About the work
Die verschenkte Frau is a comic opera in three acts by Eugen d’Albert with a libretto by Rudolf Lothar. The score was published in 1911, shortly before the premiere on 6 February 1912 at the Vienna Court Opera.
Plot
The jealous innkeeper Antonio distrusts his virtuous wife Beatrice without cause. On the advice of the Capuchin friar Fra Angelico, Beatrice sets out on a pilgrimage; at the same time her strikingly similar sister Felicia arrives in Frascati and poses as Beatrice to test Antonio’s jealousy. After a series of complications and the real Beatrice’s return, the misunderstanding is resolved and Antonio renounces his jealousy.
Cultural significance
With this lighthearted comedy of mistaken identity, d’Albert deliberately turned to comic opera after more serious works such as „Tiefland,“ illustrating the stylistic range of his middle creative period.