Explore the heart of every story: our synopses offer a clear guide to the plot and the conflicts that move its characters.
Act 1
Leonora di Vargas is in love with Alvaro. Her father, the Marquis Calatrava, refuses to accept the union because Alvaro is a foreigner. He surprises the lovers as they are trying to elope. Just as Alvaro is surrendering, a shot is fired, fatally wounding Leonora's father. As he dies, he curses his daughter.
Act 2
During their escape, Leonora and Alvaro have lost each other. Leonora is homeless. Disguised as a man, she is trying to hide from her brother Carlo, who wants to avenge his father's murder. Carlo meets Preziosilla, who is recruiting soldiers for the war, and pretends he is a student. He asks about a stranger who has caught his eye. It is Leonora. She escapes before her brother can discover her.
Leonora decides to withdraw into a self-imposed isolation and dedicate herself to God. After some initial reluctance, Padre Guardiano grants her request. In a religious ritual, Leonora is adopted into her new life. Anyone who approaches her will be cursed.
Act 3
Alvaro has gone to war under a false name. He saves the life of an officer; it is Carlo, who is also fighting under a false name. The two swear eternal friendship. When Alvaro is wounded in battle, Carlo finds a portrait of his sister Leonora in his possession. He swears revenge.
Alvaro has recovered. Carlo identifies himself and challenges Alvaro to a duel. However, the combatants are separated by their comrades. Alvaro decides to seek peace in the seclusion of a monastery. The company mindlessly celebrates the war. Brother Melitone denounces this behaviour: as long as the world is like this, we cannot expect peace.
Act 4
The population is starving.
Carlo has never given up his search, and tracks down Alvaro in the monastery, challenging him to another fight.
Leonora prays for peace. She still loves Alvaro. When he appears unexpectedly at her abode, she learns that he has just fatally wounded Carlo in combat. Leonora rushes to her dying brother, who cannot forgive even in his last moments, and kills her. Alvaro is left alone.
