Act III. A haunt of the Camorrists on the outskirts of Naples. On the

left wall is a rough fresco of the Madonna, whose image was borne in procession the previous day. In front of it is a sort of altar.

The Camorrists gather. They are men and women, all the latter of doubtful character. There is singing with dancing--the "Apache," the "Tarantella." _Stella_, _Concetta_, _Serena_, and _Grazia_, the dancer, are the principal women. They do not anticipate _Maliella's_ expected arrival with much pleasure. When _Rafaele_ comes in, they ask him what he admires in her. In his answer, "Non sapete ... di Maliella" (know you not of Maliella), he tells them her chief charm is that he will be the first man to whom she has yielded herself.

In the midst of an uproar of shouting and dancing, while _Rafaele_, standing on a table, cracks a whip, _Maliella_ rushes in. In an agony she cries out that, in a trance, she gave herself up to _Gennaro_. The women laugh derisively at _Rafaele_, who has just sung of her as being inviolable to all but himself. There is not a touch of mysticism about _Rafaele_. That she should have confused _Gennaro_ with him, and so have yielded herself to the young blacksmith, does not appeal to him at all. For him she is a plucked rose to be left to wither. Furiously he rejects her, flings her to the ground. The jewels of the Madonna fall from her cloak. They are readily recognized; for they are depicted in the rough fresco on the wall.

_Gennaro_, who has followed her to the haunt of the Camorrists, enters. He is half mad. _Maliella_, laughing hysterically, flings the jewels at his feet, shrieking that he stole them for her. The crowd, as superstitious as it is criminal, recoils from both intruders. The women fall to their knees. _Rafaele_ curses the girl. At his command, the band disperses. _Maliella_ goes out to drown herself in the sea. "Madonna dei dolor! Miserere!" (Madonna of our pain, have pity), prays _Gennaro_. His thoughts revert to his mother. "Deh non piangere, O Mamma mia" (Ah! Weep not, beloved mother mine). Among the débris he finds a knife and plunges it into his heart.

* * * * *

"Le Donne Curiose" (Inquisitive Women), words by Luigi Sagana, after a comedy by Goldoni, was produced at the Hofoper, Munich, November 27, 1903, in German. It was given for the first time in Italian at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, January 3, 1912.

Several Venetian gentlemen, including _Ottavio_, the father of _Rosaura_, who is betrothed to _Florindo_, have formed a club, to which women are not admitted. The latter immediately have visions of forbidden pleasures being indulged in by the men at the club. By various intrigues the women manage to obtain a set of keys, and enter the club, only to find the men enjoying themselves harmlessly at dinner. All ends in laughter and dancing.

The principal characters are _Ottavio_, a rich Italian (_Bass_); _Beatrice_, his wife (_Mezzo-Soprano_); _Rosaura_, his daughter (_Soprano_); _Florindo_, betrothed to _Rosaura_ (_Tenor_); _Pantalone_, a Venetian merchant (_Buffo-Baritone_); his friends, _Lelio_ (_Baritone_), and _Leandro_ (_Tenor_); _Colombina_, _Rosaura's_ maid (_Soprano_); _Eleanora_, wife to _Lelio_ (_Soprano_); _Arlecchino_; servant to _Pantalone_ (_Buffo-Bass_). There are servants, gondoliers, and men and women of the populace. The action is laid in Venice in the middle of the eighteenth century. There are three acts: