from Act II, Scene 1 of the Italian opera
Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano
Role: Luisa Miller, a peasant girl
Voice Part: soprano Fach: dramatic coloratura
Setting: a room in Miller's cottage, the Tyrol, early 17th century
Synopsis: Luisa's father has been taken to jail and is threatened with execution because Luisa and Rodolfo, the Count's son, are in love. Wurm, the Count's secretary, tells Luisa the only way to save her father is to write a letter saying that she loves Wurm and that she never loved Rodolfo. She writes it and then sings that, if she does wrong in writing this letter, she wishes God to punish her instead of Wurm and the Count.