To conclude the Tudor trilogy, there is nothing better than a third lyrical tragedy in which we find Elizabeth I of England, this time in the twilight of her life.
Of course, there is an intrigue led by her favorite Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who is historically her great cousin by her mother's sister, Mary Boleyn, and more or less 30 years her junior. For the sake of accuracy, it should be added that Devereux's mother's second husband was none other than Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, the character around whom Maria Stuarda, the second episode of our trilogy, revolves. Against the backdrop of tensions between Catholics and Protestants, the royal favorite returns from his post in Catholic Ireland without the Queen's permission. In short, the ruthless earl was the last to be beheaded (with an axe) in the Tower of London in 1601, showing that morality, if not changing, is at least evolving.
The opera was composed and completed under duress in 1837. The opera was a great success in Naples and was performed throughout Italy and Europe until the 1880s, before disappearing from the repertoire of opera houses. Until the Donizetti revival in the 1960s with bel canto divas such as Leyla Gencer, Beverly Sills and, more recently, Edita Gruberova.
Mariame Clément and set designer Julia Hansen continue their exploration of the fictional character of the so-called Virgin Queen, examining the bowels of power and the ambiguity between state and private reasons.
Premiere May 31, 2024
Further performances: June 2, 4, 6, 23 and 30, 2024
