I Puritani

In this final act of I Puritani (The Puritans), which is set during the English Civil War, the royalist hero Arturo is set to be executed by soldiers while his temporarily insane lover Elvira looks on. But a messenger arrives from Oliver Cromwell bearing good news.

Listen to the opera here. This is an all-star recording with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Pierro Cappuccilli, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.

Read more about the opera here.

Martha

In this comic opera, two noble women disguise themselves at a fair where women are hired as servants. As you can probably guess, antics ensue.

You can read more about the opera here.

You can listen to the recording here.