Cast

Act I

Scene I
A summer night. The army’s camp. Lăpușneanu, alone with his somber thoughts, weighs his chances of victory. At dawn, a delegation of four boyars, led by the High Steward Moțoc, arrives “on behalf of the country,” asking the ruler to turn back, saying the country does not want him on the throne. Alexandru replies: “If you don’t want me, I want you!” Frightened, the envoys leave, but Moțoc, though he had betrayed Alexandru during his first reign, remains behind, kneels, and kisses the hem of his robe, acknowledging him as ruler and begging to remain by his side, loyal unto death. Lăpușneanu pretends to believe him and replies, laughing: “Unto death… so be it!”

Scene II
In front of the palace, a crowd has gathered, led by the boyars. Lăpușneanu appears, accompanied by his courtiers. The people praise the ruler. The boyars, though reluctant, are forced to join the celebration. Representing the great nobility that opposed Alexandru’s return to the throne, boyar Drăgan confronts the ruler in public. Alexandru condemns the rebellious boyars to death. Some time later, Lady Ruxanda arrives with her friend Ilinca. The severed heads of the executed boyars, mounted on stakes, create a horrifying scene. The widows of the executed men rush to the square. Recognizing the Lady of the Country, they beg her to stop the tyrant’s wrath.

Scene III
Ruxanda pleads with Lăpușneanu to stop the bloodshed. He struggles to restrain his fury. At the end of their conversation, the ruler tells Ruxanda to make the necessary arrangements for the feast he is holding in honor of the boyars. Left alone, Lăpușneanu is overwhelmed with doubt about the decision he has made.

ACT II

Scene Four
During a church service, Alexandru Lăpușneanu asks the boyars to forgive him, proposing a future of peace and harmony. As a sign of reconciliation, he invites them to a festive banquet. The boyars accept the invitation, except for Spancioc and Stroici, who, mistrusting the voivode’s promises, flee toward the Polish border.

Scene Five
In the palace hall, the terrified boyars "feast" under a tense atmosphere, sensing a trap. To lull their vigilance, the ruler orders a ritual Eastern dance to be performed in their honor.
Overcome with fear, Vornic Moțoc attempts to flatter the voivode to gain favor. At Lăpușneanu’s signal, his servants brutally slaughter the boyars, sparing only Moțoc.
Outside the palace, the roar of a gathered crowd grows louder. The ruler sends his page to discover the cause of the unrest. Amid the noise, the people cry out: “We want Moțoc’s head!”
Panicked, Moțoc begs the ruler to ignore the mob, insisting that he is noble and wealthy, while the commoners are ignorant and foolish. Alexandru replies wisely, “Fools they may be—but they are many!” He hands over the greedy, sycophantic, and treacherous Moțoc to the crowd.

Scene Six
Four years pass. At the Khotyn fortress, a gravely ill Lăpușneanu approaches death. Upon learning this, the exiled boyars Stroici and Spancioc return to Moldavia seeking revenge. They conspire with Metropolitan Theophan and secretly enter the fortress.
Lady Ruxanda lovingly tends to her dying husband. The Metropolitan, accompanied by several bishops, enters the sick chamber. As Alexandru demands the death of all traitors, false priests, and greedy boyars, he falls into a deep stupor.
Theophan sends Lady Ruxanda to church under the pretense of proclaiming their son Bogdan as the new ruler, leaving two “pious” monks to care for the dying man. They are, in fact, the disguised boyars Stroici and Spancioc. Alone with the voivode, they offer him a poisoned cup.
In unbearable agony, Lăpușneanu dies.