VERDI

OBERTO

ACT I

From the placid, fragrant, green and pleasant landscape, now seen in the glow of early morning, who would guess that only recently it has been a grim battlefield, a place of carnage and bloodshed, typical of a time when Italy, or what we now call Italy, was a fragmented collection of tiny city states, seemingly in incessant war with each other, neighbor against neighbor? But thank God, that is over. A new day is dawning in more ways than one. Riccardo, a former leader of the foe, has arrived to marry the Princess Cuniza, bringing with him a joyful day of peace and reconciliation, of hope and promise, after a long, stormy and terri-fying night.

CHORUS:

Bright with promise, the dawn awakens

Over meadows decked in glory.

Gone are horrors grim and gory;

Love and friendship here shall reign.

Yesterday was strife and struggle,

Sword and saber, blare of bugle.

Now no longer sworn to conquer,

We shall sleep in peace again.

Welcome, Riccardo!

Hail a former foe, now on our side.

Greeted with warm embraces,

Claim your adoring bride.

Let others deal in slaughter,

Let them wail and count the dead.

Here reconciled in marriage,

Sunny days we see ahead.

But the happy courtiers that come to greet him may be indulging in a bit of wishful thinking. Riccardo has no doubt done well for himself with such an ad-vantageous marriage, but he has left behind a disgruntled army that is in no mood to be reconciled, one that is quick to brand him as a traitor, a deserter who has conveniently switched over to the other side.

Revelling in his own good fortune, confident that the gods are with him, delighted at the prospect of a marriage that offers everything that he has always wanted -- power, position, wealth -- Riccardo has no difficulty in adopting the role of devoted suitor, overwhelmed by passion. With everything to gain, who could not manage to call it love?

RICCARDO:

(I follow the road that leads me on

To property and power.

With seeds of hope soon bursting into flower,

The goal is near.

My former life I leave behind

To scale a higher mountain top,

A more exalted mountain top.

Upon the summit far above,

I’ll manage to call it love . . . )

By switching sides, Riccardo has left behind not only an outraged army but also an outraged woman whom he has seduced with promises of marriage, who now bears his child. Left her behind? Well, not exactly. She has followed him here to his newly adopted community, intending to disrupt the wedding, but torn by fiercely conflicting emotions -- hurt, anger, bitterness, shame, a thirst for revenge. Yet also an overwhelming longing for the return of the great love that she cannot let go of. The beauty, the glory of love’s awakening still persist, despite the agony of betrayal. We have met the likes of Leonora before, in Mozart’s Donna Elvira:

Married . . . . To another woman!

They little know that I’ll be present.

Deserted, shamed and dishonored,

I, too, shall face the altar!

Oh, my father!

Forced to wander in lonely exile,

Even greater sorrow must you suffer

When told of the sad fall from grace

Of your unworthy daughter.

But all’s not over,

I’ll not go quiet.

The world will listen

And hear my painful story of betrayal . . .

Ah, if only I could stifle

That unshaken love that holds me captive,

Or return to days unguarded

When I trusted and gave him all.

Then I dwelt in realms celestial,

Feasting on the wine of rapture.

Now in agony, scorned, discarded,

I know only the taste of gall,

Bitter gall.

In his new, not yet solidified position, Riccardo has someone else to be wary of. Leonora’s father, a crusty, out-spoken old soldier, with iron clad con-victions as to what is right and what is wrong, bound to an unyielding code of honor, has lived for a number of years in exile, thanks no doubt to his refusal to submit with docility to the prevailing political climate. Alerted to his daughter’s scandalous situation, and determined to see her seducer punished, he has made the difficult, dangerous trip home in order to find her, thus returning to the land where he is himself a marked man, a criminal, an outlaw. His stay must, of necessity, be brief. If spotted, he will certainly be arrested, imprisoned, and quite possibly shot. The name is Oberto, Count of Bonifaccio:

OBERTO:

Home after hardship!

I embrace my native country.

Here I return, alone, unaided.

Though far away on distant shores

I’ve found welcome asylum,

My dream of coming home has never faded.

Yet I return in sorrow,

Forced to repay a wrong.

That painful duty I must perform

And then my stay is over.

A brief assignment,

And then farewell again forever . . .

Furious with his daughter, the two are reconciled only when he is per-suaded that she is as intent on revenge as himself, that the two of them are in fact united in a just cause:

OBERTO:

With the promise of tender embraces,

Face the monster with courage and candor.

If you falter, choosing life with dishonor,

Seek no further for pardon from me.

Inside the castle, joy and excitement fill the air as the marriage draws near. The Princess Cuniza basks in the warm glow of adulation and good will that surrounds her. Likened to a lovely flower, the comparison is apt. A hothouse flower, nonetheless. Carefully cultivated and nurtured since infancy, flattered, waited upon, pampered, lavished with every luxury, every refinement, every delicacy that make the life of a Princess brought up in a picturesque castle read like a fairy tale.

