Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

her. The disguised Prince obeys with alacrity; and the play he makes his puppets act is a picture of
his own experiences, and is as follows : The shepherdess, Phyllis, is beloved by two shepherds. As
she sleeps on the grass, the sincere lover, Philidor, awakens her with a kiss, offering her his
devoted heart; but she rejects him, and sends him away with a box on the ear. Then Punchinello
appears, and awakens her by striking the ground with his wand; and she is delighted with all the
foolish pranks he plays before her, and, accepting his admiration, lets him kiss her. The two suitors
then meet and fight a duel, in which both fall dead; and when Phyllis appears and sees the tragedy
which has taken place, and realises that she has lost both lovers, she falls dead beside the two. This
is the end of the play; and the Princess, not perceiving the lesson it has for herself, is so delighted
that she desires to buy the show. The gipsy, however, refuses all offers of money for his show, and
declares he will only sell it for one hundred kisses from the Princess. The royal maiden is most
indignant at his daring to ask such terms, and refuses the offer at first; but when the gipsy prepares
to depart, her longing for the toys is so great that she calls him back, and declares she will give
him the payment he requires. The pretended showman thereupon returns, and bids the ladies count
the salutes and not cheat him of his dues; and the toll of the kisses begins, and proceeds to the
increasing joy of the Princess, who feels her heart strangely stirred for the first time. It has now
grown dark; and presently the King and his attendants appear on the terrace above with torches;
and the King is so enraged and disgusted at beholding his daughter in the arms of a vagabond
gipsy, whose kisses she is accepting so willingly, that he Casts her off for ever, and declares she
shall never darken his doors again. As the King and his attendants. retire into the palace the
Princess remains alone, weeping; and then the vagabond, stripping off his outer rags, reveals
himself in his true character as the Prince of Pallagonia, and scornfully tells her that by refusing
his gifts of song and roses, which told the story of his true love for her, and by showing herself
willing to let a mere vagabond kiss her for the sake of securing a worthless toy, she has forfeited
his love and regard for ever, since he now has only contempt for her. He then proudly walks out
through the gate, and, too late, the Princess realises that through her own haughty scorn of a lovers
true offering she has lost love and home and rank; and as she wanders forth from her fathers
palace, an outcast, she sadly plucks off a bloom from the once-despised rose-bush and kisses it
tenderly in remembrance of the love which is now lost to her for ever.
126. LA GIOCONDA
Opera in Four Acts By Amilcare Ponchielli
Libretto By Tobic Garrio (Adapted from Victor Hugo's Drama, "The Tyrant of Syracuse")
First Produced Milan, April, 1876
Chief Characters Gioconda, Laura, La Cieca, Emzo, Barnaba, Aloise
THE action takes place in Venice in the seventeenth century.
In Act 1 a great festival is taking place; and as the revellers wander forth from the Dukes palace,
the Inquisitors spy, Barnaba, comes forth. He is in love with a beautiful maiden, Gioconda; and
when she presently appears with her blind mother, La Cieca, he endeavours to seize her, and
declares his violent love for her. Gioconda, however, repulses him, for she is in love with Enzo,
whom she knows only as a young noble, but who is in reality the exiled Prince of Santifior.
Barnaba, enraged at Giocondas coldness, accuses her mother of witchcraft, and an angry crowd