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Knights at the Opera, Part 6 - The Courtly Love of Spain

© Iris Bass

Donizetti's La Favorita, as it is better known in its Italian version, was originally produced for the Paris Opera in 1840 as La Favorite. Set in 1340 Spain ruled by Alphonso XI (who indeed had a mistress named Léonor), it presents a splendid illustration of the chivalrous notion of courtly love: a high-minded devotion to a particular woman that may virtually -- and virtuously -- fuel a knight to perform his noble duties.

To understand the dilemma of the knight Fernando, we must understand the dilemma of the king's favorite for whom the opera is named. Léonor has been misled by Alphonso: she innocently left her family to join him only to discover -- too late to save her honor -- that he was already married. For all her riches at court, the lady is no lady. While Alphonso is inclined to defy even the Papal command to restore his wife to the throne beside his, "intelligence" that Léonor has some unnamed lover unsettles him. It is here where Ferrando fits in: as what W.S. Gilbert would call a "lord high substitute."

Ferrando -- a novice priest -- has quite innocently fallen in love with Léonor, whose hand he accidentally touched during a religious service. He believes her such an angelic being that, as expressed in the famous aria "Era un angelo", he has placed her even above God within his heart. He abandons his religious vows in hopes of serving her. Knowing how dangerous it is for him to court her, she sends him away on a courtly mission: to fight the Moors as her knight. He returns, extraordinarily victorious: within but a single day, he has rallied the king's forces to overthrow "la luna" - "the crescent," i.e., Moslems - in Morocco and Granada. Alphonso heaps him with gifts, including the titles of Count of Zamora and Marquis of Montréal. However, Ferrando indicates that all he wants is Léonor, and with what might be taken as genuine generosity (for indeed the king has loved Léonor enough to wish to marry her himself could only he get rid of his wife...and he truly does wish to reward Ferrando for saving Spain's interests) Alphonso also commands the lovers be wed immediately. Léonora cannot rejoice, because she knows she is not worthy of Ferrando's love. And, via courtiers' intrigue, Ferrando indeed discovers the identity of his bride. Before the entire court, he condemns Alphonso for robbing him of his honor: in effect, every good deed that Ferrando had performed in battle, in Léonor's name, has been not only invalidated, but sullied -- by her position as Alphonso's mistress. He breaks his sword and throws the pieces at Alphonso's feet. (Although it easily slips by in the magnificent confrontational ensemble that concludes Act III, Ferrando's righteous anger is the one thing that truly shames and frightens the king, who realizes the young knight is in that moment his moral superior).