Recalling that Laura was engaged to the now banished nobleman Enzo Grimaldo before her forced marriage to Alvise, Barnaba realises that the sea captain is Enzo in disguise.īarnaba confronts Enzo, who admits his purpose in returning to Venice is to take Laura and begin a new life elsewhere. The sharp-eyed Barnaba notices furtive behaviour between Laura and the sea captain indicating a secret relationship. Laura places La Cieca under her personal protection, and in gratitude the old woman presents her with her most treasured possession, a rosary. It is only the intervention of a young sea captain that keeps the angry mob at bay.Ĭalm is restored at the approach of Alvise Badoero, a member of the Venetian Inquisition, and his wife, Laura. When his amorous advances are firmly rejected, he exacts his revenge by denouncing the old lady as a witch whose evil powers influenced the outcome of the gondola race. The villain Barnaba tries to seduce Gioconda, but she prefers death.ĭuring Carnival celebrations before Lent, while everyone else is preoccupied with a regatta, Barnaba, a state spy, lustfully watches La Gioconda as she leads her blind mother, La Cieca, across the Square. The story revolves around a woman, Gioconda, who so loves her mother that when Laura, her rival in love for the heart of Enzo, saves her mother's life, Gioconda puts aside her own romantic love to repay her. However, as this fails to convey the irony inherent in the original, the Italian is usually used. The opera's title translates as The Happy Woman, but is usually given in English as The Ballad Singer. Zuàne, a boatman competing in the regattaĬhorus: Workers, senators, priests, nobles, sailors, children The opera had its American premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 20 December 1883.Įnzo Grimaldo, a Genoese prince, disguised as a Dalmatian seamanĪlvise Badoero, one of the leaders of the Inquisition, Laura's husband It was especially successful in its third and final version first seen at the same theatre on 28 March 1880. La Gioconda was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 8 April 1876.
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