step-brother Laca jealously
disfigures Jenůfa’s face. Jenůfa bears a son in secret. Števa refuses Kostelnička’s pleas to honour his
earlier promises – he’s betrothed elsewhere. Laca expresses love for Jenůfa to Kostelnička but reacts
angrily when he learns of the baby. Rashly, she says the child died and, after drugging Jenůfa, she
acts. The guilt-ridden Kostelnička is about to bless Jenůfa and Laca’s union as cries are heard. A
baby’s body has been found. Confessions with consequences are necessary.

The rumour that the dead Buoso Donati left his fortune to a monastery prompts his relatives, who have gathered round his deathbed, all feigning grief to impress each other, to search for his will. Rinuccio finds it, but won’t disclose its contents until he is promised the hand of Gianni Schicchi’s daughter, Lauretta. The relatives persuade the cunning Schicchi to fix the problem of all Donati’s money going to the church. Impersonating Donati, in making a new will, he leaves all the money to himself, the relatives powerless to stop him. Upon seeing the lovers happy, Gianni Schicchi is satisfied.

As the nuns finish their prayers, Sister Angelica, sent to the convent by her family because she had an illegitimate child, tries unsuccessfully to hide her unhappiness at having heard no news of her family in seven years. Then, the Abbess announces that Angelica’s aunt, a princess, is arriving. The aunt coldly informs Angelica that her child is dead. Distraught at this news, Angelica pines to join her child in Heaven. She drinks poison, but is further grief-stricken when she realises suicide condemns her to Hell. She then prays to the Madonna, who guides Angelica and her child to Heaven.

At sunset on the River Seine, Michele, owner of a barge, watches the stevedores finish their work, unaware that one of them, Luigi, is the lover of his wife Giorgetta. Michele’s suspicions grow when he meets them both. When Michele departs, Giorgetta arranges a rendezvous with Luigi for later that night. Conversely, Michele begs Giorgetta that they return to their former love and happiness; she rebuffs him. When meeting Luigi, and tormented by thoughts of his wife’s betrayal, Michele kills him upon getting him to confess to his disloyalty. Giorgetta returns and, in triumph, Michele reveals the corpse of Luigi.

Leonore (disguised as Fidelio) infiltrates the prison of Don Pizarro to rescue her husband Florestan whom has been illegally incarcerated for two years. Marzelline, the daughter of Rocco the gaoler, has fallen for Fidelio, though she is loved by Jaquino, even though Rocco has promised his offspring to Fidelio. Pizarro, on learning that the minister Fernando plans to visit the prison, resolves to have Florestan disposed of; the task is given to Rocco, aided by Fidelio. Leonore prevents Florestan’s murder by revealing herself to a surprised Pizarro. Upon the minister’s pardon, she removes her husband’s shackles; Pizarro is taken away.

Ostracised by the stifling Borough community after losing an apprentice at sea, rough fisherman Peter Grimes takes on another workhouse boy. Only sympathetic teacher Ellen Orford supports him. When she later questions his harsh treatment of his new assistant, Grimes strikes her. Witnesses to this incite the crowd to march on Grimes’s hut. To escape them, sailor and apprentice climb down a cliff near their hut, but the boy slips. The apprentice’s disappearance is soon noticed, rumours abound, and a manhunt begins. Ellen and old sailor Balstrode help Grimes to escape by sailing out to sea and scuppering his boat.

Gennaro is drawn to a masked lady. His friends including Orsini insult her, unmasking her as the hated Lucrezia Borgia. She vows revenge. Her secret visits to Gennaro arouse her husband’s suspicions. The Duke sentences Gennaro to death for defacing a Borgia crest; Lucrezia must select the method of execution. Choosing poison she subsequently administers the antidote and facilitates Gennaro’s escape. Lucrezia entraps Orsini and colleagues and poisons them, then discovers the disguised Gennaro amongst them. Spurning her proffered antidote he tries to stab her until she reveals herself as his mother. Refusing aid, he dies. Explaining all, Lucrezia collapses.

Tannhäuser escapes Venus’s realm of bacchanalian excess. Wolfram leads him to the Wartburg, reuniting him with Elisabeth, the Landgrave’s niece. Minstrel knights then sing of Love’s purity, provoking Tannhäuser to recklessly extol carnality and the Venusberg. Elisabeth protects him from the scandalised knight’s swords. The Landgrave expels him until he gains Papal absolution. The mournful Elisabeth rejects Wolfram’s advances. Encountering Tannhäuser, Wolfram hears of the Pope’s damnation. Venus returns to claim Tannhäuser, but Wolfram reveals Elisabeth’s fidelity to him as her funeral procession passes. Tannhäuser invokes Elisabeth’s heavenly intercession. Pilgrims reveal the Papal staff has flowered – thus Tannhäuser is redeemed.