[ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Monday 1 September 2008
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
"Complete opera sets where all the pieces fit together are rare indeed and while admiring both Sills and Gruberova enormously, I think that the cast as a whole on this new Naxos set makes it a better proposition" (MusicWeb Feb 2009)
One of Donizetti's most emotionally raw operas, Roberto Devereux ossia Il conte di Essex was also the third to be loosely based on episodes in the life of Queen Elizabeth I. It deals with the love of Elizabeth and her favourite, the Earl of Essex, perhaps most tellingly expressed in the Act I duet, Nascondi, frena i palpiti, o misero mio core / Hide, hold back your palpitation, oh my wretched heart! Elizabeth's subsequent abdication is, however, a matter of dramatic licence, yet provides a memorable operatic conclusion to this tragedy of love and jealousy as she despairs at the death of her lover - Quel sangue versato al ciel s'innalza (The blood that is spilt rises up to Heaven). This inaugural production of the Bergamo Music Festival 2006 features the Greek soprano and leading Donizetti specialist, Dimitra Theodossiou, and the young American baritone Andrew Schroeder, both in superb voice.