Lodoletta

The libretto is by Giovacchino Forzano, and is based on the novel Two Little Wooden Shoes by Ouida (pseudonym of Marie Louise de la Ramée).

An auction of her property, including musical rights for Two Little Wooden Shoes, was held to satisfy local creditors when Ouida died in Italy in 1908.

The American premiere was on 12 January 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, with Geraldine Farrar as Lodoletta and Enrico Caruso as Flammen.

After he moves to Paris, she has a change of heart and follows him, finally arriving at his house on New Year's Eve, sick and in rags.

Delirious, she imagines he is kissing her and, in the final aria, "Flammen perdonami", begs his forgiveness as she dies of exhaustion.