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The palace of Count Riccardo. Dignitaries and courtiers gather in the audience hall, including a group of conspiracists led by Samuel and Tom.

 

Oscar, the Count’s page, recalls the masquerade ball, which will soon take place at the Count's palace. He presents a guest list where Count Riccardo finds the name of Renato's wife, Amelia, with whom he is secretly in love. Riccardo is swept up by very complex feelings, thinking about honor, friendship, fidelity, love, and duty.

 

Renato, Riccardo’s secretary and closest friend, warns the Count of the conspiracy against him, insisting on exposing and punishing the conspiracists. But the Count, a man with a great soul, does not want unjustified violence: “The love of the people and the grace of God is protection against them!”

 

The supreme judge appears, who brought the Count a ruling to sign regarding the expulsion of Ulrica, who is accused of witchcraft and fortune telling. Out of fairness, and wanting to test his own fate, the Count does not sign the ruling, but decides to make sure himself whether Ulrica's actions are criminal. To do this, he invites the courtiers to come with him incognito to the fortune teller under the guise of regular people. Everyone joyfully views the idea of ​​disguising as entertaining.

 

 

Riccardo enters Ulrica's room, where she performs her ritual. In the midst of fortune-telling, a servant of Amelia appears and asks Ulrica to accept his lady. Riccardo hears this and hides. After Ulrica asks everyone to leave, Amelia appears. She asks the fortune-teller to heal her from her secret love for the one whom she does not dare to love.

 

Ulrica sends Amelia to a sinister wasteland. Exactly at midnight, she must find and snatch up a magic potion that will help her get rid of her criminal love. Riccardo decides to follow Amelia. Now he knows that she loves him too.

 

Suddenly, the disguised courtiers enter Ulrica’s room.

 

Riccardo asks Ulrica to tell his fortune. The fortune-teller predicts that he will die soon, though not on the battlefield, but at the hands of a friend.

 

“Who will be my killer?” asks Riccardo. “The one who first shakes hands with you today,” the fortune-teller answers.

 

Not taking the prophecy seriously, Riccardo rewards Ulrica, and defying fate, reaches out his hand to those present. Everyone refuses to shake it. And only Renato, who had just appeared and did not suspect anything, answered him with a friendly handshake.

 

 

At midnight, Amelia, gripped by horror, comes to the wasteland for the magic potion. Suddenly, Riccardo appears, who kept following Amelia the whole time, in order to protect her in case of danger. The sudden and unexpected appearance of Riccardo is extremely embarrassing to Amelia. Both want to wrest the fatal feeling from their hearts, but the conversation between them still translates into a declaration of love.

 

Enemies of the Count who followed him surround the wasteland. But Renato was lucky to get ahead of them. He catches Riccardo with a lady whose face is hidden under a veil. Renato does not suspect that this is his wife. He persuades Riccardo to disappear immediately.

 

They exchange cloaks. But Riccardo does not have the strength to leave Amelia. Only her threat that she will immediately reveal her face, if he does not obey, makes the Count give in. Riccardo, giving his word to Renato to lead the lady to the city gates, without trying to ask her name, disappears.

 

The conspirators surround Renato and Amelia. Annoyed that instead of the Count they see Renato, the conspirators begin to laugh at him and his lady. Renato and Tom take up their swords.

 

Amelia rushes between them and reveals her face. Renato is embarrassed. Before him is Amelia. Anger engulfs him. The one to whom he was so faithful abused his honor.

 

Renato invites the organizers of the plot to his palace.

 

 

Amelia is in Renato’s office. The man is perturbed and enraged by Amelia’s betrayal. He longs to kill her and her assumed lover. Amelia before her death asks that he let her say goodbye to her son. This touches Renato, and he abandons his intentions regarding Amelia.

 

At the appointed time, Samuel and Tom come. All want to kill Riccardo. Renato joins their conspiracy. At that moment Amelia appears to herald the arrival of Oscar. The cunning Renato forces his wife to draw lots. Amelia obeys and pulls out a piece of paper with the name Renato.

 

Oscar appears. He brought an invitation to the masquerade ball, which will be held at the Count's palace.

 

Renato accepts the invitation in order to fulfill his intentions.

 

 

Pangs of conscience torment Riccardo. He fell in love with his friend’s wife, and considers this a crime. To be faithful to his set of responsibilities, the Count decides to send Renato with Amelia to England. Renato’s order of appointment has already been signed.

 

Guests are going to the masquerade ball. The page submits to Riccardo an anonymous letter stating that people are preparing to kill him.

 

Renato, Samuel and Tom uselessly search for Riccardo during the ball. They can only find out from Oscar if Riccardo had yet come to the ball and how to recognize him among the other masks. This time, Renato acts cunningly and cleverly. Oscar, against his will and without malice, gives away which costume the Count will be wearing.

 

Meanwhile, Amelia is also looking for Riccardo to warn him of the attempt on his life. She begs him to leave the ball. Riccardo does not want to look like a coward and is more worried about his future separation from Amelia more than anything. He, as a judgment for his own soul, gives her the document of departure, which will separate them for ages, and put an end to their love, which has never been realized.

 

Renato, seeing them together, and blinded by anger, inflicts on Riccardo a mortal blow with a dagger.

 

Before the eyes of the stunned guests in the last minutes of his life, Riccardo asks that no one to be punished, speaks of his love for his own people, and turns to Renato saying, “Amelia is innocent.”