In a brief moment of despair, the main character sings the aria "While I Waste These Precious Hours," then sees her lover descend by way of a rope and he proceeds to hide in an alcove.
In a brief moment of despair, the main character sings the aria "While I Waste These Precious Hours," then sees her lover descend by way of a rope and he proceeds to hide in an alcove. The climax comes when she breaks a vase over her the head of her husband, who goes to the hospital, and blames it on the lover who is arrested as a thief while she is happily whisked away by the Chief of Police. Often paired with its composer's next work ►The Old Maid and the Thief, FTP, name this one-act opera buffa by Gian Carlo Menotti about a lady who is quite preoccupied with going to a dance. 
In a brief moment of despair, the main character sings the aria "While I Waste These Precious Hours," then sees her lover descend by way of a rope and he proceeds to hide in an alcove.
Amelia Goes to the Ball