La Favorite

Author’s Note: two different versions of this opera exist, and are both regularly performed. The only difference between the two versions is the language. The plot given below is from the Italian version, as the story remains the same.

Act One

The brothers of the order of Saint James of Compostela are giving their morning prayers, praising the dawn, and giving thanks for the new day (‘Bell’alba foriera’). The leader of their order, Baldassarre, has noticed that one of the friars, Fernando, no longer prays with the same fervor that he used to. He asks Fernando what is wrong. Fernando tells him he has fallen in love with a beautiful woman he found praying next to him at the altar (‘Una vergine, un angel di Dio’). She came to him like an angel from God, and now everything he used to love feels empty to him.

Baldassarre has loved Fernando like his own son, and is angered by Fernando’s words. For a fleeting attraction, Fernando wants to give up his vows and leave the monastery (‘E fia