VOLTERRI

Before the start of the action, King Albovine killed a vanquished king and took his daughter Rhodolinda prisoner; another prisoner of war, Paradine, has risen to be his favourite. Albovine marries Rhodolinda, but at the wedding banquet he drunkenly forces her to drink from a cup made of her father’s skull. She responds by refusing to consummate the marriage. Hermegild, who has a grudge against Paradine, encourages Albovine to make advances to Paradine’s wife, Valdaura, but then arranges for Rhodolinda to witness the encounter and tells her that Albovine is promiscuous. She swears revenge and promises to take Hermegild as her second husband if he will help her. Valdaura spends every night away from her nuptial bed, claiming that Rhodolinda requires her overnight attendance. A court lady, Thesina, offers to arrange an opportunity for the frustrated Paradine to sleep with his own wife. The following morning, however, he learns that his nocturnal partner was Rhodolinda. She tells hirn of Valdaura’s adultery and demands that he ki}} Albovine, or be denounced as a rapist. Hermegild sees to it that Valdaura eavesdrops on the meeting, arouses her jealousy, and gives her a slow-acting poison with which to kill her husband; his plan is to ensure that Paradine kills Albovine before the poison takes effect. Yaidaura pretends to adetintster the poison and goads Paradine into killing her; but she dies affirming that the pyisoning was only a bluff. At Hermiegild’s instigation. Paradine |is mt to believe that Albovine 1626 knows of his night with Rhodolinda, cuckolded him with Valdaura, and is trying to have him killed. He goes to assassinate Albovine, but decides at the last moment that they should talk things over first. It emerges that Albovine did not know of Rhodolinda’s adultery and did not succeed in seducing Valdaura. In despair, he asks Paradine to kill him, and falls on his own sword when Paradine refuses. Rhodolinda tries to kiss Paradine, but he bites her lips off, then kills both her and Hermegild. The Governor of Verona orders that he be kept alive to explain what has happened. In the sub-plot, the war veteran Grimold makes prolonged efforts to shame Albovine into paying his extensive arrears of wages, and is ultimately successful.