The Legend is a one-act tragic opera composed by Joseph Carl Breil to an English libretto by Jacques Byrne.

Its melodramatic story is set in Muscovadia, a mythical country in the Balkans, and involves an impoverished nobleman turned bandit, his daughter Carmelita, and her lover Stephen, a captain in the hussars.

Although primarily known as a composer of silent film scores including those for D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), Joseph Carl Breil had also written several short operas prior to The Legend.

[1] He had originally written it for the American soprano Constance Balfour, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, and dedicated the work to her.

The Legend and Hugo's The Temple Dancer were chosen to premiere in the 1918/1919 season along with a revival of Cadman's Shanewis to form a triple bill.

Four months earlier, the Met had staged the world premiere of Puccini's Il trittico (a triptych of three one-act Italian operas).

[6] The critic in Theatre Magazine wrote: "Straight across the plank and into the sea of oblivion where it deserved to rest went The Legend.

When she was asked in an interview fifty years later if she had ever looked at the score again to see if her opinion had changed, she replied that she could not do so because she had burned it.

Count Stackareff - an impoverished nobleman who leads a double life as the notorious bandit, "Black Lorenzo" - and his daughter, Carmelita are in their hunting lodge.

Carmelita is fearful that her lover, Stephen Pauloff, a captain in the hussars whom she had met in Vienna, will discover the true identity of her father and cast her off.

Carmelita is overjoyed, but Marta warns her that on that night the Evil One is said to stalk the area, knocking on doors.