The score of La Gioconda is best known for its ballet divertimento The Dance of the Hours.The tangled story of passion, intrigue, violence and eventual tragedy is set against the grim splendour of seventeenth-century Venice. The Romanza Voce di Donna is sung in the first act of the opera by La Cieca, the blind mother of Gioconda. La Cieca gives Laura a rosary to thank her for saving her life.Voce di Donna is one of the most expressive aria's in the opera.