Teatro alla Perfola - Florence. Libretto: Cammaranno. 4 acts. ROLES: Luigi Ricci (T), Stefano (S), Eleonora (S), Ginevra (MS), Appoani (B), Michelangelo (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2(d) 2 2 2, 4, 2, 3, 1, harp, timp, perc, strings. Hugely popular opera in its time. Premiere cast included Mariani and Strepponi. Performed as far away as Denmark, Poland, and Portugal.

Teatro Nota - Torino. LIbretto: Lauro Rossi. Scherzo Comico in ONE ACT. ROLES: Un maestro (Bar), una cantante (S). NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 2 2 2 2, 4* 2 3 1, Timp, Strings (*Cr. 3-4 only play in the Sinfonia). Wonderful meta opera, quotes Trovatore, Guillaume Tell, Lucia di Lammermoor, etc.

Teatro Balbo - Torino. Libretto: Salvadore Cammarano. Farsa in One Act. ROLES: Timoleone (Bar), Susanna (S), Genoveffa (MS). NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 2 2 2 2, 4* 2 3 1, Timp, Perc, Strings. (* Cr. 3-4 only play in the Sinfonia). Same story as “Il segreto di Susanna.” Also known as “ov’è fumo v’è foco.”

(Teatro San Carlo, Naples) Libretto: Domenico Bolognese. Opera Seria in 4 Acts. Roles: Franciscolo Pusterla (T), Margherita Visconti (S), Venturino (S), Luchino Visconti (B), Alpino (S), Ramengo (B), Isabella (S), Mastino (B), Bice (S), Maso (B), Nena (S), Macaruffo (B), Segratario (B), Chorus. Instrumentation 2+1 2 2 2, 2 2 3 0, Timp, Perc, Arpa, 2 Bandas, Zampogna, Strings.
Done only a few times in Naples. Definitely a masterpiece. Based on an extremely popular novel of the time by Cesare Cantù.

1 act, in Spanish. 4 characters. NO CHORUS.

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Andrea Leone Tottola. Azione comico favoloso in 3 Acts. Roles: Astarot (T), Madama La Fleure (S), Madama La Roquille (S), Mariola (MS), Olombrone (B), Splitz (B), Sanguisuga (B), Enrichetta (S), Fabio (B), Pulcinella (Bar), Plutone (B), Proserpina (S), Minos (B), un adulatore (speaking), un mercadante (speaking), un bugiardo (speaking), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2(+1) 2 2 2, 2 2 3 1, Timp, Perc, Strings.
Enormously famous in its time. A classic battle of the sexes comedy contrasting the seriousness of Greek Myth (Pluto, Proserpina, Astarot), with the rich worldly comedy of Pulcinella and Mariola (both who sing and speak mostly in Neapolitan).

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Andrea Passaro. Commedia in 2 Acts. Roles: Elisa (S), D. Alfonso (B), Aurelio (B), Pulcinella (B), Dottor Bisticcio (B), Alberto (T), Stefanello (B), Serpina (S), Prospero (speaking), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d* 2 2 2, 2 2 1 0, Timp, Perc, Strings. *Fl 2 always plays Picc.
Very popular comic opera, performed in Italian and Neapolitan. Part of it takes place in an insane asylum for musicians.

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Domenico Bolognese. Dramma lirico in 4 Acts. ROLES: Clopin (B), Frollo (B), Quasimodo (B), Duca Gondelaurier (B), Esmeralda (S), Elisa (S),M.ma Gondelaurier (S), Febo (T), Gringoir (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d, 2 2 2, 4 2 3 1, Timp, Perc. Chitarra, Harp, Strings.
Based on Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris with a lieto finale. Battista’s most popular work. Known variously as Esmeralda and Ermelinda.

(Teatro del Cocomero, Florence). Libretto: Gaetano Gasbarri. Dramma per musica 2 Acts. Roles: Alberto (B), Carlotta (S), Verter (T), Giorgio (B), Ambrogio (B), Paolina (MS), Giulietto, Valeria, Domestici. NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 2d* 2 2 1, 2 2 0 0, Strings. *2nd only plays Picc. Currently missing N. 2 Cavatina di Giorgio “Tutto è silenzio.” In the Firenze conservatory Library. I-Fc (D.I.V. 543)
Loosely based on Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. It is one of several opere semiserie in the late 18th/early 19th century that has a lieto finale for the story.

(Teatro San Moisè, Venice). Libretto: Giuseppe Foppa. 1 Act farsa. Roles: Madama Derval (S), Lisa (S), Colmont (T), Derval (B), Il Maggiore (B), Lefort (B), NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 2 2 2 1, 2 0 0 0, Strings. Charming one act Farsa.

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Ernesto del Preite. Commedia lirica in 3 Acts. Roles: Zoè (S), Ermelina (MS), Alfonso (T), Doumont (B), Pietro (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2* 2 2 2, 2 2 2 1, Timp, Perc, Strings. *Always 1 Fl and 1 Picc. Delightful popular comic opera from a mid-19th century Calabrese composer. Often described as an “operetta.”

