• Giuseppe Verdi. Opera in four acts. 1857.
• Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, after his earlier Stiffelio.
• First performance at the Teatro Nuovo, Rimini, on 16th August 1857.

---

CHARACTERS

Aroldo, a Saxon knight	tenor
Mina, his wife	soprano
Egberto, her father	baritone
Godvino, a knight	tenor
Briano, a holy man	bass
Enrico, Mina’s cousin	tenor
Elena, Mina’s cousin	mezzo-soprano

---

Set in Kent and in Scotland, the opera opens with Aroldo’s return from the crusades and Mina’s fears, since she has been inconstant. At a celebration a letter, apparently from Enrico, is handed to Mina, concealed in a book, and the incident is seen by Briano, who warns Aroldo of what he thinks is happening. Aroldo seeks to open the book, as he tells the story of a knight who acted dishonourably by sending a love-letter to the lady of the house concealed in a book. Egberto believes Godvino, who had handed the book to Mina, to be her seducer and kills him as Aroldo confronts Mina. On the banks of Loch Lomond Aroldo and Briano, dressed as hermits, give shelter to travellers who have sailed over the loch through a storm. These are Egberto and Mina, exiled after the death of Godvino. Mina seeks and finally receives Aroldo’s forgiveness.

Aroldo transforms the Protestant pastor Stiffelio into a 13th-century crusader, Aroldo, winning with the new opera relative success at the time.