Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

Bertrand; and the unhappy young wife meets him with bitter reproaches, to which, however, he
pays little attention, his thoughts being so engrossed with what he has just been through. Hearing
Mistress Bertrand presently spitefully inform Henrietta that it was in the Turkish Ambassador's
carriage that the young husband had driven away the evening before, and that the company he has
been in may be guessed, Roger's thoughts begin to work, and it dawns on him whither he was
taken by his abductors; and hastily seeking the aid of the police, the grounds of Abdallah are
searched and the whereabouts of the buried captives discovered. They are promptly liberated from
their terrible position and revived, and Roger then takes them to his house,. where he explains all
things satisfactorily to his newly wedded wife, and happiness is restored to all.
11. THE BOHEMIAN GIRL.
Grand Opera in Three Acts By Michael William Balfe
Libretto By Alfred Bunn (Founded on the Romance by Cervantes)
First Produced London, November, 1843
Chief Characters Arline, Gipsy Queen, Thaddeus, Devils-hoof, Count Arnheim, Florestein
THE scene is laid in Austria, where, in the château grounds of Count Arnheim, Governor of
Presburg, festivities are being held in celebration of a recent victory. A hunting party sets out; and
on their departure Thaddeus, a noble young Polish exile, seeks refuge from the Austrian soldiers
who are on his track. As he seeks a place of hiding he is interrupted by the entrance of a band of
gipsies, headed by their leader, Devilshoof, who, hearing the plight of the fugitive, induces him to
join his company. Some of the hunting party now return, excitedly declaring that the Count's only
child, the little Arline, is being attacked by a stag, and Thaddeus is just in time to dash forward
and rescue the child. Count Arnheim. loads him with grateful thanks, and invites him to join the
festivities; but on Thaddeus presently refusing to join in the toast of the Austrian Emperor, his
country's enemy, the guests are about to attack him when Devilshoof drives them backfor which
act he is marched off to the château. Thaddeus departs with the other gipsies; and the festivities are
presently again interrupted by the sight of Devilshoof who has escaped from his confinement
hurrying over the ravine bridge, carrying with him the little Arline, whom he has kidnapped. The
company try to rescue the child,. but are unable to do so, Devilshoof holding her as a target against
their shots; and thus the gipsy escapes to his band with his prize and the Count is left in despair.
In the second act twelve years have elapsed, and Arline has been brought up amongst the gipsies;
and she and Thaddeus who is also still with the band are now lovers. Arline, though the secret of
her high birth has been kept from her, yet believes she is not of the gipsy race, and informs
Thaddeus of the fact in the famous song " I dreamt that I dwelt in Marble Halls "; but the exile, not
wishing to lose his sweetheart,. still does not enlighten her on the matter, though he tells her the
story of how she came by a certain scar on her arm, which is, in fact, the result of the stag's attack,
from which he saved her long ago. Their love passages are interrupted by the arrival of the Queen
of the Gipsies, who, though compelled by the rule of the tribe to unite them at their request, does
so unwillingly, being in love with Thaddeus herself, and consequently jealous of the gentle Arline,
against whom she secretly vows vengeance. In the next scene the gipsies mingle with the
merrymakers in a fair, and here Arline is subjected to the unwelcome attentions of Florestein, a
nephew of Count Arnheim, who is of course ignorant that the seeming gipsy maid is his own long-