Giuseppe Verdi have, uniquely in his oeuvre, heroines who are, in the opera critic Joseph Kerman's words, "women who come to grief because of sexual transgression, actual or perceived". Kerman, like the psychologist Gerald Mendelssohn, sees this choice of subjects as being influenced by Verdi's uneasy passion for Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi moved into Sant'Agata on 1 May 1851. May also brought an offer for a new opera from La Fenice, which Verdi eventually realised as "La traviata". That was followed by an agreement with the Rome Opera company to present "Il trovatore" for January 1853. Verdi now had sufficient earnings to
Notre Dame (opera) Notre Dame (opera) Notre Dame is a romantic opera by Franz Schmidt, to a libretto by himself and Leopold Wilk (1876-1944), a professional chemist and amateur poet. It is based loosely on the novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" by Victor Hugo. The opera was written between 1904 and 1906. Schmidt approached the opera by writing the orchestral parts of the score first, adding the vocal parts in later. He incorporated some material from an unfinished fantasia for piano and orchestra. "Notre Dame" was first performed in Vienna on 1 April 1914. The principal female role of Esmeralda was created by