At that moment a flourish of trumpets announces the
arrival of Fernando. Pizarro is forced to hurry off to receive his
guest, and the husband and wife rush into each other's arms. The closing
scene shows the discomfiture and disgrace of Pizarro, and the
restoration of Florestan to his lost honours and dignity.
The form of 'Fidelio,' like that of "Die Zauberfloete," is that of the
Singspiel. In the earlier and lighter portions of the work the
construction of the drama does not differ materially from that of the
generality of Singspiele, but in the more tragic scenes the spoken
dialogue is employed with novel and extraordinary force. So far from
suggesting any feeling of anti-climax, the sudden relapse into agitated
speech often gives an effect more thrilling than any music
could command. At two points in the drama this is especially
remarkable--firstly, in the prison quartet, after the flourish of
trumpets, when Jaquino comes in breathless haste to announce the arrival
of the Minister; and secondly, in the brief dialogue between the husband
and wife which separates the quartet from the following duet. Leonore's
famous words, 'Nichts, nichts, mein Florestan,' in particular, if
spoken with a proper sense of their exquisite truth and beauty, sum up
the passionate devotion of the true-hearted wife, and her overflowing
happiness at the realisation of her dearest hopes, in a manner which for
genuine pathos can scarcely be paralleled upon the operatic stage.
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