Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

Don José de Santarem, Lazarillo
THE scene is laid in Madrid, during the reign of Charles II of Spain. In Act 1 a band of gipsies are
entertaining the holiday-makers in a public square, having with them a lovely young Gitana,
Maritana, whose beauty and sweet voice attract the attention of the gay young King, Charles II,
who has joined the revellers in disguise. He speaks with her, praising her beauty; and then, giving
her a handsome gift of money, he hastens away, but not before his disguise has been penetrated by
his Chief Minister, Don José de Santarem, who being himself anxious to make love to the Queen,
determines to aid his plans by encouraging the King to secure Maritana as his mistress. He
therefore talks to the girl, promising that she shall attain to great wealth and joy if she will put
herself under his direction, and follow out his wishes, which Maritana, eager to improve her
position, and quite unsuspicious of his evil designs, agrees to do. Just then Don Caesar de Bazan
comes rollicking forth from a tavern, where he has gambled away his last penny; and having
known Don José :n his early days, he greets him as a friend. Don Caesar is a handsome, debonair
cavalier; but having yielded to gambiing and pleasure, he has squandered his fortune, and become
a poor and shabby roysterer, who, however, in spite of his reckless conduct, has still managed to
preserve his nobility of character, lively manner, and generosity of heart. Whilst the pair are
talking a wretched youth rushes into the square, seeking protection from a cruel master; and Don
Caesar at once takes the lads part, and fights a duel in his behalf. He soon finds himself in trouble
for this act; for it is Holy Week, and duels have been prohibited on pain of hanging during this
week, and he is at once marched off to prison, together with the youth, Lazarillo.
Here we find the pair in Act 2, Don Caesar wonderfully lively for a man condemned to death, and
Lazarillo full of woe at the thought of losing such a kind friend. Don Caesar is only grieving
because he is doomed to be hanged like a dog; and when Don José presently enters, he begs him,
as a last service, to procure for him the favour of being shot, as becomes a Grandee of Spain. Don
José agrees to do so, on condition that Don Caesar will consent to an immediate marriage with an
unknown bride; for he has planned to wed Maritana to the prisoner, so that he may introduce her at
Court as the widow of a Spanish nobleman. Don Caesar laughingly agrees, and attires himself
gaily for the ceremony in the wedding garments provided for him, and indulging in a feast with his
guards; and presently, Maritana, in bridal garments, her face completly hidden by a thick veil, is
led in, and the marriage ceremony is performed, after which Maritana is led away, and Don Caesar
is taken out to be shot. The latter, however, having been told by Lazarillo that the lad has
abstracted all the bullets from the guns, feigns death when the volley is fired; and then, when left
on the ground for dead, he calmly gets up and goes off in search of his mysterious bride, with
whose sweet voice he has fallen in love. Having discovered that she has been taken by Don José to
a ball given by the Count de Montefiore, he forces an entrance, and demands his bride. Don José
though much disturbed at seeing him again, having believed him to be dead, still keeps his wits;
and by persuading the elderly Marchioness de Monteflore to aid his plans, he presents her to Don
Caesar as his bride. When the old Marchioness removes her veil, therefore, the bridegroom is
filled with dismay, but declares he has been cheated; and presently, hearing the voice of Maritana,
who is singing in the next salon, he recognises it as the voice of his mysterious bride, and makes a
dash for the salon. He is, however, prevented from going another step, and is held back, foaming
with impotent rage, and cast out into the street.
In Act 3 Maritana is seen in one of the royal villas, full of anxiety about her dubious position, and