Donizetti – Roberto Devereux
Marilla Devia; Kunde; Tro Santafé; Caria; Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Real de Madrid; Bruno Campanella
BelAir Classics BAC130
English speaking audiences will rejoice hearing God Save the Queen in the overture, but curb your enthusiasm because this opera is just about the most gruesome and appalling tragedy, made even more gruesome by the dark and menacing but very effective staging in red (for blood) and black (for death) and dominated by a huge mechanical spider.
Gaetano Donizetti wrote three successful operas about the ill-fated Tudor Queens as the topic seemed to have fascinated Italians. Not for long though, as all three disappeared from public consciousness for over a century. Roberto Devereux, being the least popular, didn’t see the light until the 1960s’ bel canto resurgence when the great American soprano Beverly Sills reinstated it into mainstream repertoire.
This 2015 revival by Teatro Real of Madrid was a huge success and its main attribute was the magnificent Italian soprano Mariella Devia, who literally inhabited the role of Queen Elizabeth I, and even late in her spectacular career created such a sensation in New York that people camped out overnight to get tickets, something they hadn’t done since Callas. Now at age 68 she made history with her wonderful control and vocal fireworks and a terrifying yet pitiful portrayal of a woman betrayed and crying out for revenge.
American lyric tenor Gregory Kunde as Robert, Second Earl of Essex the unlucky object of royal fury, whose voice grew more powerful recently, was a good match for Devia, passionate, heroic yet tender in the love scenes. The high vocal standard was carried even further by Spanish mezzo Sylvia Tro Santafé and principal baritone Marco Caria’s heartrendingly anguished performances. A glorious night for bel canto!
