Donizetti: Roberto Devereux (2-CD) – Dimitra Theodossiou, Andrew Schroeder

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Artists: Dimitra Theodossiou, Andrew Schroeder, Federica Bragaglia, Massimiliano Pisapia, Luigi Albani, Giorgio Valerio, Tommaso Norelli, Orchestra & Chorus of the Bergamo Musica Festival
Conductor: Marcello Rota
Number of Discs: 2
Label: Naxos
CD Release Date: August 26, 2008

One of Donizetti’s most emotionally raw operas, Roberto Devereux was his the third to be loosely based on episodes in the life of Queen Elizabeth I.

It deals with the love of Elizabeth and her favorite, 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 in the opera is obviously a matter of dramatic license, 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 for the Bergamo Music Festival 2006 features Greek soprano and leading Donizetti specialist Dimitra Theodossiou and young American baritone Andrew Schroeder, both in superb voice.

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