L'assassine

L'assassine is an opera by Gnomuel Barber written in Y1111. It tells the infamous story of the Killing of John Felipe Almaviva, who died in a dueling accident at the hands of Elion Argo, husband of ambassador from Scalados Caecelia Argo, during a celebration of the Golden Millennium.

Synopsis

Caecelia and Elion Argo stand trial for the murder of Count John Felipe Almaviva. The evidence is serious, but the defense has one final witness to call: the loyal and observant Spymaster Borgia. She posits to the jury that the Count’s murder was a plot by the evil La Donna. She begins to tell the story…
La Donna and Elion Argos awake after spending the night together. They proclaim their love for each other, until he must leave for duties at court. As soon as he leaves, La Donna sings about her desire for power over love, and how foolish Elion is for trusting her. Elion joins his wife Caecelia and the Count in a meeting where a contentious but potentially major trade deal is on the table. La Donna “accidentally” runs into Caecelia after the meeting, and suggests that the Count might accept her proposal if they had the opportunity to be closer—for instance, at that night’s ball. As suggested, Caecelia asks the Count for a dance at the ball; they spend a great deal of time talking, in a friendly—and entirely innocent—way. Across the room, La Donna convinces Elion that this is proof Caecelia is cheating on him. The Spymaster finds herself between the two couples, catching snippets of both conversations. Eventually, La Donna provokes Elion enough that he challenges the Count to a duel for his honor—sabres at dawn.
La Donna begs to keep Elion’s sword until then, promising to pray over it so that her love will protect him. He hesitates to give up his weapon, but offers his scabbard instead. Spymaster Borgia follows La Donna to her home, where she watches through the window as La Donna coats the inside of the scabbard with poison.
As Elion and the Count prepare to fight, the scene shifts back to the courtroom, where the Spymaster calls upon the word of Sister Lea, who examined the Count’s body after the fight. We see the duel and the Count’s death acted out on one side of the stage, as on the other Sister Lea describes that the Count's wounds were superficial and should not have been fatal, but traces of leafwyrm poison—the deadliest and most expensive poison known on this plane—were later found in his blood. The Spymaster presents the empty vial she watched La Donna drop on the way to the duel, with traces of the same poison inside it. She is about to accuse La Donna with the evidence gathered, when she notices her in the courtroom… standing behind the spymaster's husband, smiling directly at him. Spymaster Borgia lies and says she has no further evidence of the culprit. Without this crucial information, the judge pronounces it hearsay and dismisses it. Elion and Caecelia Auros are found guilty and led to the guillotine, as La Donna watches on.

Roles

Count John Felipe Almaviva (bass-baritone), a just and powerful ruler
La Donna (soprano), a scheming noblewoman
Caecelia Argo (mezzo-soprano), a foreign ambassador
Elion Argo (tenor), her unfaithful husband
Spymaster Borgia (coloratura soprano), the Count’s most trusted guard
Daniel (baritone), her husband
Defender (soprano or mezzo-soprano), a lawyer
Prosecutor (baritone), a lawyer
Sister Lea (contralto), a cleric and herbologist

Purpose

The opera was commissioned in late Y1110 by the Royal Arts Commission of Cantonova, headed by Countess Rosina Almaviva. Official statements from the commission as of spring Y1111 regard it as a showcase of a young Cantonovan artist and a celebration of Cantonovan culture leading up to the hundredth anniversary of the Golden Millennium. However, some inside sources suspect its funding is a statement of veiled hostility towards Maria Verdini and the Verdini Family from the Countess Almaviva. These sources claim that early drafts of the opera set the incident in Old Bjália, but the setting was moved to its historically accurate time, place, and characters at the request of the Countess herself. The setting and characterization supposedly heavily hint at Maria Verdini being the real inspiration behind the "La Donna" character.

Type

Manuscript, Musical

Medium

Paper

Authoring Date

Y1111

Myth

La Donna

Location

Cantonova

Authors

• Gnomuel Barber

Signatories (Organizations)

• Royal Arts Commission of Cantonova