La finta giardiniera (1988)

Some time before the events enacted in the opera, the Countess Violante Onesti has quarreled with her lover Count Belfiore and has started the rumor that she died from a wound inflicted by the Count. She still loves him, however, and sets out to find him. Disguised as a gardening maid and calling herself Sandrina, she reaches the small town of Lagonero where she is taken into service by the Mayor, as is her faithful servant Roberto, also disguised as a gardener and calling himself Nardo.

Meanwhile the Mayor’s rich and socially ambi- tious niece Arminda has cast aside her suitor Don Ramiro, a country gentleman, and a marriage has been arranged between her and Count Belfiore- she for his title, he for her money.

The opera starts on the day that Arminda and Belfiore are to meet for the first time. The Mayor has fallen in love with Sandrina to the disgust of his maid Serpetta, who has designs on him herself and who therefore spurns the “gardener” Nardo’s overtures. Ramiro complains about Arrninda’s treatment of him, but to no purpose; and when Arminda and Belfiore meet, the arranged marriage seems certain. However, at this point Belfiore encounters Sandrina. He takes her to be his late beloved, but she, determined to punish him, denies that she is. This leads to the first Finale where confusion reigns and everyone – especially Arminda – is cross with or jealous of (or both) somebody else.

Scene One:
The jealousies and cross-purposes continue. Ramiro is full of a piece of news for Arminda, but she will not listen to him. Belfiore, reading aloud a letter to Sandrina, is overheard by Arminda who accuses him of treachery. Sandrina again denies that she is the Countess Violante, but when the Mayor arrives with a dispatch from Milan charging him to arrest Belfiore for the murder of the Countess, Sandrina proclaims her true identity only to deny it again when she is alone with Belfiore. Arminda, beside herself with fury, now threatens violence, and the terrified Sandrina runs off into a nearby forest.

Scene Two:
The Forest. Sandrina bemoans her cruel fate. Nardo brings Belfiore to look for her. The Mayor, Serpetta, and Arminda follow them, and they all grope about in the dark until Ramiro arrives with a lantern, whereupon the consternation becomes general and Sandrina and Belfiore take total leave of their senses.

A New Year’s Eve celebration is taking place in Vanessa’s ballroom. The Doctor, slightly drunk, stumbles in, muttering about an important announcement that must be made. Vexed that her mother and niece will not come downstairs to the party, Vanessa is assured by Anatol that all will be well; they vow their devotion and rejoin the guests in the ballroom. At the moment when the Doctor, from within, is announcing the engagement of Vanessa and Anatol, Erika appears at the head of the stairs, and falls in a faint as the guests toast the happy couple. Regaining consciousness to murmur that Anatol’s child must not be born, Erika stumbles out into the snowy night. The old Baroness comes down to look for Erika. Going to the open door, she realizes what has happened and calls after her.

In Erika’s bedroom, Vanessa paces the floor asking herself what might have forced the young woman to take such a desperate action. Erika
is carried in unconscious. Rushing to embrace Vanessa, Anatol assures her that Erika will be all right: she suffers only from exposure and shock. Regaining consciousness, Erika asks to be left a.one With her grandmother. Then she asks the old woman if anyone suspects the real reason for her actions, but the Baroness does not know. Erika tells her Anatol’s child will not be born.

Now married, Vanessa and Anatol prepare to leave for Paris. The Doctor, before his goodbyes, recalls the years of friendship. Erika has not told her aunt the reason for her attempted suicide. When Vanessa confides, however, that she has left her the estate and pleads for a final explanation, Erika re- plies that hers was a foolish act, one which marked the end of her youth. Swearing that it was not be- cause of Anatol, she tells Vanessa that she is now resolved to remain in seclusion on the estate and care for her grandmother, who will now not speak even to Erika. As the happy couple drive away, she orders all mirrors draped again and all the gates to the castle locked.