This opera in Act 1, Scene 1 is set in A hall in the King's palace; through the rear gate the pyramids and temples of Memphis can be seen.

Ramfis, the high priest of Egypt, tells Radames, the young warrior, that war with the Ethiopians seems inevitable, and Radames expresses the hope that he can be chosen as the Egyptian commander. (Ramfis, Radames : Si, corre voce I'Etiope ardisca / "Yes, it is rumored that Ethiopia dares once again to threaten our power").

Radames dreams both of gaining victory on the battle field and of this opera's title character, the Ethiopian slave, with whom he is secretly in love. The title character , who is also secretly in love with Radames, is the captured daughter of the Ethiopian King Amonasro, but her Egyptian captors are unaware of her true identity. Her father has invaded Egypt to deliver her from servitude.

Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian King enters the hall. She too loves Radames, but fears that his heart belongs to somebody else (Radames, Amneris: Quale insolita gioia nel tuo sguardo / "In your looks I trace a joy unwonted").

Then the title character appears and, when Radames sees her, Amneris notices that he looks disturbed. She suspects that the title character could be her rival, but she is able to hide her jealousy and approaches her

The King enters, along with the High Priest, Ramfis, and the whole palace court. A messenger announces that the Ethiopians, led by King Amonasro, are marching towards Thebes. The King declares war and also proclaims Radames to be the man chosen by the goddess Isis as leader of the army. 

Upon receiving the mandate from the King, Radames proceeds to the temple of Vulcan to take up the sacred arms.

Alone in the hall, the title character is torn between her love for her father, her country, and Radames.

Act 1, Scene 2 of this opera is set Inside the Temple of Vulcan.

Solemn ceremonies and dances by the priestesses take place followed by the installation of Radames to the office of commander-in-chief.

All present in the temple pray for the victory of Egypt and protection for their warriors

Act 2, Scene 1 of this opera is set in The chamber of Amneris.  Dances and music to celebrate Radames' victory take place. However, Amneris is still in doubt about Radames' love and wonders whether this title character is in love with the young warrior. She tries to forget her doubt, entertaining her worried heart with the dance of Moorish slaves

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When this title character enters the chamber, Amneris asks everyone to leave. By falsely telling this title character that Radames has died in the battle, she tricks her into professing her love for him. In grief, and shocked by the news, this title character confesses that her heart belongs to Radames eternally

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This confession fires Amneris with rage, and she plans on taking revenge on the title character. Ignoring the title character's pleadings, Amneris leaves her alone in the chamber.

Act 2, Scene 2 if this opera is set at The grand gate of the city of Thebes

Radames returns victorious and the troops march into the city. The Egyptian king decrees that on this day the triumphant Radames may have anything he wishes. The Ethiopian captives are rounded up and Amonasro appears among them. Aida immediately rushes to her father, but their true identities are still unknown to the Egyptians, save for the fact that they are father and daughter. Amonasro declares that the Ethiopian king (he himself) has been slain in battle. This title character, Amonasro and the captured Ethiopians plead with the Egyptian King for mercy, but the Egyptians call for their death.

As his reward from the King, Radames pleads with him to spare the lives of the prisoners and to set them free. Gratefully, the King of Egypt declares Radames to be his successor and to be his daughter's betrothed. The title character and Amonasro remain as hostages to ensure that the Ethiopians do not avenge their defeat.

Act 3 of this opera is set On the banks of the Nile, near the Temple of Isis

Prayers are said on the eve of Amneris and Radames' wedding in the Temple of Isis. Outside, this title character waits to meet with Radames as they had planned.

Amonasro appears and forces the title character to agree to find out the location of the Egyptian army from Radames. When he arrives, Amonasro hides behind a rock and listens to their conversation.

Radames affirms that the title character is the person he will marry, and she convinces him to flee to the desert with her.

In order to make their escape easier, Radames proposes that they use a safe route without any fear of discovery and he also reveals the location where his army has chosen to attack. Upon hearing this, Amonasro comes out of hiding and reveals his identity. Radames feels dishonored. At the same time Amneris and Ramfis leave the temple and, seeing Radames with their enemy, call the guards. Amonasro and the title character try to convince Radames to escape with them, but he refuses and surrenders to the imperial guards.

