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Opera Music Plot Synopsis
Donizetti: Linda di Chamounix
Act 1 - The Departure from Chamounix
Act 2 - Paris
Act 3 - The Return to Chamounix
Characters:
LINDA (soprano)
PIEROTTO, a young orphan from Savoy (contralto)
CARLO, Vicomte of Sirval (tenor)
ANTONIO, a peasant and Linda's father (baritone)
MADDALENA, Linda's mother (soprano)
The MARQUIS of Boisfleury (buffo)
The PREFECT (bass)
The feudal ADMINISTRATOR (tenor)
People of Savoy, boys, girls
The period is around 1670.
Act 1 - The Departure from Chamounix
Early morning in the mountain village of Chamounix. Preparations
are underway to
send many of the young people to Paris, where they must go
because there is no
work at home during the winter. Antonio worries about his
family's future: the
lease of their farm is expiring and he has been unable to
renew it ("Ambo nati
in questa valle"). He receives good news from the administrator,
however: the
Marquis will plead Antonio's case with his sister, the land
owner.
The marquis comes to Antonio's home. He says he wants to assure
him of his
protection, but he is really interested in the young and beautiful
Linda. When
he asks to make her acquaintance he is told that she has already
gone to church.
(In fact, she worked late the night before, and is still asleep.)
However he
promises his help with the lease renewal and offers to accomodate
Linda at the
castle and to take charge of her education.
Linda is in a hurry because she is late for her daily rendezvous
with Carlo, a
young artist from Paris who is working in the village ("O
luce di quest'anima").
On the way she meets the young orphan Pierotto, who is leaving
for Paris ("Cari
luoghi") with the other young people to earn money so
that he may continue to
make music in the summer. He is asked to sing his newest song,
a ballad about a
girl who goes away to work and has an unhappy love affair:
when she returns
home, her mother is dead ("Per sua madre andò
una figlia").
Linda is troubled by the song. She meets Carlo who has been
waiting for her ("Da
quel dì che t'incontrai"). Carlo expresses his
wish to remain in the village
with Linda: it is impossible for now, and he cannot divulge
the reason (he is
the son of the Marquise). Both hope that everything will work
out ("A consolarmi
affrettisi").
The prefect takes Antonio aside and informs him of the Marquis'
real intentions
("Quella pietà sì provvida"). He proposes
to let Linda go to Paris, in order to
put her beyond the Marquis' reach: his brother lives there
and could put her up.
Both express their trust in providence ("Esaltiam la
tua potenza, O divina
provvidenza!").
Linda comes with a letter from the Marquis, and announces
that she will be a
guest at the castle. The prefect informs her that she must
leave the village
instead.
The populace is assembled to greet those who are leaving.
The prefect invokes
heaven's protection of them, and everyone prays ("O tu
che regoli gli umani
eventi").
Act 2 - Paris
Carlo has followed Linda to Paris: he had revealed his identity
to her and
offered to provide for her until the day of their marriage.
Linda accepted and
is now living in a luxurious home. She is worried because
she has had no news
from home for three months. Hearing music of Savoy played
on a ghironde outside,
she recognizes Pierotto and invites him in.
Linda informs Pierotto of her engagement to Carlo. He tells
her that after
having been ill he searched for her at the prefect's brother's
house, but that
he was no longer living there (which is why she had received
no news from her
family). He asks her if the Marquis knows of her engagement:
Linda says that all
is still secret and she does not know when they will be married.
Pierotto
congratulates her ("Al bel destin che attèndevi")
and leaves.
The Marquis appears: he has seen Linda in Paris and has found
her home. He
assumes she is the lover of some rich man, so he offers her
a finer house and
more money. Linda is insulted and orders him to leave.
Carlo now comes in: he is desperate because his mother the
Marquise has
discovered his engagement with Linda. She will not allow him
to marry a
peasant's daughter and has arranged a suitable wedding; she
threatens to have
Linda imprisoned if he refuses. He even thinks of suicide
("Se tanto in ira agli
uomini"). When Linda comes in, he does not have the heart
to tell her the truth
("Ah dimmi... dimmi, io t'amo").
Linda is worrying about Carlo's behaviour when her father
Antonio appears at the
door. He desperately needs help, having been unable to renew
his leasehold, and
is looking for the Viscount (Carlo). He does not recognize
Linda, and she feels
that in her ambiguous situation it is better not to reveal
her identity. She
gives him some money, but when Antonio tearfully tells her
about the daughter he
has lost ("Ah! che il ciel vi benedica") she is
moved and reveals her identity
to him. Antonio is shocked, and refuses to recognize the mistress
of an
aristocrat in his honest daughter. Linda asks him for forgiveness,
but Antonio
answers that he has nothing to forgive- he does not even know
her.
Pierotto hurries in because he has heard of Carlo's wedding.
That is too much
for Antonio: he begins to curse Linda, but Pierotto restrains
him and he departs
in a rage.
Linda goes mad, and Pierotto takes her away from the house.
Act 3 - The Return to Chamounix
A spring day in Chamounix. The young Savoyards are returning
home with the money
they earned in Paris, and the populace celebrates the event.
Only Pierotto and
Linda are missing.
The prefect is thinking about Antonio's misfortune (his daughter
is the only
young person who did not return to the village) when the Viscount
approaches
him. He has found the courage to refuse the arranged marriage
and his mother has
finally consented to his marriage with Linda. He has come
to fulfil his
promises: to marry Linda and to restore the honor of her family.
The prefect
informs him that Linda is dead for her family and for the
village ("Ah! chi sa
quale e dove"). Carlo swears to be faithful to her forever
("Ma se il cielo mi
punisce").
The Marquis arrives. He announces a great celebration for
the wedding of his
nephew with a beautiful lady of the country, but he does not
reveal the bride's
identity ("Ella è un giglio di puro candore")
Pierotto and Linda appear from the hillside: Linda, still
mad, is nearly
unconscious: only Pierotto's music keeps her going. The prefect
is the first to
encounter them, and immediately goes to tell Linda's parents.
On his way he
meets Carlo, who has brought the mortgage for the farm and
is about to leave for
Paris to search for Linda. The Marquis arrives with all the
townsfolk. Antonio
and Maddalena are desperate because Linda does not recognize
them.
Pierotto suggests to Carlo that Linda might recognize him
when he plays his
music, as that is the only thing she reacts to. Carlo speaks
to her ("È la voce
che primiera"), but Linda says that the real Carlo would
have spoken other words
to her. [She is a Wagnerian, and wants to hear Leitmotives,
not some frivolous
aria!] He understands, and sings the refrain from their first
act duet. Linda
joins in and recognizes him, then the others: she is healed!
Everyone celebrates
("Di tue pene sparve il sogno").
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