CHORUS:

Overcome with admiration,

We salute the chosen bride,

Fairest flower in all creation,

Source of praise and boundless pride,

Pure as snow upon the mountains,

Sweet as dew upon the rose,

Softer than the flow of fountains,

Gentle as the breeze that blows;

Blessed with all the mortal graces,

Like a wonderwork of art,

Yielding now to love’s embraces,

Keen of mind and kind of heart.

But that is only part of the story. It is also one of isolation and seclusion -- an ordinary mortal, separated from any normal human contact, deprived of any freedom of movement, shielded from the ups and downs of everyday life, cut off from the world beyond these stone walls, guarded night and day -- in a word, imprisoned, malnourished, suffocated.

One can presume that Riccardo has brought the first breath of fresh air into Cuniza’s lonely, sheltered life, the first drops of rain after a long, long drought. She has responded by falling helplessly in love. Their approaching marriage seems too good to be true. Perhaps that is why she cannot shake off a vague though powerful sense of foreboding -- a nameless, formless phantom that refuses to be exorcised:

CUNIZA:

From the love that has brought us together

Springs a joy never dreamt of before.

But I’m torn by a vague premonition

I cannot understand or ignore.

For along with the light pure and golden

I discern darting shadows of fear,

And a voice deep inside, full of menace,

Sends a warning I try not to hear.

For his own part, Riccardo gives such a convincing performance as the en-raptured lover that in all fairness we should perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt.

RICCARDO:

In the dawn of a day made in heaven,

Brush away childish phantoms of fear.

Hear the voice rising, proudly prevailing

With a message of love loud and clear.

As we head side by side for the altar

Bear in mind you’re no longer alone.

We shall greet deadly demons with laughter;

Your worries hereafter will become my own.

Leonora and Oberto have decided not to wait till nightfall. Before the wedding is scheduled to take place, they will confront Cuniza in private with the revelation that will strike at the very center of her heart.

ACT II

Cuniza’s world has been shattered. The hastily cancelled wedding will not take place. The dream of rapture is over. The fire of love that seemed eternal has been abruptly extinguished, leaving only the cold, lifeless embers.

Feeling a new kinship with Leonora, Cuniza is ready to offer her whatever comfort friendship can provide. And though crushed and disillusioned, she is determined that Riccardo do the right thing and marry Leonora. The courtiers, whose own safety and well-being depend so much on that of their superiors, reflect on the sad events of the long day and give a bleak assessment of what is to come.

Long ago, in fact forever,

Seems the dawn that rose so bright.

Grief has drawn a somber curtain

As we head into the night.

What has happened to the promise

Love alone can bring to pass?

Gone completely, like the shadow

Of a dream that leaves no trace.

Little comfort can we offer

To the lady in despair.

Virtue seldom is rewarded;

Life is seldom just and fair.

Oberto is in no such mood of philosophical detachment. Thanks to Cuniza’s intercession, his own life and liberty are no longer threatened, but his hatred and contempt for Riccardo are more obsessive than ever, and would seem to have swept him into the realm of madness.

For wrongful, rank betrayal

Blood, only blood, suffices.

Delayed, my rage increases.

I wait impatiently,

My sword drawn to kill.

If I’m to die, so be it.

With purpose firm and steady,

For heaven or hell I am ready,

A proud soldier, and a man of honor still.

A sacred obligation,

My duty I’ll fulfill.

He is determined to challenge Riccardo to a duel -- a challenge that the younger man is loath to accept, the odds being so heavily weighted in his own favor. For although till now, we have seen Riccardo in a light anything but flattering, a more complete picture begins to emerge. An opportunist, yes. Admit-tedly a fortune hunter. Self-absorbed, overambitious, overconfident, overreach-ing, not overscrupulous, the pattern sounds familiar. Yet, though his conduct has been despicable, he is not an unmitigated scoundrel, he is not without a conscience. Though late in the game, he recognizes and feels remorse for the wrong that he has done, the hurt that he has inflicted through his violation of trust. Committed to both women, torn between love for Leonora and pity for Cuniza, he would like to make amends. But how, tarnished as he is in the eyes of both?

What can he do? And where can he go? He has burnt his bridges behind him. Back home, he has earned the name of traitor. In fact, he has no home. He has slain Oberto with his own sword. It would seem that the old soldier’s revenge is complete. The fire, fuelled by a merciless code of honor, has burnt out of control.

RICCARDO:

God of mercy, hear a penitent

If my prayer can still be counted.

I shall live forever haunted and tormented

By the blood my hands have shed.

I shall wander lost and lonely,

Humbled by a life misled.

Lord, have mercy!

For without the light of heaven

I see only dark ahead,

Only dark, only dark.

Nearly shattered by this double loss, her father dead, her lover fled, Leonora has but one reason to go on living:

All is over, beyond recall.

My father! My lover!

Devastated, bereft and broken,

In the grave, death alone can end my torture.

By a brutal code of honor

I have lost both father and lover.

To the agony I would surrender,

Drown in sorrow,

Curse cruel destiny.

But life continues.

The child I carry

Must turn me toward tomorrow.

Then may the tears that pour

Become a fountain of renewal and repair.

Then may these tears that pour become a fountain

Whose waters heal and restore . . .