Chopin is a four-act opera by Giacomo Orefice (1865–1922) to a libretto by Angiolo Orvieto [it], premiered in Milan in 1901.
The opera, which is "a wildly inaccurate account" of the life of Frédéric Chopin, is based entirely on his music, orchestrated by Orefice.
In Act II, set in Paris, Elio tells a group of children about the history and struggles of Poland, inspiring Chopin to fly to the piano and write a nocturne.
"[10] A production in Paris in 1905 was not well received by the critic Arthur Pougin, who commented "It is an idea, perhaps ingenious but certainly bizarre, to create an opera score by borrowing the elements of various works by a genius who, throughout his life, never dreamt of writing for the theatre", and concluded that Orifece had committed "a sacrilege".
[11] A modern assessment suggests that the opera is "in essence a kitsch contribution to the last vestiges of late 19th-century romanticized bohemianism and to the Italian 'scapigliatura'".