Before she finishes it she and the Sergeant break out into the rollicking Rataplan and go through with the military evolutions, to the horror of the Marchioness.  While regret for the absent Tony keeps her in a sad mood, she is suddenly cheered up by the sound of drums and fifes, announcing the approach of soldiers.  They are the gallant Twenty-first, with Tony, now a colonel, at their head.  He applies once more for Marie’s hand.  The soldiers also put in a spirited choral appeal ("We have come, our Child to free").  The Marchioness again refuses.  Tony proposes an elopement, to which Marie, in resentment at her aunt’s cruelty, consents.  To thwart their plans, the Marchioness reveals to Marie that early in life she had been secretly married to an officer of lower family position than her own, and that this officer was Marie’s father.  Unable to dispute the wishes of her mother, she renounces Tony in an agony of grief.  At last Marie’s sorrow arouses old associations in the mind of the Marchioness, and she consents to the union of Tony and Marie.

While the music of the opera is light, it is none the less very attractive, and the work is nearly always popular when performed by good artists, owing to the comedy strength of the three leading parts, Marie, Tony, and the Sergeant.  The role of the heroine, small as it is, has always been a favorite one with such great artists as Jenny Lind, Patti, Sontag, and Albani, while in this country Miss Kellogg and Mrs. Richings-Bernard made great successes in the part.  The latter singer, indeed, and her father, whose personation of the Sergeant was very remarkable, were among the first to perform the work in the United States.

LA FAVORITA.

“La Favorita,” an opera in four acts, words by Royer and Waetz, the subject taken from the French drama, “Le Comte de Commingues,” was first produced at the Academie, Paris, Dec. 2, 1840, with Mme. Stolz as Leonora, Duprez as Fernando, and Baroelhst as Balthasar.  Its success in England, where it was first produced Feb. 16, 1847, was made by Grisi and Mario.  The scene of the opera is laid in Spain, and the first act opens in the convent of St. James, of Compostella, where the young novice, Fernando, is about to take monastic vows.  Before the rites take place he is seized with a sudden passion for Leonora, a beautiful maiden who has been worshipping in the cloisters.  He confesses his love to Balthasar, the superior, who orders him to leave the convent and go out into the world.  Leonora, meanwhile, is beloved by Alphonso, king of Castile, who has provided her a secret retreat on the island of St. Leon.  Though threatened by the pontiff with excommunication, he has resolved to repudiate his queen, in order that he may carry out his intention of marrying the beautiful Leonora.  To her asylum a bevy of maidens conducts Fernando.  He declares his passion for her and finds it reciprocated.  He urges her to fly with him, but she declares it impossible, and giving him a commission in the army signed by the King, urges him to go to the wars and win honors for her sake.