How did matters reach this point? We shall watch the whole of Act II, which is a masterpiece of construction, starting with a single figure and ending with a stageful. We should understand that Amelia and the King are strongly attracted to one another, but have not acted on this. Seeking relief from her passion, Amelia has consulted a fortune-teller Vagariesof Operatic Love who advises her to go to Gallows Hill at midnight and pluck an herb that grows beneath the gibbet. By chance, the King overhears her and determines to follow. Here are the events of Act II: • The act opens with an orchestral prelude, describing both the terror of the place and Amelia’s prayer for release. • Amelia enters, searching for the herb that she knows might well be a poison. Her aria ends in a prayer to God. • She is joined by the King, whose declarations of love eventually move her to declare her own. Note the especially effective way that her admission comes, not in a grand declaration, but in almost whispered words against a new tune in the orchestra. • Amelia’s husband, Count Anckarstroem arrives, and she quickly veils herself. Anckarstroem warns the King that the conspirators are on their way to kill him. The men exchange cloaks. After asking Anckarstroem to escort the veiled woman back to the city, the King leaves. • To sinister music with a slightly comic air, the conspirators arrive, led by Counts Ribbing and Horn. Thinking that he is the King, they draw their guns on Anckarstroem. • To save her husband, Amelia unveils, to the consternation of all. The men laugh at Anckarstroem for making a secret rendezvous with his own wife, but he tells them to come to his house in the morning; this will be the action of Act III.

— , Act II, complete 31½ Katia Ricciarelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico (Met, 1980)

http://www.brunyate.com/vagariescolumbia/ 7. Adultery and Jealousy Class Seven: Adultery and Jealousy scene in which Iago tells Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. In the Rossini, he offers a forged letter and a lock of hair; in the Verdi, as in Marriages can be brought down by the infidelity of one or both of Shakespeare, it is Desdemona’s purloined handkerchief. the parties, but also by even the suspicion of infidelity. An all- — (Rossini), Act II, Iago/Othello duet (ending) 4½ Italian program of jealousy and adultery, even if only by intent, Ezio Di Cesare (Iago), Chris Merritt (, 1998) — Otello (Verdi), Act II, Iago/Othello duet (ending) 4½ A. The Forsaken Wife James Morris (Iago), Plácido Domingo (Met, 1996) An example from the dawn of : Juno in La Calisto (1651) by Francesco Cavalli (1602–76). Jupiter has come to earth and, being D. The Woman Who Wanted to Fly unable to make any impression on the innocent Calisto, a follower of I (The Clowns, 1892) by Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858–1919) the Virgin Goddess Diana, changes himself into the semblance of is one of the firstverismo , dealing with the passions of Diana in order to seduce her. Juno hears rumors and comes down to ordinary people. Nedda feels trapped by her marriage to Canio, the investigate. But, as she soon discovers, she arrives too late. leader of a troupe of traveling players, and longs to fly off like the — La Calisto, Act II, entrance of Giunone 6 birds she watches with envy. But does the love of the local boy Silvio Sonia Theodoridou, Maria Bayo (Brussels, 1996) offer any realistic hope of escape?

— I pagliacci, Nedda’s aria, “Stridono lassù” 1 B. The Hypocrite Maria Callas (sound recording, 1955) The married Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (1786) by — I pagliacci, Nedda/Silvio scene 9½ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) thinks he has made an assig- Teresa Stratas, Alberto Rinaldi (Zeffirelli film, 1981) nation with Susanna, the bride of his manservant Figaro. But when he suspects that he has been tricked, he vents his jealousy in a torrent of E. The Adulterous King impotent rage—the would-be adulterer envying the legal husband. The historical subject of Verdi’s Masked Ball (1859) is the assas- — Le nozze di Figaro, Act III, opening numbers 8 sination of the Swedish monarch Gustavus III in 1792, though to Miah Persson, Gerald Finley (London, 2015) avoid trouble with the censors, Verdi was forced to make him the Governor of Colonial Boston. There were ample political reasons for C. The Jealous Murderer, Twice the actual assassination, as the King was a benevolent dictator who overthrew the constitution in order to create a more equitable one, The Otello written in 1816 byGioacchino Rossini (1792–1868) was thus incurring the wrath of the nobles. But Verdi’s librettists added a based on a French source, rather than Shakespeare, and it differs in completely fictional plot involving the King’s love for Amelia, the many respects. But it was famous in its day, not least for being the wife of his close confidant Count Anckarstroem. The aria in which first opera to eschew the traditional happy ending. The thoroughly the betrayed husband swears vengeance is a showpiece: Shakespearean version by (1813–1901) is one of the composer’s late masterpieces (1887), and has completely eclipsed — Un ballo in maschera, Act III, “Eri tu che macchiavi” 4½ its predecessor. We shall hear, from both versions, the end of the Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Cardiff Singer of the World, 1989)