Leonora (opera) Leonora (opera) Leonora, ossia L’amore coniugale ("Leonora or Conjugal Love") is an opera (specifically a "dramma semiserio") in two acts by the Italian composer Ferdinando Paer. The libretto, by Giovanni Schmidt, is based on "Léonore ou L’Amour conjugal" (1794) by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, which was also the source of Beethoven's "Fidelio". Beethoven himself owned a score of Paer's opera and it is believed to have had some influence on his work. "Leonora" was first performed at the Kleines Kurfürstliches Theater, Dresden on 3 October 1804 with the composer's wife singing the title role. Leonora disguises herself as a man in order
The Diary of a Madman (opera) The Diary of a Madman (opera) The Diary of a Madman is a one-act chamber opera by the composer Humphrey Searle. It is based on the short story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The opera was premiered in 1958 in Berlin. The libretto is by the composer. The work, which is the first of Searle's operas, was commissioned by Hermann Scherchen, then the director of the Berlin Festival. Scherchen gave Searle complete choice of subject, stipulating only that the orchestra be of no more than 15 players, and that there should be no more than four singing roles.