OPERA FOR ALL -- Octavio Choy and Peter Shimkin

"In Jules Massenet's opera THERESE, in the throes of the French Revolution, an exiled nobleman reappears to woo his now married lover with tragic consequences ending with the guillotine"

In Strauss' opera, SALOME could not kiss the lips of the prophet John the Baptist when he was alive, so she kissed the lips of his decapitated head.

In Luigi Cherubini's opera, Medea had two children by Jason, who abandons her to marry Glauce. Medea takes revenge killing Glauce and their two sons.

An innkeeper during the Protestant Reformation becomes convinced he is God's messenger with tragic consequences for himself, his mother and his fiancee. A good example of Parisian Grand Opera, from 1830-1870. Now known best for its skater's waltz.

In Verdi's opera, there is a confrontation between a Roman General and Attila, where the general proposes giving up the entire empire, with the exception of Italy, in a dramatic duo that highlights the opera