Donizetti, Gaetano - Deux hommes et une femme (Rita)

Composed in 1841. Premiered May 7 1860, Paris.

Set in the early 1800s in Switzerland. Beppe (tenor), the husband of innkeeper Rita (sop), has disappeared and is presumed dead. Gasparo (bar) takes his place as both her husband and as the butt of her endless scolding and hen-pecking. When Beppe suddenly reappears, the two husbands gamble for the right to leave the baggage to the other one!