About the work
Fra Diavolo, ou L'hôtellerie de Terracine is an opéra comique in three acts by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, first performed on 28 January 1830 at the Paris Opéra-Comique. The plot is loosely based on the life of the Neapolitan guerrilla leader Michele Pezza (1771–1806), known by the nickname "Fra Diavolo".
Plot
In the Abruzzi, the bandit chief Fra Diavolo poses as a marquis in order to spy on and rob a travelling English couple. The young soldier Lorenzo loves the innkeeper's daughter Zerlina, whose father would rather marry her to the wealthy farmer Francesco; when Lorenzo returns stolen jewellery and exposes the supposed nobleman as a bandit, the way is clear for their wedding.
Cultural significance
With around 900 performances at the Opéra-Comique by 1911, Fra Diavolo was one of the most frequently staged operas of the 19th century and remained in the international repertoire in French, German and Italian versions. In 1933 it served as the basis for the Laurel and Hardy film "Fra Diavolo" (US title "The Devil's Brother").