guide to her father, who is about to be released from prison (Duet: Oh tu, che della eterna, orribil notte /"Oh thou, who in terrible darkness"). Act 3 La Morte (Death) In the mountains As the clang of weapons is heard, Irene leads Belisarius to a cave for safety. Alamiro now leads the army of the Alanni against Byzantium to avenge Belisarius. Belisarius confronts him and recognizes him as his son through an amulet. At his father's request, the son leaves the ranks of the enemies of Byzantium, and the Alanni, now under the command of Ottavio, march to Byzantium, having no fear, as the emperor's army is bereft of its leader. Hall in Byzantium Antonina, in remorse, tells the emperor that her testimony against Belisarius was false. Irene approaches with news of the victory and informs Antonina that Alamiro is her son, and that it was the slave, not Belisarius, who had planned his death. Meanwhile, the blind Belisarius has led the Byzantine army and defeated the Alanni, who had threatened Byzantium, but an arrow has mortally wounded him. He is carried in dying, and the sorrowing emperor promises to be a father to Alamiro and Irene. Recordings References Notes Cited sources Ashbrook, William (1982), Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. Ashbrook, William (1992). "Belisario", vol. 1, pp. 384–385, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. . Ashbrook, William; Hibberd, Sarah (2001). "Gaetano Donizetti", pp. 237 in The New Penguin Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden. New York: Penguin Putnam. . Commons, Jeremy (2013), Belisario: introductory essay in booklet accompanying the 2013 Opera Rara recording. Osborne, Charles (1994). The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press . Smart, Mary Ann; Budden, Julian (2001). "Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria)" in Sadie 2001. Weinstock, Herbert (1963). Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Pantheon Books. . Other sources Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA) Black, John (1982), Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822—1848. London: The Donizetti Society. Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). Annals of Opera, 1597-1940, 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield Melitz, Leo (1921). The Opera Goer's Complete Guide, 1921 on books.google.com. (Source of the synopsis) Sadie, Stanley, Ed;