# Operas in which the tenor doesn't get the girl



## dreadnought (Nov 27, 2017)

Two of the operas I've watched recently, _Le Comte Ory_ and _La Donna del Lago_, ended with the tenor/tenors losing the leading lady to a non-tenor (a mezzo-soprano in both of those cases). That started me wondering - how many other operas go that route? It's a dynamic that I enjoy. :lol:

Requirements:
1) opera must have a tenor (i.e., not _Nozze_)
2) tenor must be in love with/pursuing a lady
3) lady must end up with a non-tenor


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

_Tales of Hoffman_ ... after pursuing 4 women (Olympia, Antonia, Giuletta and Stella), in the end Stella leaves with Councillor Lindorf, the bass-baritone.


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## interestedin (Jan 10, 2016)

Der fliegende Holländer.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Don Giovanni. Donna Anna puts the wedding off.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

My first thought is that most of them end up with one or both of them (tenor and soprano) not surviving.

Isn't it about time we had an opera where neither the Tenor or Baritone get the girl, but run away together instead?

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Don Carlo! (I'll say it 3 times so it will "take") Don Carlo. Don Carlo.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Ignore this post.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Carmen. She ends up with Escamillo before Jose kills her.


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

The Conte said:


> Isn't it about time we had an opera where neither the Tenor or Baritone get the girl, but run away together instead?
> 
> N.


I ship Tannhäuser and Wolfram #Wolfräuser #Regietheatre


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## dreadnought (Nov 27, 2017)

The Conte said:


> Isn't it about time we had an opera where neither the Tenor or Baritone get the girl, but run away together instead?
> 
> N.


Yes please! And/or one where the ladies end up together with no pants role required.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

Quite a few when we think about it, although Werther and Eugene Onegin strike me as the most obvious. Although we're left to assume a non-tenor gets the girl.

Not often stated but for nearly every soprano heroine death there's a grieving tenor.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

dreadnought said:


> Yes please! And/or one where the ladies end up together with no pants role required.


You mean as in_ Vanessa_?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Strauss; Capriccio ends also rather odd, who will she choose?


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## dreadnought (Nov 27, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> You mean as in_ Vanessa_?


I don't know _Vanessa_, but from the plot synopsis it doesn't seem to end with lesbians, so no.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

does Pagliacci count?


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Don Carlo! (I'll say it 3 times so it will "take") Don Carlo. Don Carlo.


I was thinking about that too.
Thinking of it there are few operas were the tenor gets the girl because most of the times the girl dies.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Sloe said:


> I was thinking about that too.
> Thinking of it there are few operas were the tenor gets the girl because most of the times the girl dies.


Oh there must be dozens of those.
Manrico's Leonora, Maurizio's Adriana, Rodolfo's Mimi, Alfredo's Violetta, Otello's Desdemona(maybe not fair because he kills her), Edgardo's Lucia, des Grieux's Manon Lescaut (Manon), Don Alvaro's Leonora, and on and on and on....


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## Jemarchesurtousleschemins (Apr 3, 2017)

Sloe said:


> I was thinking about that too.
> Thinking of it there are few operas were the tenor gets the girl because most of the times the girl dies.


Or what about the operas where the tenor dies, but not the girl? 
Right now, I can think of several: _Werther_, _Rusalka_, _Eugene Onegin_ (to clarify, the Olga-Lenski plot), _Il pirata_, _Roberto Devereux_ (actually, neither girl dies in that one), _Un ballo in maschera_, and _Stiffelio_ (to clarify, Lina-Raffaele, not Lina-Stiffelio).


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> does Pagliacci count?


Aka Nedda Dedda.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Jemarchesurtousleschemins said:


> Or what about the operas where the tenor dies, but not the girl?
> Right now, I can think of several: _Werther_, _Rusalka_, _Eugene Onegin_ (to clarify, the Olga-Lenski plot), _Il pirata_, _Roberto Devereux_ (actually, neither girl dies in that one), _Un ballo in maschera_, and _Stiffelio_ (to clarify, Lina-Raffaele, not Lina-Stiffelio).


