Contracts, wills, marriages and rings

Opera, for its inherent multimedia nature (text, music, scenography, ballet, representation), lends itself to analysis of interdisciplinary nature, including those that touch upon legal topics. The stories told in the great masterpieces of European music theatre are, frequently, based on facts relevant for criminal law: murders, abductions, extortions, kidnappings, massacres, and other types of crimes fill the stories of opera since its origin. In ten opera masterpieces, selected by the author, these issues are examined in the light of the law applicable at the place of the first performance of the opera, compared with that of the sources of the libretto, and today’s laws. In addition to the delicate legal aspects of the plot, the author entertains the reader with the origins of librettos, cultural and musical references for each selected work, in a refined cultural kaleidoscope of citations.