Act IV. _Mateo_ is desperate. _Conchita_ comes to his home and says

she certainly expected him to kill himself for love of her. Enraged, he seizes her. She tries to stab him. He beats her without mercy. At last--and it seems about time--_Conchita_ now sees how desperately he must love her. She declares that she has loved him all the time. He takes her, radiant, into his arms.

CRISTOFORO COLOMBO

Opera in three acts and an epilogue, by Alberto Franchetti, text by Luigi Illica. Produced, Genoa, 1892; in revised version, same year, at La Scala, Milan. Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia, November 20, 1913, with Titta Ruffo.

CHARACTERS

CRISTOFORO COLOMBO _Baritone_ QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN _Soprano_ DON FERNANDO GUEVARA, Captain of the Royal Guards _Tenor_ DON ROLDANO XIMENES, Spanish Knight _Bass_ MATHEOS, Foreman of the Crew _Tenor_ ANACOANA, Indian Queen _Mezzo-Soprano_ IGUAMOTA, her daughter _Soprano_ BOBADILLA, False Messenger of the King of Spain _Bass_

_Time_--Before, during, and soon after Columbus's voyage of discovery.

_Place_--Spain and America.

In act first, on the square in Salamanca, _Colombo_ learns that the council has rejected his plans. In the convent of San Stefano _Queen Isabella_ is praying. _Colombo_ tells her of the council's acts. She promises him the ships. In act second, on the _Santa Maria_, the sailors mutiny. At the critical moment _Colombo_ points to a distant shore. In act three, _Roldano_, an enemy to _Colombo_, has slain an Indian king. The Indian queen, _Anacoana_, pretends to love her husband's slayer, hoping for opportunity to avenge his death. But an Indian uprising is quelled and _Bobadilla_, a false messenger arriving from Spain, announces that _Colombo_ has been deposed from authority, and _Roldano_ been made viceroy in his stead.

The epilogue shows the royal tombs of Spain. _Colombo_--the librettist here stretching historical license--learning that _Queen Isabella_ has died and is buried here, expires upon her tomb.

CRISPINO E LA COMARE

(THE COBBLER AND THE FAIRY)

Opera "Bouffe" in three acts by Luigi and Federico Ricci; text by Francesco Maria Piave. Produced, Venice, 1850.

CHARACTERS

CRISPINO, a cobbler _Baritone_ ANNETTA, his wife, a ballad singer _Soprano_ COUNT DEL FIORE _Tenor_ FABRIZIO, a physician _Bass_ MIRABOLANO, an apothecary _Tenor_ DON ASDRUBALE, a miser _Bass_ LA COMARE, a fairy _Mezzo-Soprano_ BORTOLO, a mason _Bass_ LISETTA, ward of DON ASDRUBALE _Soprano_

Doctors, Scholars, Citizens.

_Place_--Venice.

_Time_--Seventeenth Century.