Roberto Devereux, composed in Naples “in the time of cholera” in 1837, intensifies and sums up the trilogy that Donizetti devoted to the Tudor queens (prior to it came Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda), and in many ways the whole compositional style of this son of Bergamo. It also left an indelible mark on his personal life which, as we know, was not the happiest. In that year, which represented a watershed moment, he lost his beloved Virginia and their newborn child and, against a backdrop of utter grief (“I will be unhappy forever”, he wrote in a letter to his brother-in-law), the success of Devereux at the Teatro San Carlo on 28th October brought him satisfaction and acted as a lifeline. The Neapolitan audience immediately fell in love with the opera, appreciating the libretto too, to the extent that the accomplished Cammarano took his curtain call alongside the composer and the musicians. The work’s success continued more or less throughout the 1800s but it was the Donizetti Renaissance of the 1900s that gave the opera its permanent place in the repertoire, making it a cornerstone of romantic opera and a port of call for the vocal and theatrical virtuosity of any prima donna called on to sing the arduous role of Elisabetta. From Giuseppina Ronzi De Begnis, who was the first to interpret her, until today, the most magnificent Belcanto singers have put themselves to the test in the role as this figure, so modern, full of chiaroscuro contrast, tormented within, a woman and a queen, a mighty Donizetti character.
The boldness of the score is no less striking. Donizetti matched the urgent pace imposed by the action on stage. Subsequently, upon the work’s revival at the Théatre Italien in Paris in 1838, he rewrote only the very short initial prelude, making it truly symphonic in nature (one of his most beautiful, effective compositions, which we have chosen to perform here in Naples).
I consider it a great privilege to be conducting Roberto Devereux yet again, this time in the city where Donizetti has left his mark in countless ways, starting with the actual manuscript of this opera, preserved at the Library of the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. For the same reason, I am grateful to the Teatro Massimo for having allowed me to present the full Tudor Trilogy here in Naples between 2023 and today.