Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

able to meet in secret. When the King visits the town presently Mary is chosen to present an
address to him, and receives a gold chain from the monarch; and this rouses still further the
jealousy of Elsie.
In Act 2 Mary and Rudiger meet on the Streckelberg, which is reputed to be haunted by witches,
who are supposed to hold their revels and " Witches Sabbath " there; and here their sweet lovemaking
is seen by the malignant Elsie and her evil companions, who are themselves secret
"witches," and they triumph in the knowledge that it will be easy to accuse Mary of witchcraft
now, since she has been seen on the Streckelberg. The lovers depart, and a violent storm ensues.
In Act 3 Mary has been taken to prison on the charge of witchcraft made by Elsie, and she is
visited in the dungeon by her old father, the Pastor, who brings her a letter from the Commandant,
in which the latter offers to secure her release if she will become his mistress. Mary indignantly
refuses such shameful terms, and the Commandant, full of anger at her refusal, causes her to be
brought at once for trial. Poor Mary declares her innocence, but as she is utterly unable to prove
the source of her recent abundant means - the vein of amber having been closed by the last great
storm - the charge of sorcery is proved against her, and she is ordered to be tortured in order to
make her confess. To save her beloved father the woe of beholding her sufferings Mary now says
boldly that she is a witch, and has had intercourse with the Devil, whom she indicates by gazing
unflinchingly upon the evil Commandant; and she is condemned to be burnt at the stake. The
friendly Claus, however, determines to save her, and he proceeds to the Castle of Ravenstein,
where Count Rudiger has been kept a prisoner by his tyrant father during the time of Marys trial.
The old Count, however, is brought home dead that morning, having been killed by a fall from his
horse, and as the retainers set their young lord free Claus rushes in to tell him of Marys dire peril.
Instantly the Count sets off with his soldiers to seek the aid of the King. Meanwhile, in the
marketplace, Mary is already tied to the stake, though the faggots have not yet been fired, and the
crowd, headed by the triumphant Elsie, are dancing around her, eager to see the witch burn. The
Commandant again makes his base proposals to the half-fainting Mary, and upon her still refusing
he tells her mockingly that she shall yet be his since he has bidden his troops to presently rush
forward and rescue her from the stake, and convey her to his castle, where she will be compelled
to submit to him - not knowing that Elsie, furious that her hated rival should come beneath her
masters roof, has sent the troops off on a wildgoose chase elsewhere. At this moment, however,
Count Rudiger appears with the King, who, hearing the whole story of the amber vein from Mary,
believes in her innocency, and orders her immediate release, declaring that the real witch is Elsie,
who shall be burnt in her stead. But the stake claims no victim that day, for the wretched Elsie is
discovered to be already dead; and the opera closes with the thankful joy of the rescued Mary, who
is united to her lover, Count Rudiger.
194. LURLINE
Romantic Opera in Three Acts By Williarm Vincent Wallace
Libretto By Fitzball
First Produced London, February, 1860
Chief Characters Lurline, Ghiva, Count Rudolph, The Baron, The Rhine King