Le Villi        

Le Villi

Fast facts:  Puccini wrote Le Villi while he was a student as part of a contest announced by Sonzogno in 1882;  lyrics were by Ferdinando Fortuna, later revised by Arrigo Boito.  Although Puccini did not win, the opera attracted the attention of Giulio Ricordi.  Ricordi arranged a premiere performance at Teatro del Verme in Milán, which was a great success.  The Teatro della Scala produced it during the following season.

Main Cast:   Guglielmo Wulf (baritone), a mountaineer from the Black Forest; Anna (soprano), his daughter;  Roberto (tenor), her lover;  Villagers, Willis, Spirits

Synopsis:  In a village the betrothed couple Roberto and Anna, together with her father Guglielmo, rejoice over the inheritance that Roberto has received from a distant relative in Mainz. Anna confesses to Roberto that she has been tormented by the thought that Roberto will not return. He tells her not to doubt his love.

When he reaches Mainz, Roberto forgets his pledge to Anna, and, because of a woman, fritters away his inheritance. Anna despairs when Roberto does not return and dies. 

Roberto, conscience-stricken, decides to return. At the edge of the forest he meets the ghost of Anna who tells him of the suffering she endured and how she died of love. Roberto repents and suffers terribly; he is surrounded by the Villis, ghosts of young girls who have died of broken hearts and who gather in the forest at night to await the return of faithless lovers;  they dance around him until he drops dead at their feet.