Cristina, regina di Svezia (Christina, Queen of Sweden) is an opera in five parts and three acts composed by Jacopo Foroni.

The Italian libretto by Giovanni Carlo Casanova is loosely based on the events surrounding the abdication of Christina, Queen of Sweden in 1654.

However, his involvement with the Five Days of Milan uprising had made life dangerous in the city and led him to seek work abroad.

[1] He became the conductor of Vincenzo Galli's Italian opera company which by the autumn of 1848 had taken up residence in Stockholm's Mindre Theatre.

The opera premiered at the Mindre Theatre on 22 May 1849 and was dedicated to Oscar I of Sweden, the reigning monarch at the time.

[2] In the autumn of 1850 the opera was given its Italian premiere when Foroni himself conducted its performance at the Gran Teatro Civico in Trieste.

[6] It was performed again at Wexford Festival Opera in October and November 2013 with Helena Dix in the title role.

[7] The Wexford production, directed by Stephen Medcalf, updated the action to the 1930s and drew explicit parallels to the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.

[8][9] The UK premiere of the work was performed in concert version by Chelsea Opera Group at London's Cadogan Hall on 8 November 2014.

[13] All the central characters are real historical figures associated with Queen Christina, although considerable liberties are taken with the time sequences, conflating events in the mid-1650s with those which occurred several years earlier.

[15] Part 1 "Love" A celebration is taking place in a large square near the Tre Kronor castle to mark the return of Axel Oxenstierna and his son Erik after negotiating a favourable treaty to end the Thirty Years' War.

Alone with Gabriele, Cristina tells him of her hopes that they might marry and rule Sweden together but also begins to express doubts about his feelings for her.

Amidst general consternation, Cristina launches a furious attack on the lovers and vows that they are destined to live forever apart and that Gabriele will be exiled.

Part 4 "Disillusion" Alone in her apartments, Cristina expresses her deep unhappiness over her failed love for Gabriele and the ingratitude of her subjects.

Part 5 "Abdication" Alone in his house, Carlo Gustavo contemplates Cristina's portrait and reflects on her unhappiness, hoping that the love she once had for him will return.

Alone in her rooms, Cristina sits at a desk writing a poem about her desire to give up the throne and live the rest of her life in Italy.

In the Grand Council chamber, the senators, presided over by Axel Oxenstjerna, pronounce a death sentence on the conspirators.