Her friends try to restore it by
surrounding her with recollections of home, and Peter at last succeeds
by playing upon his flute the airs he used to play to her in Finland.
Her senses come back, and thus all ends happily; for Catharine and
Peter are at last united amid the acclamations of the people.

In the first act the character of Peter is well expressed in the
surly, growling bass of his soliloquy ("Vedra, vedra"). It is followed
by a characteristic drinking-chorus ("Alla Finlanda, beviam"), a wild,
barbaric rhythm in the minor, which passes into a prayer as they
invoke the protection of Heaven upon Charles XII. In the eighth scene
occur the couplets of Gritzensko as he sings the wild song of the
Kalmucks. In charming contrast, in the next scene, Catharine sings the
gypsy rondo, which Jenny Lind made so famous ("Wlastla la santa"),
which is characterized by graceful coquetry; and this in turn is
followed by a striking duet between Catharine and Peter, in which the
individual characteristics of the two are brought out in genuine
Wagnerian style. In the thirteenth scene occurs the bridal song of
Prascovia ("Al suono dell'ora"), with choral accompaniment, of a
delicate and coquettish cast, leading up to the finale, beginning with
the soldiers' chorus ("Onor che a gloria"), with an accompaniment of
drums and fifes, again passing to a pathetic prayer ("Veglia dal ciel
su lor") sung by Catharine amid the ringing of bells as the bridal
wreath is placed upon Prascovia's head, and closing with a florid
barcarole ("Vascel che lasci") as she sails away.

The second act opens with ballet music, full of Eastern color, and
then ensues one of those choral combinations, like that in the second
act of "the Huguenots," in which Meyerbeer so much delighted,--a
cavalry chorus ("Bel cavalier del cuor d'acciar"), followed by the
Grenadier's song, accompanied by chorus ("Granadier di Russia
esperti"), the chorus taking up the "tr-r-r-um" refrain in imitation
of the drum. In the eighth scene we have the orgy in the tent in the
form of a very spirited dramatic trio, in which Peter sings a blithe
drinking-song ("Vedi al par del rubino"); this in turn resolving into
a quintet ("Vezzose vivandiere"), and again into a sextet, as
Ismailoff enters with a letter for the Czar. The finale is a superb
military picture, made up of the imposing oath of death to the tyrant,
the stirring Dessauer march, the cavalry fanfare, and the Grenadiers'
march