Rescue opera rescue opera; Luigi Cherubini's "Lodoïska" (1791) has also been named a founding work of the genre. Other examples from the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, the period when rescue opera flourished, are Nicolas Dalayrac's "Camille ou Le souterrain" (1791), Jean-François Le Sueur's "La caverne" (1793), and Cherubini's "Les deux journées" (1800). While the rescue opera was primarily a French genre, the two best-known operas in the genre are not French. Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio" is by far the most famous example today, and was also influenced by the German "Singspiel". A work which is similar
The Diary of a Madman (opera) Searle had recently written incidental music for a radio production of Gogol's story, starring Paul Scofield, and decided to choose the story for his opera, providing completely new music. The libretto was written by the composer, based on the translation of Gogol's story by D. S. Mirsky. The opera is scored for an orchestra of single strings, woodwind and brass, with two percussionists. An electronic tape is also specified to produce particular sound effects. The voices of two dogs are directed to be sung by the same performer, using a loudspeaker. The opera was written in London and Amalfi between