Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

two of the inhabitants, a male and a female, Nelusko and Selika, whom he has captured and
brought away as slaves. The King of Portugal, however, is not pleased at the reappearance of
Vasco, and so causes doubt to be thrown upon his story of the new land; and this so enrages Vasco
that he speaks out violently against the injustice shown him, and is cast into prison for his
intemperate speech. In his dungeon he is watched tenderly by the dusky Selika, who loves him;
but Nelusko, who is jealous of her attachment to the white man, makes an attempt to stab him.
Selika, however, prevents him from doing so; and on Vasco awakening, she gives him all the
information he will require as to the course he must take when he sets forth on his next voyage, for
she desires him to return to the island of which she is the Queen. When Vasco is released he finds
that in order to save him from execution Irez has been compelled to betroth herself to Don Pedro;
and the latter, wishing to wrest the glory of proving the existence of the new land from Vasco, has
put himself in charge of the vessel which has been prepared for the new expedition, and sets forth,
having kidnapped the native, Nelusko, as a guide. The native, however, smarting at the separation
from his beloved Selika, in revenge guides the vessel on to a dangerous reef, where it is wrecked.
Vasco di Gama meanwhile has set out on another vessel with Selika, and follows close on the
track of Don Pedro; and seeing that he is drifting towards the reef he approaches and warns him of
his danger. Don Pedro, however, believing his rival has only followed to steal from him the
Princess Inez, whom he had forced to accompany him, does not heed his warning; and when his
vessel is presently wrecked on the reef it is boarded by savages, who slay him and most of his
crew. Inez, however, escapes to the neighbouring island, where she remains in hiding, and
Nelusko, being one of the natives, is also unmolested. Selika is the queen of this island, and in
order to save Vasco from the fury of her people, who would sacrifice him, she declares him to be
her husband. An elaborate marriage ceremony is then arranged, but as it is about to take place the
voice of the wandering Inez is heard not far away, and Vasco, recognising it with joy, rushes away
to seek her. In the last scene he has found her, and the lovers have also succeeded in reaching his
vessel in safety, and as they set sail for Portugal, full of joy at their reunion, the unhappy Selika
flings herself beneath the drooping boughs of a poisonous tree, no longer desiring to live. Here she
is found expiring by the faithful Nelusko, who, seeing that she cannot recover, clasps her in his
arms and dies with her.
102. DINORAH
Grand Opera in Three Acts By Giacomo Meyerbeer
Libretto By Barbier and Carré
First Produced Paris, April, 1859
Chief Characters Dinorah, Höel, Corentin, Tonick
THE action takes place in Brittany, in the early Middle Ages. The villagers of Ploermel undertake
a yearly pilgrimage to the Virgins shrine, and on one of these occasions two lovers, Höel, a
goatherd, and Dinorah, his sweetheart, join the procession, and proceed to the shrine to ask a
blessing on their union, which they are about to consummate. During the proceedings a terrific
thunderstorm takes place, and Dinorahs cottage is utterly destroyed by lightning. In order to
comfort the weeping Dinorah, Höel determines to seek a magic treasure guarded by a goblin race
known as the Korigans, of which he has learned the existence from an old wizard named Tonick.
The wizard informs him that before he can gain power to take the treasure from its guardians he