Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Quote of the Day (Robert Benchley, With THE Essential Guide to the Opera “Il Minnestrone”)


ACT 3: In Front of Emilo’s House.—­“Still thinking of the old man’s curse, Borsa has an interview with Cleanso, believing him to be the Duke’s wife. He tells him things can’t go on as they are, and Cleanso stabs him. Just at this moment Betty comes rushing in from school and falls in a faint. Her worst fears have been realized. She has been insulted by Sigmundo, and presently dies of old age. In a fury, Ugolfo rushes out to kill Sigmundo and, as he does so, the dying Rosenblatt rises on one elbow and curses his mother.”—Robert Benchley, “Opera Synopses: Some Sample Outlines of Grand Opera Plots for Home Study,” from Love Conquers All (1922)

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