The Visitors (opera)

The Visitors
Opera by Carlos Chávez
Chávez, photographed in 1937 by Carl Van Vechten
Other title	Panfilo and Lauretta (1st version)
Librettist	Chester Kallman
Language	English
Based on	characters in The Decameron
Premiere	9 May 1957 (1957-05-09) (1st version, under the title Panfilo and Lauretta) Brander Matthews Theatre at Columbia University, New York

The Visitors is an opera in three acts and a prologue composed by Carlos Chávez to an English-language libretto by the American poet Chester Kallman. The work was Chávez's only opera.^[1] Its first version, with the title Panfilo and Lauretta, premiered in New York City in 1957. The final version with the title The Visitors was premiered in Guanajuato City, Mexico, in 1999, twenty years after the composer's death.^[2] The story is set in 14th century Tuscany during the time of the Black Death. The libretto (like those for Pagliacci and Ariadne auf Naxos) uses the device of a play within a play to reflect and intensify the relationships between the protagonists, who in this case are loosely based on characters in The Decameron.^[3][4]