It certainly looked like Father-Daughter week at The Santa Fe Opera -August 2015.
While Cold Mountain is the Odyssey tale of Inman, a wounded Confederate soldier/deserter coming home to his love Abby, the father-daughter relationships are blatant.
Abby has moved to Cold Mountain because of her father’s wish. Enter Ruby, as her
helper and friend, whose abusive father re-appears as a threat to the two women, alone
on the mountain as the war is ending.
Rigoletto centers on perhaps one of the most famous father-daughter relationships in opera,
(even though Verdi might be noted for presenting other father -daughters like Amonasro and,Aida). Rigoletto is a father who does everything to save his daughter Gilda from the world and its lechers, One bad decision after another ends in ultimately tragedy for both.
But it was Salome that took the theme to Freudian realms. There is no doubt in this
production that Salome is still longing for her natural father, who has been killed
by Herod, who abuses her, in the very spot where he killed her father, and where
he now imprisons John the Baptist.
The Daughter of the Regiment—my goodness—how many fathers does a girl need!
Side note; there were no fathers or daughters in Mozarts La Finta Giardubuera, but Mozart
it has been noted had a thing about his father.