The Ghosts of Versailles

An opera by John Corigliano, who is probably most famous for composing the score of the film The Red Violin.

It concerns the ghosts of Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI, and Pierre Beaumarchais, who is most famous for writing the Figaro trilogy of plays, the first two of which, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, were adapted into celebrated operas.

The ghosts have grown extraordinarily bored, so Beaumarchais decides to write a new Figaro opera (loosely adapted from the obscure third play, The Guilty Mother), which he intends to use to re-write history so that Marie Antoinette, distraught at her death, is not executed.


 * Angry Mob Song: This takes place during the French Revolution...
 * Deadpan Snarker: King Louis XVI
 * The Dog Bites Back: Wilhelm, near the end.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: Inverted. Begearss is a slimy-sounding tenor.
 * Face Death with Dignity: Marie Antoinette, by the end.
 * "I Am" Song: Figaro's aria "They Wish They Could Kill Me."
 * Jerkass: Count Almaviva
 * Large Ham: This is a "Grand Opera Buffa." That should tell you all you ever need to know.
 * Mood Whiplash: The opera goes from scenes of Large Hams engaging in wacky hijinks to scenes of mobs with heads on the ends of sticks.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Samira.
 * Rage Against the Author: In act 2, Figaro decides to abandon the script, figuring that Marie Antoinette is not worth saving.
 * The Renfield: Wilhelm, the large but dim-witted (and non-singing) servant of Begearss
 * Scenery Porn: The original Met production had a very, very lavish set.
 * Show Within a Show: "A Figaro For Antonia"
 * The Soprano: Florestine. Hoo boy, Florestine. She sings way higher than either of the other two soprano leads.
 * Tenor Boy: Leon
 * Villain Song: "Long live the worm."