The Opera Stories

Turandot is an opera of Puccini, an Italian composer (1858-1924) famous for Tosca and Madam Butterfly. Turandot was the last and grandest opera of Puccini. Set in Peking, China in legendary times, the opera tells the story of the cold-hearted princess Turandot, who executed all her suitors for failing to answer three riddles that she posed, and how the prince of Tartary melted Turandot’s icy heart and helped her realize the meaning of true love.
Founded on the story by the French playwright Merimee, opera Carmen was composed by Bizet, one of the great French composers (1838-1875) in 1875. Don Jose, a soldier of the Spanish army, stationed in Seville is a naive young man who has his fiance and ill mother, waiting for him at home. One day, infatuated by the charms of Carmen, a Gypsy woman who is working at a cigarette factory, he abandons his promising career and his sweetheart. However, he soon realizes that Carmen has transferred her affections to a bull fighter named Escamillo. In a fury of despair, Don Jose stabs Carmen to death in the arena.
Opera Aida is one of the best works of Giuseppe Verdi(1813-1901), a great Italian composer who also created Rigoletto and La Traviata. The opera was first presented for the inauguration of Cairo’s new opera house in 1871. Although Aida was composed for celebration, the story is a sad love story. The young Egyptian general, Radames falls in love with Aida, an Ethiopian princess, who is now a slave to the Egyptian princess, Amneris. Aida also loves Radames, but she is torn between her love of Radames and the love of her homeland. Meanwhile, Amneris, in love with Radames, learns that Radames is in love with Aida. Jealous of Radames’s love for Aida, Amneris plots to hinder their love, and eventually the star-crossed lovers die together.