# Operas that have Work Ethic/Labor Related Themes



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

I am wondering what operas have work ethic or labor related themes. I am not interested in Soviet or similar state/political ones that might be out there. It could be any opera or vocal work from the last four hundred years or so. 

The Horatio Alger stories are a good type of this: boy has good ethics, works hard, and succeeds, even though coming from very harsh circumstances.


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## JoeSaunders (Jan 29, 2015)

I guess the moral of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress is basically "Don't be a lazy **** or the devil will make work for you". It's more of a cautionary tale about bad work ethic than a positive example of a good one though.

One theme of Britten's Peter Grimes is about work: Grimes eventually becomes obsessed with catching all the fish (to overcome the prejudices of the borough) at the expense of his apprentice, who is overworked, abused, and ultimately killed. Bit grim really. It's not exactly a central theme of the opera though.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

_Paul Bunyan_ - Britten's first opera, after the American folk tale of the giant lumberjack and the crew who work for him.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

There's _The Cradle Will Rock_ by Marc Blitzstein. I've never heard it, but here's the Wiki article on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cradle_Will_Rock


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

How about Flotow's Martha where the two ladies in the queen's court end up marrying farmers and make ready for a working class life.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Terra senza passato (music by Luigi Manenti and libretto by Nino Pivetta) talks about the social problem of the terrain expropriation from farmer families on which they lived and worked for generations caused by the industrial revolution.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

_Jenufa_ by Janecek has mill workers.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

How about _Siegfiried_? An orphaned boy grows up in very difficult circumstances and succeeds despite a dubious parental figure.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Becca said:


> How about _Siegfiried_? An orphaned boy grows up in very difficult circumstances and succeeds despite a dubious parental figure.


He does learn smithing from Mime, former employee of Alberich, the CEO and floor manager of a jewelry-making company in the undergound economy.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Isn't _Carmen _about workers in a cigarette factory? Not sure about their work ethic, as the opera is about more interesting issues. Also included is a laborer in the bull-baiting industry.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I suppose _The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs_ by Mason Bates could be an example? Work ethic is a major theme, though both his work ethic and his success have some negative effects, along with the positive ones.


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