Fact or Fiction (1980)

Onstage in the opera house, a piano rehearsal for Rossini’s Otello is underway. The repetiteur, Peuelmann, flirts with the soprano, Louise Beauchamps, who is to sing Desdemona. Unmoved by his advances, she puts him firmly in his place The bass, Moritz de St Hubert, happens by, and Peuelmann grumbles that Louise seems more taken with him than with her own husband. Speak of the devil, and he appears: Ludwig Beauchamps, the evening’s Otello. The primo tenore is out of sorts; a carping critic has found his acting abilities wanting He and Peuelmann (a frustrated composer, by the way) rail against the onslaughts of the press. Ludwig puts the question to his new-found ally, just what is realism? The pianist assures Ludwig that all he requires is a bit of imagination: just let him pretend that his own angelic wife is having a fling. With some coaching from Peuelmann, Ludwig works himself into a frenzy. Louise wanders in, to encounter a barrage of questions from her fuming spouse. Where has she been, and what has she been up to? Her protestations of innocence are of no avail, and Peuelmann adds his voice to the brew as the conflict becomes more heated. Louise confesses her flirtations, but in the nick of time Moritz, the bass, comes to her rescue. He congratulates Ludwig on his fine rage, explaining that this has all been a scheme concocted to help his dear friend work himself up to the proper heat for a truly realistic performance of Otello. As poor Ludwig is teetering between rage and relief, a star-struck young girl steps forward from her hiding place behind the curtain, and confesses her undying love for the great tenor. She is sent away clutching an autographed picture of her idol, and the singers hurry to their dressing rooms to get in costume for a dress rehearsal of their trio. The hapless pianist, his intrigues foiled, is chased offstage, and the bass takes his place at the piano. The trio is a grand success, and all three take a bow But the tenor-struck schoolgirl has the last word, a paean to the glories of opera.