Act 4, Scene 1 of this opera is set in A hall in the Temple of Justice. To one side is the door leading to Radames' prison cell

Amneris desires to save Radames. She calls for the guard to bring him to her.

She asks Radames to deny the accusations, but Radames refuses. Certain that, as punishment, he will be condemned to death, Amneris implores him to defend himself, but Radames firmly refuses. He is relieved to know the title character is still alive and hopes she has reached her own country. His decision hurts Amneris.

Radames' trial takes place offstage; he does not reply to Ramfis' accusations and is condemned to death, while Amneris, who remains onstage, pleads with the priests to show him mercy. As he is sentenced to be buried alive, Amneris curses the priests while Radames is taken away.

Act 4, Scene 2 is set in the lower portion of the stage which shows the vault in the Temple of Vulcan; the upper portion represents the temple itself

Radames has been taken into the lower floor of the temple and sealed up in a dark vault. Thinking that he is alone and hoping that this title character is in a safer place, he hears a sigh and then sees the title character. She has hidden herself in the vault in order to die with Radames. They accept their terrible fate  and bid farewell to earth and its sorrows. Above the vault in the temple of Vulcan, Amneris weeps and prays to the goddess Isis. In the vault below, the title character dies in Radames' arms.

Camille du Locle, the artistic director of the Opéra-Comique, commissioned Bizet to write this opera based on Mérimée's novel in early 1873 to be premiered at the end of the year. However, difficulty in finding a leading lady delayed rehearsals until August 1874. Bizet bought a house at Bougival on the Seine, where he finished the piano score in the summer of 1874, and took a further two months to complete a full orchestration.

After approaching the singer Marie Roze, who declined the part, du Locle offered the part to the famous mezzo-soprano Galli-Marié. Financial negotiations over her fees ensued, and she accepted it in December 1873 (she agreed to 2,500 francs per month for four months). She apparently did not know the Mérimée novella.

During rehearsals for the opening of this opera, du Locle's assistant de Leuven voiced his discontent about the opera's plot, and pressured Bizet and the librettists to alter the tragic ending. De Leuven felt that families would be shocked to see such a "debauched" opera on the stage of the Opéra-Comique, which had a reputation as a family-friendly theatre, with many boxes used by parents to interview prospective sons-in-law. The librettists agreed to change the ending, but Bizet refused, which led directly to de Leuven's resignation from the theatre in early 1874.

The librettists had toned down some of the more extreme elements of Mérimée's novella, although it has been argued that this, and Bizet's close involvement in shaping the libretto are more to do with his wish to get closer to the Pushkin source.

Full rehearsals for this opera finally began in October 1874. The Opéra-Comique's orchestra declared the score unplayable, and the cast were having difficulty following Bizet's directions. However, the greatest opposition came from du Locle, who liked Bizet personally, but hated the opera. At this stage, the Opéra-Comique was in financial difficulties, leading du Locle to believe the opera would topple the ailing company, which had failed to produce a true success since Charles Gounod's Faust.

The librettists, for whom this opera "had little importance" (they had four other operas on stage in Paris at that time), secretly tried to induce the singers to over-dramatise in order to lessen the impact of the work. However, much to Bizet's delight, the final rehearsals seemed to convince the majority of the company of the genius of the opera.

Act 1 of this opera is set in a square in Seville. On the right a cigarette factory, on the left a guard house, with a bridge at the back.

Moralès and the soldiers loiter before the guard house commenting on passers-by . Micaëla appears seeking Don José, a corporal, but is told by Moralès that he is not yet on duty, so why does she not stay and wait with them? She runs away saying that she will return later. Zuniga and José arrive with the new guard, imitated by a crowd of street-children.

