It is not necessary for the comprehension of the portions composed by Mozart (430 K.) to transcribe the whole of the complicated contents of the book; the list of characters, with the names of the singers to whom Mozart alloted the various parts, will suffice to show the drift of the plot. The _dramatis personæ_, then, are as follows:--[See Page Image] {MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.} (60) The time at which Mozart was at work on this libretto falls within that during which Nancy Storace performed as Signora Fischer. She had been induced to marry an English violinist, a Dr. Fisher, at Vienna, who ill-treated her, and was thereupon sent out of the country by the Emperor. This was in the year 1784,[30] and as Nancy Storace never afterwards bore the name of her husband, she could only have been so described by Mozart shortly after her marriage. As the opera begins, Bocconio, awaiting his bride, is discovered giving the finishing touches to his toilet; his friend Pulcherio, the woman-hater, is present, and jeers at him; so do Don Asdrubale and Bettina, who declares that if her uncle does not provide her with a husband without delay, she will give him and his wife no peace. While he is defending himself, the arrival of the bride is announced; the confusion increases, for he is not yet ready, and the others all torment him the more. Mozart has connected this quartet with the overture, which leads into the first scene without a break. We have a merry flourish of trumpets and drums, taken up by the whole orchestra, and at once we are in the midst of wedding festivities and joyous excitement. The plan of the {LO SPOSO DELUSO, 1784.} (61)