Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, of which the Royal Opera have just premiered a great production (see the review) has a reputation of having a totally impenetrable and silly plot. Actually, I didn't find it so when seeing the show live, and I agree with Jonas Kaufmann's statement in his Sunday Times interview that the plot is "considerably less crappy than other operas that are performed regularly" (I paraphrase, but you get the idea).
But I have to confess that when I read the synopsis on Wikipedia, it did leave me totally baffled. So, in the spirit of making opera more accessible to a confused and sceptical audience, I offer you this handy guide to the cast list:
The nobility are in blue, the others are the theatricals.
Enjoy!