The factory bell rings and the cigarette girls emerge from the factory, greeted by young men who have gathered to flirt with them. The girls enter smoking cigarettes, and finally this title character appears, and all the men ask her when she will love them. She replies in the famous Habanera: "Love is a rebellious bird that no one can tame ... He has never known law. If you don't love me I love you, if I love you watch yourself!" When they plead for her to choose a lover from among them, she tears a bunch of cassia from her bodice and throws it at Don José, who has been ignoring her, before going back into the factory with the others. José is annoyed by her insolence.

Micaëla returns and gives him a letter —and a kiss— from his mother. José longingly thinks of his home, and reading the letter sees that his mother wants him to return and get married. Micaëla is embarrassed and leaves, but Don José declares that he will marry her.

As soon as she leaves, screams are heard from the factory and the women run out, singing chaotically. Don José and Zuniga find that that the title character has been fighting with another woman, and slashed her face with a knife. Zuniga asks the title character if she has anything to say, but she replies impudently with a song. Zuniga instructs José to guard her while he writes out the warrant for prison. The women go back into the factory and the soldiers to the guardhouse. To escape, the title character seduces José with a seguidilla about an evening date with her next lover who is "only a corporal"; José relents and unties her hands. Zuniga returns, and the title character allows herself to be led away but turns, pushes José to the ground, and laughing cigarette girls surround Zuniga as she escapes.

Act 2 of this opera is set at an Evening at Lillas Pastia's inn, tables scattered around; officers and gypsies relaxing after dinner

A month has passed since the first Act. The title character and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès sing and dance. Lillas Pastia is trying to get rid of the officers, so Zuniga invites the title character and her friends to come with him to the theatre, but she can only think of José, who was demoted and has been in jail since letting her escape, and was released the day before.

The sound of a procession hailing Escamillo passes by outside, and the toreador is invited in. Escamillo sings the Toreador song, and flirts with the title character, but she tells him that for the time being he need not dream of being hers.

When everyone except the title character, Frasquita and Mercédès have left, the smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and tell the girls of their plans to dispose of the contraband they have smuggled via Gibraltar. The title character refuses to accompany them, saying to their amazement that she is in love.

As José's voice is heard, Dancaïre tells the title character she must try to get Don José to join them. Alone together, José returns a gold coin the title character had sent him in jail and she orders fruit and wine to be brought.

The title character vexes him with stories of her dancing for the officers but then dances with castanets for him alone. During her song the sound of bugles is heard calling the soldiers back to barracks.

The title character's temper flares when José says he must leave, but he makes her listen by producing the flower she threw at him, which he kept while he was in prison and is proof of his love. The title character is unmoved and asks him to join her gypsy life if he really loves her.

Her picture of a life of freedom tempts him but he finally refuses saying he will never be a deserter. He begins to leave when Zuniga enters hoping to find the title character. Don José draws his sword on his superior officer, but before they can fight the smugglers burst in and disarm both of them. Zuniga is made a prisoner and José has no alternative but to flee with the title character.

Act 3 of this opera is set in a a wild and deserted rocky place at night

The smugglers along with the title character and José are travelling with the contraband, but the title character has grown tired of José, and does not conceal this, taunting him to return to his village. The smugglers ask the girls to come and charm the customs officers and everyone goes off, leaving the jealous José to guard the goods.

Micaëla arrives with a guide seeking José. She sends the guide away and vows to take Don José away from the title character. She sees José firing a gun, and hides in the rocks. It was Escamillo whom José had fired at, but when he arrives José welcomes him, until he says he is infatuated with the title character and tells José the story of her affair with a soldier, not realising José is that soldier.

José challenges Escamillo to a knife-fight, but Escamillo fights defensively, infuriating José. They start again and José finds himself at the mercy of Escamillo who releases him, saying his trade is killing bulls, not men. The third time they fight Escamillo's knife breaks, but he is saved by the return of the smugglers and the title character. Escamillo leaves, but invites the title character and the smugglers to his next bullfight in Seville.

Remendado finds Micaëla hiding, and she tells José that his mother wishes to see him. The title character mocks him and at first he refuses to go, until Micaëla tells him that his mother is dying. Vowing that he will return to the title character, he goes.

As he is leaving, Escamillo is heard singing in the distance. Carmen rushes to the sound of his voice, but José bars her way.

