After a scene in a fortune-teller's hut, in which Riccardo's death is
predicted, the lovers meet in a desolate spot on the seashore. Thither
also comes Renato, who has discovered a plot against his chief and
hastens to warn him of his danger. In order to save Riccardo's life
Renato resorts to the time-honoured device of an exchange of cloaks.
Thus effectually disguised Riccardo makes his escape, leaving Amelia,
also completely unrecognisable in a transparent gauze veil, in charge of
her unsuspecting husband, who has promised to convey her home in safety.
Enter the conspirators, who attack Renato; Amelia rushes between the
combatants, and at the psychological moment her veil drops off. Tableau
and curtain to a mocking chorus of the conspirators, which forms a
sinister background to the anguish and despair of the betrayed husband
and guilty wife. In the next act Renato joins forces with the
conspirators, and in the last he murders Riccardo at the masked ball
from which the opera takes its name. 'Un Ballo in Maschera' is one of
the best operas of Verdi's middle period. Like 'Rigoletto' it abounds in
sharp and striking contrasts of character, the gay and brilliant music
of the page Oscar, in particular, forming an effective foil to the more
tragic portions of the score. The same feeling for contrast is
perceptible in 'La Forza del Destino,' in which the gloom of a most
sanguinary plot is relieved by the humours of a vivandiere and a comic
priest.
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