Arthur meanwhile manages to have an interview with Elvira; and the
latter, though still suffering from her mental malady, listens
joyfully to his explanation of his sudden flight. Their interview is
disturbed by a party of Puritans who enter and arrest him. He is
condemned to die on the spot; but before the sentence can be carried
out, a messenger appears with news of the king's defeat and the pardon
of Arthur. The joyful tidings restore Elvira to reason, and the lovers
are united.

The libretto of "I Puritani" is one of the poorest ever furnished to
Bellini, but the music is some of his best. It is replete with
melodies, which are not only fascinating in their original setting,
but have long been favorites on the concert-stage. The opera is
usually performed in three acts, but was written in two. The prominent
numbers of the first act are the pathetic cavatina for Ricardo, "Ah!
per sempre io ti perdei," in which he mourns the loss of Elvira; a
lovely romanza for tenor ("A te o cara"); a brilliant polacca ("Son
vergin vezzosa") for Elvira, which is one of the delights of all
artists; and a concerted finale, brimming over with melody and closing
with the stirring anathema chorus, "Non casa, non spiaggia." The first
grand number in the second act is Elvira's mad song, "Qui la voce," in
which are brought out not only that rare gift for expressing pathos in
melody for which Bellini is so famous, but the sweetest of themes and
most graceful of embellishments. The remaining numbers are Elvira's
appeal to her lover ("Vien, diletto"), the magnificent duet for basses
("Suoni la tromba"), known as the "Liberty Duet," which in
sonorousness, majesty, and dramatic intensity hardly has an equal in
the whole range of Italian opera; a tender and plaintive romanza for
tenor ("A una fonte aflitto e solo"); a passionate duet for Arthur and
Elvira ("Star teco ognor"); and an adagio, sung by Arthur in the