ROBERTO DEVEREUX

   By Gaetano Donizetti

 

Opera seria in three acts

Libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, after François Ancelot’s play Elisabeth d’Angleterre (1832) and with some indebtedness to Felice Romani’s text for Mercadante’s Il conte d’Essex (1833), also derived from Ancelot’s play

 

PREMIERE: 29 October 1837, Teatro San Carlo, Naples

 

 

SYNOPSIS

 

Act I

At Westminster, Roberto is threatened with arrest for treason while fighting in defense of Ireland. Elisabetta loves him and is determined to save him, giving him a ring that will guarantee his freedom. Unknown to the queen, however, Roberto is deeply in love with Sara, who during his absence has been forced into a loveless union with the Lord Duke of Nottingham. Later, Roberto visits Sara to say farewell, and he entrusts her with Elisabetta’s ring, while she gives him a scarf in return.

 

Act II

The ministers of the queen are meeting to decide Roberto’s fate. They have searched his apartments and bring the queen the scarf. When Nottingham sees it, remembering that he has observed his wife wearing it, he bursts into a jealous rage. Deeply offended herself at this apparent evidence of Roberto’s infidelity, the queen is furious. Roberto is sent to the Tower.

 

Act III

Nottingham confronts his wife, ordering her seclusion at home, thereby making it impossible for her to send the ring to Elisabetta. In the Tower, Roberto hopes he can restore Sara’s reputation before he is executed. At Westminster, Elisabetta is miserable and wants Roberto to be spared. As a cannon shot announces Roberto’s execution, Sara rushes in with the ring, followed by Nottingham, who declares he detained Sara so that he might have his revenge. The queen orders their arrest and then, haunted by visions of Roberto’s ghost and her own demise, announces her abdication.

 

Viking Opera Guide

 

 

 

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