L'equivoco stravagante

Unknown to Gamberotto, Ernestina already has an admirer: a penniless young man by the name of Ermanno. He has been hanging around the house hoping to meet her. To help win her over, he has enlisted the aid of Gamberotto’s servants, Rosalia and Frontino. A brief introduction leads to Ermanno’s employment as Ernestina’s personal tutor.

We first meet Ernestina in her library, where she is deeply engrossed in her studies. For a long time, her scholarly ambitions have taken precedence, but on this particular day she feels melancholy. Something is missing in her life. Could it be Love?

Gamberotto introduces her to Buralicchio, her fiancé, and to Ermanno, her new philosophy tutor. Ernestina is thrilled at the prospect of being the target of so much attention. Buralicchio proves unable to compete with Ermanno’s brains and good looks.

Left alone with Ernestina, Ermanno cannot restrain himself and declares his love for her. Buralicchio demands that Gamberotto throw this impoverished nobody out of the house. A fight breaks out, and the noise attracts the attention of the police.

Act II

From the start, Ermanno has had an ally in the house, the wily servant Frontino, who comes up with a cunning plan to put Buralicchio off Ernestina permanently. He forges a letter which he allows Buralicchio to read. It states that not only is Ernestina really Ernesto, but that he’s actually a castrato in disguise. Following forced military conscription, Ernesto deserted his regiment and sought refuge in his father’s home. Buralicchio falls for this extravagant deception and sends for the police to arrest Ernestina/Ernesto.

Meanwhile, Ermanno complains to Gamberotto about the way he has been unceremoniously chased out of the house. Left alone, Ermanno can do no more than give vent to his despair. Ernestina stops him from leaving and confesses her feelings for him. The conversation grows more intimate and is interrupted by Gamberotto and Buralicchio, the former exceedingly indignant with his daughter, the latter inclined to let things slide for the moment, in anticipation of his imminent revenge. Soldiers arrive on cue and arrest Ernestina/Ernesto without a word of explanation.

Having his daughter imprisoned unsurprisingly horrifies Gamberotto. But with his rival Buralicchio now refusing to marry Ernestina, this leaves the field wide open to Ermanno. And in fact, though a few minor matters remain to be cleared up – as with all the best comedies – there’s a happy end in sight. Following an escape from prison, further cross-dressing and several important revelations, Ernestina ends the opera in triumph.