Act III. A platform of the Castle Sant'Angelo. Left, a casement with a

table, a bench, and a stool. On the table are a lantern, a huge register book, and writing materials. Suspended on one of the walls are a crucifix and a votive lamp. Right, a trap door opening on a flight of steps that lead to the platform from below. The Vatican and St. Paul's are seen in the distance. The clear sky is studded with stars. It is just before dawn. The jangle of sheep bells is heard, at first distant, then nearer. Without, a shepherd sings his lay. A dim, grey light heralds the approach of dawn.

The firing party conducting _Cavaradossi_ ascends the steps through the trap door and is received by a jailer. From a paper handed him by the sergeant in charge of the picket, the jailer makes entries in the register, to which the sergeant signs his name, then descends the steps followed by the picket. A bell strikes. "You have an hour," the jailer tells _Cavaradossi_. The latter craves the favour of being permitted to write a letter. It being granted, he begins to write, but soon loses himself in memories of _Tosca_. "E lucevan le stelle ed olezzava la terra" (When the stars were brightly shining, and faint perfumes the air pervaded)--a tenor air of great beauty.

[Music]

He buries his face in his hands. _Spoletta_ and the sergeant conduct _Tosca_ up the steps to the platform, and point out to her where she will find _Cavaradossi_. A dim light still envelopes the scene as with mystery. _Tosca_, seeing her lover, rushes up to him and, unable to speak for sheer emotion, lifts his hands and shows him--herself and the safe-conduct.

"At what price?" he asks.

Swiftly she tells him what _Scarpia_ demanded of her, and how, having consented, she thwarted him by slaying him with her own hand. Lovingly he takes her hands in his. "O dolci mani mansuete e pure" (Oh! gentle hands, so pitiful and tender). Her voice mingles with his in love and gratitude for deliverance.

"Amaro sol per te m'era il morire" (The sting of death, I only felt for thee, love).

[Music]

She informs him of the necessity of going through a mock execution. He must fall naturally and lie perfectly still, as if dead, until she calls to him. They laugh over the ruse. It will be amusing. The firing party arrives. The sergeant offers to bandage _Cavaradossi's_ eyes. The latter declines. He stands with his back to the wall. The soldiers take aim. _Tosca_ stops her ears with her hands so that she may not hear the explosion. The officer lowers his sword. The soldiers fire. _Cavaradossi_ falls.

"How well he acts it!" exclaims _Tosca_.

A cloth is thrown over _Cavaradossi_. The firing party marches off. _Tosca_ cautions her lover not to move yet. The footsteps of the firing party die away--"Now get up." He does not move. Can he not hear? She goes nearer to him. "Mario! Up quickly! Away!--Up! up! Mario!"

She raises the cloth. To the last _Scarpia_ has tricked her. He had ordered a real, not a mock execution. Her lover lies at her feet--a corpse.

There are cries from below the platform. _Scarpia's_ murder has been discovered. His myrmidons are hastening to apprehend her. She springs upon the parapet and throws herself into space.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

MADAM BUTTERFLY

Opera in two acts, by Giacomo Puccini, words after the story of John Luther Long and the drama of David Belasco by L. Illica and G. Giacosa. English version by Mrs. R.H. Elkin. Produced unsuccessfully, La Scala, Milan, February 17, 1904, with Storchio, Zenatello, and De Luca, conductor Cleofante Campanini. Slightly revised, but with Act II divided into two distinct parts, at Brescia, May 28, 1904, with Krusceniski, Zenatello, and Bellati, when it scored a success. Covent Garden, London, July 10, 1905, with Destinn, Caruso, and Scotti, conductor Campanini. Washington, D.C., October, 1906, in English, by the Savage Opera Company, and by the same company, Garden Theatre, New York, November 12, 1906, with Elsa Szamozy, Harriet Behne, Joseph F. Sheehan, and Winifred Goff; Metropolitan Opera House, New York, February 11, 1907, with Farrar (_Butterfly_), Homer (_Suzuki_), Caruso (_Pinkerton_), Scotti (_Sharpless_), and Reiss (_Goro_).

CHARACTERS

MADAM BUTTERFLY (Cio-Cio-San) _Soprano_ SUZUKI (her servant) _Mezzo-Soprano_ KATE PINKERTON _Mezzo-Soprano_ B.F. PINKERTON, Lieutenant, U.S.N. _Tenor_ SHARPLESS (U.S. Consul at Nagasaki) _Baritone_ GORO (a marriage broker) _Tenor_ PRINCE YAMADORI _Baritone_ THE BONZE (_Cio-Cio-San's uncle_) _Bass_ YAKUSIDE _Baritone_ THE IMPERIAL COMMISSIONER _Bass_ THE OFFICIAL REGISTRAR } _Baritone_ CIO-CIO-SAN'S MOTHER } Members of _Mezzo-Soprano_ THE AUNT } the Chorus _Mezzo-Soprano_ THE COUSIN } _Soprano_ TROUBLE (_Cio-Cio-San's Child_)

_Cio-Cio-San's_ relations and friends. Servants.

_Time_--Present day.

_Place_--Nagasaki.

Although "Madama Butterfly" is in two acts, the division of the second act into two parts by the fall of the curtain, there also being an instrumental introduction to part second, practically gives the opera three acts.