Opéra-Comique, Paris. Libretto: Eugène Scribe & Jacques Féréol Mazas. Opera-comique in 1 Act. Roles: Alice (S), Catherine (MS), Alberic (T), Bertrand (T), Raimbaud (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d 2 2 2, 2 2 1* 0, Timp, Strings. *Trombone only in Overture. Charming operetta about a village in the grip of fear over a supposed werewolf. Re-premiered at OSW in 2022.

(Lyceum Theatre, London). Libretto: Emilio Taddei. Opera comica in 4 acts. Roles: Alì Babà (B), Delia (S), Nadir (T), Aboul Hassan (B), Orsocane (B), Calaf (B), Thamar (T), Morgiana (MS), Faor (T), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d 2d 2 2, 4 4* 3 1, Timp, Perc, Harp, Mandolino, Chitarra, Strings. Based on the tale from the 1,001 Arabian Nights. Wildly popular in London in the 1870s-80s. Re-premiered at OSW in 2019.

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Francesco Rubini. 3 act comic opera with spoken dialogue. Roles: Auerlio (B), Amalia (S), Bobolo (B), Zuccolino (B), Dorotea (S), Floridoro (T), Cecco (T), Chorus. Instrumentation: 1+1 2 2 2, 2 2 3 0, Timp, Strings. This opera has the first instance of a 5/4 ensemble in Italian opera that I can find. The music is beautiful and rhythmically vivacious.

Libretto: Giorgio Giachetti. Melodramma in 2 acts. Roles: Michelangelo (B), Rolla (B), Stefano (S), Eleonora (S), Appiani (T), Ginevra (MS), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2+1, 2 2 2, 4 2 3 1, Timp, Perc, Harp, Strings. Big grand opera that has a really interesting story that you can kind of glean by the title, concerning a fictional sculpture contest, where the great Michelangelo comes to the aid of a younger sculptor (Luigi Rolla).

(Teatro Nuovo, Naples). Libretto: Domenico Andreotti. 3 act semiseria. Roles: Isabella (S), Earclif (MS), Ratcliffe (T), Elsy (T), Langley (Bar), Tom (B), Ellieslaw (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2+1, 2 2 2, 2 2 3 0, Banda, Timp, Perc. Strings. Has spoken dialect in Neapolitan and was based on the popular Walter Scott novel "The black dwarf."

(Teatro San Moisè, Venice). Libretto: Giuseppe Foppa. 1 act farsa. Roles: Matilde (S), Fiammetta (MS), Federico (T), Dolibano (Bar), Pantarotto (B), NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 1 2 2 1, 2 2* 0 0, Strings. *Trumpets only in the Sinfonia. Enormously popular in its own time, with extant manuscripts in several cities around Italy. Re-premiered at Opera Southwest September 2024.

(Teatro dal fondo, Naples). Libretto: unknown. 1 act farsa. Roles: Elisa (S), Olimpia (S), Carolina (MS), Adolfo (T), Nicola (B), Enrico (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2 2 2 2, 2 2 2 0, Timp, Strings. This piece has spoken dialog in Neapolitan and has a charming plot and music.

(Teatro Pantera, Lucca). Libretto: Luisa Amalia Paladini. Azione Drammatica in 1 Act. Roles: Maddelena (S), Madre (MS), Cattani (T), Matraini (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d 2 2 2, 4 2 3 0, Timp, Perc, Strings. This is a one act opera performed exactly one time for a special occasion, Giambattista Cattani being a famous Lucchese patriot. It has never been performed outside that one time. Michele Puccini was Giacomo Puccini’s father.

(Teatro S. Samuele, Venice). Libretto: Giovanni Bertati. 1 act comic opera. Roles: Ernestina (S), Barbarina (S), Agatina (MS), Girardino (T), Dottore (T), Luciano (T), Geronimo (B), NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 1* 2 1 1, 2 0 0 0, Strings. *Flauto plays only in N. 4, Duetto. Can't find much info on it. But the piece is delightful and contains, among other things, a beautiful trio for female voices.

Teatro Re, Milan. Libretto: Giovanni Peruzzini. Melodramma in 3. Roles: Margherita (S), Giannetta (S), Adalberto (T), Ilarione (B), Rinaldo (B), Daniele (B), Scudiero (B), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d 2 2 2, 4* 2 3 1, Timp, perc. Harp, strings. * 4 Horns only in Overture. Quite popular in its time. Featured in Francesco Izzo's book Laughter between two revolutions.

(Turin?) Libretto: unknown. 1 act opera. Roles: Pimmaglione (T), Galatea (S). NO CHORUS. Instrumentation: 2 2 2 1, 2 0 0 0, Strings. Same libretto that Donizetti went on to use for his Pigmaglione.

Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Libretto: Arrigo Boito 4 Acts. Roles: Amleto (T), Ofelia (S), Geltrude (MS), Claudio (bar), Spettro (B), Laerte, (T), Polonio (B), Orazio (B), Marcello (bar), Sacerdote (bar), Aroldo (T), Il Re (T), La Regina (S), Luciano (B), Primo Becchino (B), Secondo Becchino (speaking), Chorus. Instrumentation: 2d 2d 3 2, 4 4 3 1, Timp, Perc, Banda, Harp, Strings. Operatic treatment of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Boito’s first libretto. Re-premiere in 2014 at OSW. Productions in Delaware, Chemnitz Germany, the Bregenz festival, and Verona.