FLORA:
The title character is an orphaned teenager left in the care of her malevolent uncle, Sir Thomas Testy. She's also in love with a man called Mr. Friendly. But the two can't get together because Testy won't let Flora out of the house — he has his own lascivious eye on the young woman.
Flora and her maid Betty concoct a plan to have Friendly show up in the dead of night with a ladder and help Flora to escape over the garden wall. Friendly tries to confirm the plan by hiring the young man Hob to carry a letter to Flora. But Hob turns out to be a less than reliable messenger. Testy catches him in the act, takes the letter, and dumps Hob into a well. Testy hopes Hob will drown, but he's inadvertently rescued by his own parents, who are preparing to sell ale and wine at an upcoming local fair. Soaked and shivering, Hob makes plans to sue Testy for damages.
Friendly then tries to attract Flora's attention by appearing as a ballad singer at the fair — with Flora looking on from the garden mount, behind the walls of Testy's estate. Flora sees Friendly's performance, but she still can't escape Testy's clutches.
Thinking Flora is safe under lock and key, Testy decides to get back at Hob for his defiant role in Friendly's plot — and to head off Hob's threat to sue. But Hob turns out to be a formidable enemy. When he and his friends go on the attack, threatening to beat Testy half to death, Testy draws his sword, backs them off, and then chases them into the woods — leaving his garden gate open.
That gives Friendly a chance to liberate Flora. The two quickly run off to get married, and by the time Testy returns, he's too late to stop it. Testy slinks off in defeat, while everyone else celebrates the wedding.
PHILEMON AND BAUCIS:
In Haydn's one-act marionette opera, the title characters are an aging couple who have a close encounter with the gods Jupiter and Mercury. As the opera begins, Jupiter has been visiting the human world, and he hasn't liked what he's found: a world of selfishness and indulgence. In anger, he unleashes a lightning bolt — but instead of hitting its intended victims, it strikes a needy young couple who got in the way, and kills them both.
Following the overture and opening ensemble, Jupiter and Mercury reflect on what has happened. Jupiter decides they should spend the night with Philemon and Baucis — the parents of Aret, the young man struck by lightning. But they knock on the door in disguise, pretending to be hungry travelers.
To their surprise, the gods get a warm welcome. Philemon and Baucis are poor, and they're still grieving for their son, Aret, and his bride Narcissa. But they're generous despite their poverty, and offer Jupiter and Mercury every comfort they can muster.
When Philemon and Baucis tearfully explain why they're in mourning, Jupiter is deeply moved. In response, he magically brings Aret and Narcissa back to life — an event so shocking to Baucis that she nearly collapses, and Aret thinks his mother is near death.
Jupiter then rewards Philemon and Baucis by turning their shabby home into a great temple, where the couple will preside as priest and priestess. Seeing this, the people all rejoice, and the two gods ascend to the heavens as the opera ends.
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