"In this place," said he, "Rossini ought to have expressed the
deepest grief, and I find on the contrary an airy movement, a tone
of ill-timed cheerfulness."
"You are right," said she. "This mistake is the result of a tyrannous
custom which composers are expected to obey. He was thinking more of
his prima donna than of Elcia when he wrote that _stretto_. But this
evening, even if la Tinti had been more brilliant than ever, I could
throw myself so completely into the situation, that the passage,
lively as it is, is to me full of sadness."
The physician looked attentively from the Prince to the Duchess, but
could not guess the reason that held them apart, and that made this
duet seem to them so heartrending.
"Now comes a magnificent thing, the scheming of Pharaoh against the
Hebrews. The great _aria 'A rispettarmi apprenda'_ (Learn to respect
me) is a triumph for Carthagenova, who will express superbly the
offended pride and the duplicity of a sovereign. The Throne will
speak. He will withdraw the concessions that have been made, he arms
himself in wrath.
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