 Written
for the Teatro Pergola, Florence in 1834, Rosmonda d'Inghilterra seemed
to have all the elements of success - a text by Felice Romani based on
the legend of the Fair Rosamond, and a superb cast headed by Fanny Persiani
and Luigi Duprez who, the following year, would also be his first Lucia
and Edgardo.
Yet surprisingly the opera, which as Donizetti wrote to his publisher, Ricordi, 'pleased more and more' with each hearing disappeared until 1837 when we know Donizetti revised it for Naples, expanding the role of Queen Eleanor of Aquitania and retitling the work Leonora di Guienna in which form it was published in Naples, Milan and Paris. But for unknown reasons - perhaps censorship or the cholera epidemic that year - the revised opera was not finally given. After only one more production, in Livorno in 1846, Rosmonda languished until 1975 when Opera Rara revived the opera in concert in London and Belfast with Yvonne Kenny making a sensational debut as Rosmonda.  It
now receives its premiere recording with an outstanding international cast
led by Renée Fleming as the hapless Rosmonda and Nelly Miricioiu
as Leonora di Guienna. |
Philharmonia. David Parry [2 CDs]
Anna Del Sere
Donizetti's first Leonora
