NPR World of Opera
Tancredi, by Gioacchino Rossini

Let's say you're a rich, beautiful, intelligent and sophisticated young woman. You're in love with a caring, handsome, principled young man. To top it off, this guy adores you -- he can't bring himself to even look at another woman. You've pretty much got it made, right? You're charmed; everything's falling into place. Well, in real life, maybe -- but if you're a character in an opera, probably not.

See, operas just don't work that way; instead, they're a little like TV soap operas. If the characters are happy, there's no show -- or at least nobody wants to watch it. So, the producers figure the thing to do is make the characters seem happy, to give them every reason to be happy, and then lower the boom on them.

That's what happens in this week's opera. There's a young woman called Amenaide. She's in love with a famous knight, who wants to marry her. He'd do anything to have her, to spend his life with her. But there's a catch. There are two other men who also want her. They're powerful men, enemies on the verge of war.

Now, both of these guys know that Amenaide can't stand either one of them -- but they don't care. Amenaide's lover is tricked into thinking she's been unfaithful, that he's lost her. So he decides to kill himself. Then, like she hasn't got enough trouble already, Amenaide's own father concludes she's a traitor, and decides to have her executed.

How's that for a charmed life? This poor girl is doomed, right? Well, in a lot of operas, she would be. She'd wind up beheaded, or stabbed by her despondent lover; she'd take a header off the nearest cliff, or suffocate under a pyramid, or do a swandive into a burning funeal pyre. But this week, in this opera, things work out just fine. How?

To find out, tune in World of Opera, with host Steve Curwood, for Tancredi, by Gioacchino Rossini. The performance, by Eve Queler and Opera Orchestra of New York, comes to us from Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Before and after the show, join Lou Santacroce for NPR's At the Opera and an exploration of Tancredi's foolproof subject matter -- the timeless theme of "starcrossed lovers."

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More on Rossini
Opera Orchestra of New York
Carnegie Hall
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