Maria Stuarda is a searingly dramatic setting of Friedrich Schiller’s play about Mary, Queen of Scots, and her political and personal rivalry with Queen Elizabeth I of England. While based relatively closely on historical characters and events, the opera’s central scene is fictional: the highly emotional meeting of the queens that concludes the first act (originally invented by Schiller) never took place. It’s a dramatic device that brilliantly highlights the two women’s contrasting characters.

故事发生于19世纪的巴黎。城中名妓薇奥莱塔因为喜爱茶花而被称为“茶花女”。薇奥莱塔受到青年阿尔弗莱德真挚情意的感动，与他坠入爱河，毅然离开纸醉金迷的巴黎社交圈。不料这段爱情却受到了阿尔弗莱德父亲的阻拦。在他父亲的哀求下，薇奥莱塔为了爱人的前途和家族的声誉无奈选择了放弃，回到巴黎重操旧业。而不知实情的阿尔弗莱德无法理解她的举动，于是，当众羞辱了她……

《诺尔玛》原为二幕正歌剧，也有编成四幕演出的。罗马尼编剧，贝利尼谱曲。本剧以公元前50年古罗马占领下的高卢为背景，讲述了高卢威严神圣的女祭司长诺尔玛与族人的死敌——罗马总督波利翁相爱，并生下了两个孩子，但波利翁却负心爱上了更年轻纯洁的女祭司，诺尔玛在万般纠结中，做出了令所有人意想不到的生死抉择。剧中痛彻心扉的爱情之殇令人动容，女高音咏叹“圣洁女神”更是歌剧史上最著名的咏叹调之一。