ONCE DETHRONED, Marguerite is bitter.
A vocal absurdity, she sniffs. He is nothing but a caged nightingale!
But the composer remains unmoved. He has made his decision. The dark-hued female alto, fragrant and soiled, is not the voice of a hero. But Senesino! Such purity. Such extraordinary range. Lily-white, crystalline, without stain.
The stain, Marguerite grumbles, of my menstrual blood.