The Lombards on the First Crusade

Act I: The Revenge. The brothers Arvino and Pagano both love Viclinda. In a fit of jealousy Pagano has tried to kill Arvino and has been exiled in consequence. He returns to Milan eighteen years later, apparently reformed. Arvino is about to set out from the city at the head of an army of Lombard knights to fight in the First Crusade. Together with his squire, Pirro, however, Pagano plans to abduct Viclinda and murder Arvino. Under cover of darkness they enter the palace where Arvino lives with Viclinda and their daughter Giselda. Pagano kills a sleeping man in Arvino’s bedchamber and realizes too late that it is his own father. Arvino is on the point of avenging his father’s death but Giselda throws herself between the two men in order to protect her uncle.

Act II: The Man of the Cave. In the course of the crusade, Giselda is captured and held hostage in the palace of the tyrannical Acciano of Antioch. Acciano’s son Oronte has fallen in love with her, and she returns his feelings. For Giselda’s sake, Oronte is willing to convert to Christianity, just as his mother, Sofia, has already done. In a nearby cave, Pagano lives the life of a God-fearing hermit, unknown to the rest of the world. Pirro arrives. He has fled to Palestine and converted to the Muslim faith. Concealing his true identity, Pagano advises him to atone for his sins by secretly guiding the Lombard Crusaders into the city. Arvino arrives and joins the Lombard army. He too fails to recognize his own brother. In the harem, Sofia reports that the Crusaders have killed Acciano and Oronte. Arvino tries to take Giselda in his arms, but, filled with horror at a massacre committed in the name of God, she turns on her father. Arvino is on the point of killing her as a punishment for her blasphemy, but the hermit intervenes.

Act III: The Conversion. In her father’s camp, Giselda meets the disguised figure of Oronte, who was merely wounded in the fighting. They decide to flee together. When Arvino notices their disappearance, he curses his daughter and gives orders for them to be pursued and apprehended. In a cave, the fatally wounded Oronte is baptized by the hermit. He dies in Giselda’s arms.

Act IV: The Holy Sepulchre. Close to Jerusalem, the sleeping Giselda has a vision in which she witnesses the victory of the Crusaders. A miraculous spring appears, allowing the Crusaders to slake their thirst, so that they can continue their march on Jerusalem with redoubled strength. Pagano has been mortally wounded in the fighting and finally reveals his true identity to his brother. At Giselda’s request, Arvino forgives him, and with the liberated Jerusalem in the distance Pagano can finally die in peace. /Eva Reisinger/

1842

Libretto by Temistocle Solera

Teatro Regio di Parma

Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma

Conducted by Daniele Callegari

Staged by Lamberto Puggelli

Cast: Roberto De Biasio, Michele Pertusi, Dimitra Theodossiou, Francesco Meli

Photos: Roberto Ricci