Act 4 of this opera is set in a square in front of the arena at Seville: the day of a bull-fight; bustling activity

It is the day of the contest to which Escamillo invited the smugglers. The square is full of people, with merchants and gypsies selling their wares . Zuniga, Frasquita and Mercédès are among the crowd and the girls tell Zuniga that the title character is now with Escamillo.

The crowd and children sing and cheer on the procession as the cuadrilla arrive. The title character and Escamillo are greeted by the crowds and express their love, the title character adding that she had never loved one so much.

After Escamillo has gone into the fight, Frasquita warns the title character that José is in the crowd , but the title character scorns their fears. Before she can enter the arena she is confronted by the desperate José.

He begs her to return his love and start a new life with him far away. She calmly replies that she loves him no longer and will not give way—free she was born and free she will die.

Cheers are heard from the bull-ring and the title character tries to enter, but José bars her way. He asks her one last time to come back, but she scornfully throws back the ring that he gave to her.

He stabs her as Escamillo is acclaimed in the arena, to the strains of the chorus of the 'Toreador Song', she dies. Don José kneels in despair beside her. The spectators flock out of the arena and find José, confessing his guilt over her dead body.

This opera is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais.

Although the play by Beaumarchais was at first banned in Vienna because of its satire of the aristocracy, considered dangerous in the decade before the French Revolution, the opera became one of Mozart's most successful works. The overture is especially famous and is often played as a concert piece. The musical material of the overture is not used later in the work, aside from two brief phrases during the Count's part in the terzetto Cosa sento! in act 1.

This opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte; their later collaborations were Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais' play and brought it to Da Ponte, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original's political references. In particular, Da Ponte replaced this opera's climactic speech against inherited nobility with an equally angry aria against unfaithful wives. Contrary to the popular myth, the libretto was approved by the Emperor, Joseph II, before any music was written by Mozart.  The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work; this was three times his (low) salary for a year, when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg (Solomon 1995).

Da Ponte was paid 200 florins.

This oratorio is an English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel, and is one of the most popular works in the Western choral literature. The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn entirely from the King James and Great Bibles, and interprets the Christian doctrine. This work is one of Handel's most famous works.

Composed in London during the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin, Ireland on 13 April 1742, it was repeatedly revised by Handel, reaching its most familiar version in the performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in 1754. In 1789 Mozart orchestrated a German version of the work; his added woodwind parts, and the edition by Ebenezer Prout, were commonly heard until the mid-20th century and the rise of historically informed performance.

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed by __________________, and is one of the most popular works in the Western choral literature. The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn entirely from the King James and Great Bibles, and interprets the Christian doctrine of the Messiah. Messiah (often but incorrectly called The Messiah) is one of his most famous works. The Messiah sing-alongs now common at the Christmas season usually consist of only the first of the oratorio's three parts, with "Hallelujah" (originally concluding the second part) replacing His Yoke is Easy in the first part.

Composed in London during the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin, Ireland on 13 April 1742, it was repeatedly revised by the author, reaching its most familiar version in the performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in 1754. In 1789 Mozart orchestrated a German version of the work; his added woodwind parts, and the edition by Ebenezer Prout, were commonly heard until the mid-20th century and the rise of historically informed performance.

This opera is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play. This opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years.

While it was first performed by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier on 3 August 1829, the opera's length, roughly four hours of music, and casting requirements, such as the high range required for the tenor part, have contributed to the difficulty of producing the work.  When it is performed, it is often heavily cut. Performances have been given in both French and Italian. Political concerns have also contributed to the varying fortunes of the work.

Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by _______________ to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was this author's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years. The William Tell Overture, with its famous finale, is a major part of the concert and recording repertoire.

While it was first performed by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Le Peletier on 3 August 1829, the opera's length, roughly four hours of music, and casting requirements, such as the high range required for the tenor part, have contributed to the difficulty of producing the work. When it is performed, it is often heavily cut. Performances have been given in both French and Italian. Political concerns have also contributed to the varying fortunes of the work.