Chapter LXII: Act III: The village of Chamounix. The Savoyards are returning and are

joyfully greeted. _Charles_, who has been able to persuade his mother to permit him to wed _Linda_, has come in search of her. Incidentally he has brought solace for _Antonio_ and _Madeline_. The De Sirvals are the real owners of the farm, the _Marquis_, _Charles's_ uncle, being only their representative. _Linda's_ parents are to remain in undisturbed possession of the farm;--but where is she?

_Pierrot_ is heard singing. Whenever he sings he is able to persuade _Linda_ to follow him. Thus her faithful friend gradually has led her back to Chamounix. And when _Charles_ chants for her a phrase of their first act duet, "O consolarmi affrettisi," her reason returns, and it is "Ah! di tue pene sparve il sogno" (Ah! the vision of my sorrow fades).

In this drama of naïveté, an artlessness which I mention again because I think it is not so much the music as the libretto that has become old-fashioned, even the _Marquis_ comes in for a good word. For when he too offers his congratulations, what does _Linda_ do but refer to the old libertine, who has sought her ruin, as "him who will be my uncle dear."

DON PASQUALE

Opera, in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Salvatore
Cammarano, adapted from his earlier libretto, "Ser
Marc'Antonio," which Stefano Pavesi had set to music in
1813. Produced, Paris, January 4, 1843, Théâtre des
Italiens. London, June 30, 1843. New York, March 9, 1846, in
English; 1849, in Italian; revived for Bonci (with di
Pasquali, Scotti, and Pini-Corsi) at the New Theatre,
December 23, 1909; given also at the Metropolitan Opera
House with Sembrich as _Norina_.

CHARACTERS

DON PASQUALE, an old bachelor _Bass_
DR. MALATESTA, his friend _Baritone_
ERNESTO, nephew of Don Pasquale _Tenor_
NORINA, a young widow, affianced to Ernesto _Soprano_
A NOTARY _Baritone_

Valets, chambermaids, majordomo, dress-makers, hairdresser.

_Time_--Early nineteenth century.

_Place_--Rome.

"Don Pasquale" concerns an old man about to marry. He also is wealthy. Though determined himself to have a wife, on the other hand he is very angry with his nephew, _Ernesto_, for wishing to marry, and threatens to disinherit him. _Ernesto_ is greatly disturbed by these threats. So is his lady-love, the sprightly young widow, _Norina_, when he reports them to her.

_Pasquale's_ friend, _Dr. Malatesta_, not being able to dissuade him from marriage, pretends to acquiesce in it. He proposes that his sister shall be the bride, and describes her as a timid, naïve, ingenuous girl, brought up, he says, in a convent. She is, however, none other than _Norina_, the clever young widow, who is in no degree related to _Malatesta_. She quickly enters into the plot, which involves a mock marriage with _Don Pasquale_. An interview takes place. The modest graces of the supposed convent girl charm the old man. The marriage--a mock ceremony, of course--is hurriedly celebrated, so hurriedly that there is no time to inform the distracted _Ernesto_ that the proceedings are bogus.

_Norina_ now displays toward _Don Pasquale_ an ungovernable temper. Moreover she spends money like water, and devotes all her energies to nearly driving the old man crazy. When he protests, she boxes his ears. He is on the point of suicide. Then at last _Malatesta_ lets him know that he has been duped. _Notary_ and contract are fictitious. He is free. With joy he transfers to _Ernesto_ his conjugal burden--and an income.

Act I plays in a room in _Don Pasquale's_ house and later in a room in _Norina's_, where she is reading a romance. She is singing "Quel guardo" (Glances so soft) and "So anch'io la virtù magica" (I, too, thy magic virtues know) in which she appears to be echoing in thought what she has been reading about in the book.

[Music:

So anch'io la virtù magica
D'un guardo a tempo e loco]

The duet, in which she and _Malatesta_ agree upon the plot--the "duet of the rehearsal"--is one of the sprightly numbers of the score.

Act II is in a richly furnished salon of _Don Pasquale's_ house. This is the scene of the mock marriage, of _Norina's_ assumed display of temper and extravagance, _Don Pasquale's_ distraction, _Ernesto's_ amazement and enlightenment, and _Malatesta's_ amused co-operation. In this act occur the duet of the box on the ears, and the quartet, which begins with _Pasquale's_ "Son ardito" [Transcriber's Note: should be 'Son tradito'] (I am betrayed). It is the finale of the act and considered a masterpiece.