Pietro and Carmela love each other, but she has a bad name and Pietros's father, Andrea, opposes the marriage. Carmela has a beautiful voice and she could be a singer, but she renounces singing as token of her love for Pietro. Pietro is in debt to "Il tunisino" (The Tunisian) for a large sum of money and Carmela decides to save him by starting to sing again...—Baldinotto da Pistoia