from Act IV of the French opera Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini

Libretto: Étienne de Jouy

Role: Arnold, a Swiss patriot, son of Melcthal

Voice Part: tenor       Fach: lyric tenor

Setting: the ruined house of Melcthal, Altdorf, Switzerland, thirteenth century

Synopsis: Arnold looks upon the ruined house in which he grew up and remembers his father, who was killed by the Austrians.

from Act III, Scene 2 of the French opera Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini

Libretto: Étienne de Jouy

Role: Guillaume Tell, a Swiss patriot, father of Jemmy and husband of Hedwige

Voice Part: baritone       Fach: lyric baritone

Setting: the main square of Altdorf, Switzerland, thirteenth century

Synopsis: When Guillaume Tell refuses to genuflect to the symbol of Austrian government, Gesler picks out Tell's son Jemmy and orders Tell to shoot an apple off Jemmy's head or Jemmy will be killed. Before shooting, however, Tell warns Jemmy to stay completely still and think of his mother.

from Act III, Scene 1 of the French opera Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini

Libretto: Étienne de Jouy

Role: Mathilde, an Austrian Princess in the house of Hapsburg

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: lyric coloratura|dramatic coloratura

Setting: the interior of a ruined chapel on the grounds of the Governor's palace at Altdorf, Switzerland, thirteenth century

Synopsis: Arnold has informed Mathilde that he must leave her in order to avenge her father's death and support the cause of the Swiss resistance to the Austrian rule. Mathilde is devastated and believes that all her happy moments with Arnold are now over. Although her sense of reason understands his reasons, her heart wishes that Arnold could forget his dangerous pursuit of revenge and instead stay with her. Finally though, she gives him her entire support and tells him that, although she cannot be there with him in person, she will be with him in his heart.

from Act II of the French opera Guillaume Tell by Gioacchino Rossini

Libretto: Étienne de Jouy

Role: Mathilde, an Austrian Princess in the house of Hapsburg

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: lyric coloratura|dramatic coloratura

Setting: the forested heights of Rütli over Waldstetten lake nera the town of Brunnen, Switzerland, thirteenth century

Synopsis: Managing to separate herself from the hunting party she is with, Mathilde knows that her beloved Arnold follows her and will arrive soon. She trembles in anticipation of seeing the man to whom she has given her heart. She decides that she prefers the lonely forest to the pleasures of the palace because it is the only place that she can reveal her secret longings and desires.