Lucrezia Borgia by Gaetano Donizetti

Sung by a woman (a 'trouser role'), Orsini is a young man the court of the infamous poisoner, Lucrezia Borgia . The cheerful vitality of this aria contrasts starkly with the opera's sombre ending: Lucrezia has poisoned the wine Orsini and his friends drink while partying and they are doomed. In a further convoluted twist, one of Orsini's companions is Lucrezia's illegitimate son. She tries to save him with an antidote but he rejects her and dies. In despair, Lucrezia poisons herself.

Oblivious to Lucrezia's plans for vengeance on those who have mocked her, Orsini makes merry with no thought to what the future might bring.