Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra

Performance history#

The opera was first given in the UK on 30 April 1818 at the King’s Theatre in London.

Synopsis#

:Time: Reign of Elizabeth I :Place: London

Act 1#

Throne Room of Whitehall Palace, The Earl of Leicester is celebrating his victory over the Scots. The Duke of Norfolk, who is also present, scowls with jealousy. The Queen enters: (Aria: Quant’è grato all’alma mia). Leicester is honored, and says he has brought home the sons of nobility as hostages. However, he recognizes his wife, Matilda, and her brother, Enrico, as belonging to that group. When they are alone, Leicester reproaches his wife (Duet: Incauta, che festi?). Because she is the daughter of Mary, Queen of the Scots, she is in danger. Matilda tells Leicester that the Queen loves him as well. She mourns her ill fortune: (Aria: Sento un’interna voce). Leicester decides that, to avoid suspicion, he will speak to neither Matilda nor to her brother, Enrico. Royal apartments Instead, Leicester tells Norfolk of his secret marriage and Norfolk, in turn, tells the Queen: (Duet: Perché mai, destin crudele). She reacts to the news in fury. The hostages and Leicester are sent for. The Queen offers to make him consort, and, upon his refusal, she accuses him of treason, and has both him and Matilda arrested.

References#

Notes Sources *Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), " Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra " in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. *Kobbé, Gustave (1976), The New Kobbé’s Complete Opera Book, NY:Putnam. *Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. *Osborne, Richard, Rossini (1990), Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. *Osborne, Richard (1998), “Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra”, in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Two. p. 2. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Osborne, Richard and Philip Gossett, “Rossini, Gioachino”, in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online at Oxford Music Online *Toye, Francis (re-issue 1987), Rossini: The Man and His Music, Dover Publications, 1987. ,

External links#

• Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra – Description of the critical edition published by the University of Chicago
• Plot description at the Rossini Opera Festival homepage