The characters in the opera The Visitors are escaping the Black Death by sheltering in a villa outside what city
The Visitors (opera) The Visitors is an opera in three acts and a prologue composed by Carlos Chávez to an English libretto by the American poet Chester Kallman. The work was Chávez's only opera. Its first version, with the title "Panfilo and Lauretta", premiered in New York City in 1957. The final version with the title "The Visitors" was premiered in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1999, twenty years after the composer's death. The story is set in 14th century Tuscany during the time of the Black Death. The libretto (like those for "Pagliacci" and "Ariadne auf Naxos") uses the device of a play within a play to reflect and intensify the relationships between the protagonists, who in this case are loosely based on characters in "The Decameron".
Il burbero di buon cuore Il burbero di buon cuore ("The Good-Hearted Curmudgeon") is an opera dramma giocoso in two acts by Vicente Martín y Soler. The Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte is based on the French comedy "Le bourru bienfaisant" by Carlo Goldoni. The opera premiered on January 4, 1786 in Vienna at the Burgtheater with a cast that included three well known Viennese singers of the day: Nancy Storace as Angelica, Francesco Benucci as Ferramondo, and Maria Mandini as Marina. The opera premiered in the same year and at the same house as Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro", and both operas enjoyed revivals at the Burgtheater three years later — each boasting two new arias for new leading ladies. The new arias for "Il burbero di buon cuore" (""Chi sa, chi sa, qual sia"" K. 582 in Act I and ""Vado, ma dove?"" K. 583 in Act II, both for Lucilla) were actually composed by Mozart, as Martín y Soler had left Vienna to work at the court of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg. The opera recently received its first modern revival in 2007 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a performance which was videotaped live and released on DVD in 2009.