Il furioso all’isola di San Domingo

On the seashore of the island Carrying a basket, Marcella emerges from her hut and observes the raging sea, expresses concern about "the raving one", and prepares to leave her basket of food under a bush for him: (Freme il mar lontan lontano / "The sea is agitated / I hear the thunder…"). Bartolomeo, her father, follows her. He roughly questions her motive and, while she offers the explanation that it is to observe the weather, he knows that she really has come to look for the "furious one". He discovers food hidden in the basket and, understanding that this is designed for the "madman", Cardenio, Bartolomeo describes the bizarre behavior of this man and despairs of the attraction which women seem to have in helping insane people: (So per chi. Sempre pietose / Fur la femmine con matti / "I know to whom. Women have always been pitiful to the insanes.") Marcella pleads with her father for help in order to protect him from himself. Kaidamà, Bartolomeo's island native servant, joins the assembled islanders having been terrorized by Cardenio's madness, and he describes his experience of running away after being repeatedly hit. He continues to fear for his life, expressing his fear in an extensive aria that unless the people kill the madman, he will kill Kaidamà: (Aria: Scelsi la via brevissima / "I chose the shortest way / towards the farm"). However, Bartolomeo orders Kaidamà to go back to the farm, brandishing his whip as a threat. Appearing to set off as instructed, Kaidamà h…

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