(A Masked Ball)
An opera in three acts
Libretto by Antonio Somma after Scribe
Music by Verdi
(sung in Italian)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Netherlands Opera
Conducted by Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Producer, Herbert Graf
(Recording made available by courtesy of Stichting Nederlandsche Radio-Unie)
The action takes place at the court of a seventeenth-century autocrat.
Act 1
Scene 1: A reception room in the palace
Scene 2: Ulrica's hovel by the harbour

A series of talks commenting on current legal issues
"A Cry of Distress" by A. G. Guest, Fellow of University College, Oxford
A man loses his life in an attempt to save a life. Can the law do anything for his widow?

Acr 2
Scene 1: The gallows hill, midnight
Scene 2: A room in Renato's house

by Walter Humphries
Lecturer in Scottish History,
University of Aberdeen
Montrose has been called the Great Marquess, and this is also the title of the biography of his rival, Argyle. Mr. Humphries talks about the conflict between these two men during the years covered by C. V. Wedgwood's first two' volumes on the Great Rebellion, The King's Peace and The King's War.

ACT 3
Scene 1: The Count's study Scene 2 : The ballroom