5 Favorite Wedding Moments in Opera

by San Francisco Opera | Svadba-Wedding

With rehearsals for SF Opera Lab's exuberant production of Svadba underway, we find ourselves thinking about weddings. Opera weddings, specifically! While there are countless moments of lovers embracing on stage, weddings or wedding celebrations are less common.

Here we recount five of our favorite wedding moments in opera. And if reading this puts you in the mood for complimentary champagne, wedding cake, and a festive night out, make sure to snatch up tickets to Svadba today!

1) Madame Butterfly: It's hard not to get wrapped up in Cio-Cio San's wedding day joy as she and Pinkerton sign their marriage contract. If only Pinkerton was as committed to their marriage as she is.

2) Cinderella (La Cenerentola): In Rossini's variation on the traditional Cinderella story, all's well that ends well as Cenerentola (also known as Cinderella or Angelina) marries her prince and forgives her stepfather and two stepsisters for their cruelty. In our 2014 production, Cenerentola's wedding even culminated in an onstage family photo.

3) Lucia di Lammermoor: Long before Game of Thrones, Donizetti's opera focused on the 'Red Wedding' between Lucia and her arranged bridegroom Arturo. Pressured to marry a man she does not love, Lucia goes mad and kills her new husband. A reminder that not all weddings end in happily ever after.

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Lieutenant Pinkerton (Brian Jagde) signs the marriage contract with Cio-Cio San (Patricia Racette). Photo by Cory Weaver.
The cast of our 2014 production of Cinderella (La Cenerentola) smiles for a group photo at the wedding of Cinderella and Don Ramiro. Photo by Cory Weaver.
Lucia (Nadine Sierra) descends into madness after killing her husband Arturo (Chong Wang) on their wedding night in our 2015 production of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Lohengrin (Brandon Jovanovich) and Elsa (Camilla Nylund) during their wedding processional in our 2012 production of Lohengrin. Photo by Cory Weaver.
Figaro (Luca Pisaroni) finally gets to marry his beloved Susanna (Danielle de Niese) in our 2010 production of The Marriage of Figaro. Photo by Cory Weaver.

4) Lohengrin: The marriage between Lohengrin and Elsa is most famous for it's wedding march. Today, wedding guests more commonly know it as "Here Comes the Bride."

5) The Marriage of Figaro: One of the most exuberant endings in opera, and one in which we learn that after mischief, disguises, and trickery, love does conquer all.

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