And, famously, _Il Tabarro _where the baritone kills the tenor. This opera is a favorite of mine since it's got a great aria-scena for the baritone, something Puccini was rather stingy with save for _Tosca. _

Have a listen:

Tito Gobbi sings "Nulla, silenzio" from_ Il Tabarro._






Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

PS The murder scene comes shortly after this aria: the soprano comes out on deck expecting to find her (tenor) lover, only to find her husband who bids her to come "Nel mio tabarro" (under my cloak), where of course the body is.


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## Harrowby Hall (Aug 8, 2017)

In _La Boheme_ the tenor get to bury the girl.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> Aka Nedda Dedda.
> 
> Kind regards, :tiphat:
> 
> George


Not really because the tenor kills the girlfriend of the baritone Silvio.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Jemarchesurtousleschemins said:


> Or what about the operas where the tenor dies, but not the girl?
> Right now, I can think of several: _Werther_, _Rusalka_, _Eugene Onegin_ (to clarify, the Olga-Lenski plot), _Il pirata_, _Roberto Devereux_ (actually, neither girl dies in that one), _Un ballo in maschera_, and _Stiffelio_ (to clarify, Lina-Raffaele, not Lina-Stiffelio).


Ernani chooses to kill himself rather than marry Elvira in order to keep a pledge he made when he hears a horn blow.(the dope!)
Lucrezia's son dies when she gives him poison and he refuses the antidote.
Turiddu dies but Santuzza lives.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> And, famously, _Il Tabarro _where the baritone kills the tenor. This opera is a favorite of mine since it's got a great aria-scena for the baritone, something Puccini was rather stingy with save for _Tosca. _
> 
> Have a listen:
> 
> ...


You can see Gobbi in the whole opera:






Has that version been cut? I think it's missing some music.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Baritones killing tenors:
Count di Luna kills Manrico
Renato kills Riccardo
Alfio kills Turiddu
Eugene Onegin kills Lensky

Tenors kill baritones:
Pagliacci kills Silvio


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> You can see Gobbi in the whole opera:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, it's not the whole opera. It's Gobbi commenting on some bits in excruciating English.

Here's a search for _Il Tabarro _complete opera, which runs 55 minutes to an hour as a rule.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=il+tabarro+opera+complete+

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Jemarchesurtousleschemins (Apr 3, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> Ernani chooses to kill himself rather than marry Elvira in order to keep a pledge he made when he hears a horn blow.(the dope!)
> Lucrezia's son dies when she gives him poison and he refuses the antidote.
> Turiddu dies but Santuzza lives.


Oh I _knew_ I was forgetting some! Ah, don't you just love memory lapses?
Thank you and Barelytenor for reminding me!!


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## Autumn Leaves (Jan 3, 2014)

I don't know whether it qualifies even as the tenor "pursuing" the lady, it's more like "keeping her prisoner because he feels like being evil", but… _Kashchey the Deathless_. The hero who gets her is a bass.

In _Il turco in Italia_, Fiorilla ultimately chooses her deep-voiced husband over the tenor.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Billy Budd

...


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

semi off-topic, but 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7013136.stm


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## DonAlfonso (Oct 4, 2014)

The Merry Widow
Valencienne resists the advances of the tenor Camille and stays faithful to her baritone husband the ambassador.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

La Rondine - Magda ditches her tenor at the end and goes back to the baritone.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> semi off-topic, but
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7013136.stm


You have a deep voice by any change?


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Pugg said:


> You have a deep voice by any change?


low-ish, not terribly low (I'd say a middle weight bass-baritone)
(mostly playing around. can't sing to loud at my apartment)
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0cHPVOOPwQo
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0vUfb2lw7Z4


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## Biffo (Mar 7, 2016)

In Eugene it is the bass (Prince Gremin) who gets the girl. The tenor (Lensky) was never interested in her, he preferred her sister. It is the spoilt brat baritone (Onegin) who is left bereft at the loss of the girl or rather her refusal.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Biffo said:


> In Eugene it is the bass (Prince Gremin) who gets the girl. The tenor (Lensky) was never interested in her, he preferred her sister. It is the spoilt brat baritone (Onegin) who is left bereft at the loss of the girl or rather her refusal.


Russians have always been bassophiles.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Shostakovich Lady Macbeth - everyone dies at end.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> Russians have always been bassophiles.


... bassophile? Isn't that a type of white blood cell?


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