This expressive number is followed by one in faster time, "O tu, che I’alma adora" (O thou toward whom, adoring soul).

Enthusiastically volunteering to share any danger Ernani may incur in seeking to carry off Elvira, the bandits, with their chief at their head, go off in the direction of Silva’s castle.

The scene changes to Elvira’s apartment in the castle. It is night. She is meditating upon Ernani. When she thinks of Silva, "the frozen, withered spectre," and contrasts with him Ernani, who "in her heart ever reigneth," she voices her thoughts in that famous air for sopranos, one of Verdi’s loveliest inspirations, "Ernani! involami" (Ernani! fly with me).

It ends with a brilliant cadenza, "Un Eden quegli antri a me" (An Eden that opens to me).

Young maidens bearing wedding gifts enter. They sing a chorus of congratulations. To this Elvira responds with a graceful air, the sentiment of which, however, is expressed as an aside, since it refers to her longing for her young, handsome and chivalrous lover. "Tutto sprezzo che d’Ernani" (Words that breathe thy name Ernani).

The young women go. Enter Don Carlos, the King. There is a colloquy, in which Elvira protests against his presence; and then a duet, which the King begins, "Da quel di che t’ho veduta" (From the day, when first thy beauty).

A secret panel opens. The King is confronted by Ernani, and by Elvira, who has snatched a dagger from his belt. She interposes between the two men. Silva enters. What he beholds draws from him the melancholy reflections – "Infelice! e tu credevi" (Unhappy me! and I believed theee).

an exceptionally fine bass solo. He follows it with the vindictive "Infin, che un brando vindici" (In fine a swift, unerring blade.)

Men and women of the castle and King’s suite have come on. The monarch is recognized by Silva, who does him obeisance, and, at the King’s command, is obliged to let Ernani depart. An ensemble brings the act to a close.

Act II. Grand hall in Silva’s castle. Doors lead to various apartments. Portraits of the Silva family, surmounted by ducal coronets and coats-of-arms, are hung on the walls. Near each portrait is a complete suit of equestrian armour, corresponding in period to that in which lived the ancestor represented in the portrait. A large table and a ducal chair of carved oak.

The persistent chorus of ladies, though doubtless aware that Elvira is not thrilled at the prospect of marriage with her "frosty" kinsman, and has consented to marry him only because she believe Ernani dead, enters and sings "Escultiamo!" (Exultation!), then pays tribute to the many virtues and graces of the bride.

To Silva, in the full costume of a Grandee of Spain, and seated in the ducal chair, is brought in Ernani, disguised as a monk. He is welcomed as a guest; but upon the appearance of Elvira in bridal array, throws of his disguise and offers his life, a sacrifice to Silva’s vengeance, as the first gift for the wedding. Silva, however, learning that that he is pursued by the King, offers him the protection due a guest under the roof of a Spaniard.

"Ah, morir potessi adesso" (Ah, to die would be a blessing) is the impassioned duet sung by Elvira and Ernani, when Silva leaves them together.

Silva, even when he returns and discovers Elvira in Ernani’s arms, will not break the law of Spanish hospitality, preferring to wreak vengeance in his own way. He therefore hides Ernani so securely that the King’s followers, after searching the castle are, obliged to report their complete failure to discover a trace of him. Chorus: "Fu esplorato del castello" (We have now explored the castle).

Then come the important episodes described -- the King’s demand for the surrender of Silva’s sword and threat to execute him; Elvira’s interposition; and the King’s sinister action in carrying her off as a hostage, after he has sung the significant air, "Vieni meco, sol di rose" (Come with me, a brighter dawning waits for thee).

Ernani’s handing of his hunting horn to Silva, and his arousal of the grandee to an understanding of the danger that threatens Elvira from the King, is followed by the finale, a spirited call to arms by Silva, Ernani, and chorus, "In arcione, in arcione, cavalieri!" (To horse, to horse, cavaliers!).

Silva and Ernani distribute weapons among the men, which they brandish as they rush from the hall.

