Prologue:
The Narrator addresses the audience: “O you, who in some pretty boat, eager to listen, have been following behind my ship, that singing sails along…”

First scene / The departure
Dante sleeps and dreams. Saint Lucia comes to the aid of the unfortunate man and urges Beatrice to help him in his quest. Lucia informs Virgil, who will be Dante’s guide to Paradise, while the young Dante recalls the irreparable loss of his Lady. In the dark, Saint Lucia appears, and the fireflies start to come out. We open with the choir singing the Latin hymn of Compline: Te lucis ante (quoted in Purgatorio, VIII): “Before the end of the day / Creator of the world, we pray / that with Thy wonted favour Thou / wouldst be our Guard and Keeper now.” Dante is present and sings but at first, his words are inaudible: they are only vowels, murmurs, like a lament around Beatrice’s name. He seems to be sleeping and dreaming. In his dream, the young Dante appears – dreaming as well, and remembering his visions. Dante gradually wakes up and sings of his despair and grief, he who is lost in the middle of a “dark forest”.

Second scene / Song of morning
In this short scene, we hear the young Dante of the Vita nova calling for death, since he must “never again see the lady on whose account (he) grieves”. This song of mourning is punctuated by the female voices of the chorus in response: “Do not sleep anymore / do not despair” (words that Beatrice herself will repeat in Paradiso), to the hope of seeing Beatrice again one day.

Third scene / Limbo
“I entered on the steep and savage path”: Dante begins his “journey”. It is the entry to the Underworld, to Limbo. Virgil appears and drags him along: “Let us descend into the blind world now.” The laughs and moans of the damned greet the two men, who begin their descent.

Fourth scene / The nine circlesof hell
The descent into the circles is performed as a dance of death, supported by the litany of the names of the damned and the scansion of each circle, along with cries, laughter, weeping and whimpers. Dante discovers the damned and the torment associated with each circle. The choir sings a medieval refrain, the words of the Chorea Macarii (dance of the dead): “Here are those who will perform the dance of the Maccabees.” Until the mention of Florence and its crimes. The scene is then interrupted by the song of the young Dante evoking the mourning of Florence having lost its Beatrice.

Fifth scene / Out of the dark
Dante and Virgil reach the ninth circle, that of the king of Hell. The scene opens with the Latin hymn of Venantius Fortunatus – bishop of Poitiers, 6th century – satirized by Dante. Dante mocks the venerable words “The banners of the King advance / the mystery of the cross shines forth” and writes instead “The banners of the king of Hell advance”. The chorus and the voices of the damned alternate and oppose each other in a musical joust. After the image of the king of Hell half buried in the ice, the scene progresses to the exit: “And then we emerged to see the stars again.” Light returns. And the sweetness of the world.

Sixth scene / Purgatory
In Dante’s text, Purgatory is punctuated by the Gregorian chant of the Beatitudes from the Gospels. This is the opening of the sixth scene. This chant is taken up here as an antiphon (alternating two choirs). The songs of hope of the young Dante also alternate with Dante’s and Virgil’s ascent from Purgatory, towards the light. The voices of the choir can then be heard singing the promise of seeing Beatrice again.

Seventh scene / Paradiso
The seventh scene opens with the biblical verses from the Song of Songs: “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride” (quoted in Purgatory). While the choir sings the Gregorian offertorium: “Blessed is he that comes…” The voices of the choir call on Beatrice to appear at last. At the same time, the young Dante remembers having called and named Beatrice in vain in his pain. The entire scene develops as a gradation – both in sight and sound. The repeated chants lead to Beatrice’s consoling appearance and Dante’s ecstasy. The final chant’s text is not audible, as in the first scene, but it is now a pure whisper of joy.