has never smiled at him. She has always been reserved and serious towards him, and Francesco wants to solve the enigma of her smile. Giovanni has come on behalf of the Pope to purchase a pearl form Francesco's famous collection, which is kept in a shrine specifically designed in a way that no one can breathe in it for longer than an hour. In order to preserve the pearls' brightness Lisa has to wear them every night. Lisa and Giovanni know each other, they have been in love before she was unhappily married to Francesco. Giovanni persuades her to flee with him the next morning, when he will come back to collect the pearl. When Francesco returns, he sees the mysterious smile on his wife's face and suspects he has a rival. He systematically locks all exits, so Giovanni has no other choice than to hide himself in the pearls' shrine. Francesco plays a diabolical game with Lisa, pretending not to have noticed anything, intentionally misinterpreting her unrest and fear for Giovanni's life as love and desire. Lisa goes along with this after Francesco promises her to fulfill a wish. She succumbs to his desire, and then asks for the key to the shrine. Again, Francesco intentionally misinterprets this as her being jealous of the pearls, and to prove his "love" he throws the only key into the river. Act 2 The next morning, Lisa can hardly remember what happened the night before. She blames herself for having done nothing to save Giovanni, hopes for a sign of life from the shrine, but in vain: Giovanni has suffocated. Lisa's stepdaughter Dianora enters, and gives her the key to the shrine she had found in her boat the night before. Francesco appears, irritated by his wife's self-control. When she presents him with the key, he assumes Giovanni has escaped. Lisa now insists on wearing the pearls, and with a smile she waits for the moment Francesco enters the shrine. She then locks the door behind him. Epilogue The lay brother's story comes to an end. The couple leave and the lay brother thinks he recognises Mona Lisa in the woman. Recordings In 1995 CPO released a 1994 recording, with Klauspeter Seibel conducting the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2003 Preiser Records released a 1953 live recording from the Städtische Oper Berlin, with Robert Heger conducting, and Inge Borkh, Hans Beirer and Mathieu