Act III. The scene is a sepulchral vault, enclosing the tomb of Charlemagne in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle. The tomb is entered by a heavy door of bronze, upon which is carved in large characters the word "Charlemagne." Steps lead to the great door of the vault. Other and smaller tombs are seen and other doors that give on other passageways. Two lamps, suspended from the roof, shed a faint light.





It is into this sombre but grandiose place the King has come in order to overhear, from within the tomb of his greatest ancestor, the plotting of the conspirators. His soliloquy, "Oh, de’ verd’ anni miei" (Oh, for my youthful years once more), derives impressiveness both from the solemnity of the situation and the music’s flowing measure.

[Music excerpt]

The principal detail in the meeting of the conspirators is their chorus, "Si ridesti il Leon di Castiglia" (Let the lion awake in Castilia. Dramatically effective, too, in the midst of the plotting, is the sudden booming of distant cannon. It startles the conspirators. Cannon boom again. The bronze door of the tomb swings open.

Then the King presents himself at the entrance of the tomb. Three times he strikes the door of bronze with the hilt of his dagger. The principal entrance to the vault opens. To the sound of trumpets six Electors enter, dressed in cloth of gold. They are followed by pages carrying, upon velvet cushion, the sceptre, crown, and other imperial insignia. Courtiers surround the Emperor. Elvira approaches. The banners of the Empire are displayed. Many torches borne by soldiers illuminate the scene. The act closes with the pardon granted by the King, and the stirring finale, "Oh, sommo Carlo!" (Charlemagne!)

Act IV., on the terrace of Ernani’s castle, is brief and there is nothing to add to what has been said of its action. Ernani asks Silva to spare him till his lips have tasted the chalice filled by love. He recounts his sad life: "Solingo, errante misero" (To linger in exiled misery).

Silva’s grim reply is to offer him his choice between a cup of poison and a dagger. He takes the latter. "Ferma, crudele, estinguere" (Stay thee, my lord, for at least) cries Elvira, wishing to share his fate. In the end there is left only the implacable avenger, to gloat over Ernani, dead, and Elvira prostrate upon his form.

"Ernani," brought out in 1844, is the earliest work by Verdi that maintains a foothold in the modern repertoire, though by no means a very firm one. And yet "Ernani" is in many respects a fine opera. One wonders why it has not lasted better. Hanslick, the Viennese critic, made a discriminating criticism upon it. He pointed out that whereas in Victor Hugo’s drama the mournful blast upon the hunting horn, when heard in the last act, thrills the listener with tragic forebodings, in the opera, after listening to solos, choruses, and a full orchestra all the evening, the audience is but little impressed by the sounding of a note upon a single instrument. That comment, however, presupposes considerable subtlety, so far undiscovered, on the part of operatic audiences.

The fact is, that since 1844 the whirligig of time has made one -- two -- three -- perhaps even four revolutions, and with each revolution the public taste that prevailed, when the first audience that heard the work in the Teatro Fenice, went wild over "Ernani Involami" and "Sommo Carlo," has become more remote and undergone more and more changes. To turn back operatic time in its flight requires in the case of "Ernani," a soprano of unusual voice and personality for Elvira, a tenor of the same qualities for the picturesque rôle of Ernani, a fine baritone for Don Carlos, and a sonorous basso, who doesn’t look too much like a meal bag, for Don Ruy Gomez di Silva, Grandee of Spain.

Early in its career the opera experienced various vicissitudes. The conspiracy scene had to be toned down for political reasons before the production of the work was permitted. Even then the chorus, "Let the lion awake in Castilia," caused a political demonstration. In Paris, Victor Hugo, as author of the drama on which the libretto is based, raised objections to its representation, and it was produced in the French capital as "Il Proscritto" (The Proscribed) with the characters changed to Italians. Victor Hugo’s "Hernani" was a famous play in Sarah Bernhardt’s repertoire during her early engagements in this country. Her Doña Sol (Elvira in the opera) was one of her finest achievements. On seeing the play, with her in it, I put to test Hanslick’s theory. The horn was thrilling in the play. It certainly is less so in the opera.