Roberto Devereux
«LOVE AGAINST THE ODDS. THE PASSION THAT SHOOK A KINGDOM »
Donizetti’s «Queens Trilogy» continues in the ABAO seasons with Roberto Devereux. Donizetti combines politics, jealousy and passion in the Tudor court with really beautiful music in one of the jewels of bel canto.
Yolanda Auyanet returns after her Maria Stuarda last season to play the sorrowful Queen Elizabeth I. With her, the Granada-born tenor Ismael Jordi as Roberto Deverux, Pablo Ruiz in the role of the Duke of Nottingham and Silvia Tro Santafé as Sara.
The Mexican conductor Iván Lopez-Reynoso conducts the Euskadiko Orkestra, in an opera with vibrant and moving music, full of arias that are a true display of virtuosity.
International premiere of the ABAO Bilbao Opera and Opera de Oviedo Foundation coproduction by Emilio Lopez. The director presents a blend of traditional and modern aesthetics, with a theatrical and palatial setting as well as striking costumes and lighting effects.
Act I
In a hall in Westminster palace, the ladies observe Duchess Sara, alone in a corner, in tears while reading a book. They try to distract their friend from the thoughts that afflict her, but the young girl lies and says that she is just moved by the story she is reading. The truth is that she is thinking about her beloved Roberto Devereux. Queen Elisabetta enters and approaches Sara in an amiable manner. She agrees to listen to her husband, the Duke of Nottingham, and his defence of Devereux, accused of treason by the English Parliament. Elisabetta fears that Devereux, who was once her lover, may betray her as the Queen, but especially as a woman. Sara, distraught, reassures her. Lord Cecil, Gualtiero and other lords enter and inform about the Parliament’s response: Devereux has been convicted of treason.
Elisabetta takes some time to confirm, or not, the sentence. Roberto arrives and wants to defend himself from the accusations he is facing. When they are left alone, Elisabetta reminds him of the good times they spent together when they were lovers and asks Roberto about his feelings. The Queen suspects that he is in love with another woman. The Count denies it, but Elisabetta still feels uncertain. Roberto is left alone. Nottingham enters and embraces his friend, but he holds the Duke away from him with a gesture of resignation and invites him to seek consolation in his wife’s arms. Nottingham tells him about his wife’s inconsolable grief, a grief whose cause is unknown to him. The lords arrive: Roberto must appear before the court to hear his sentence. Nottingham is determined to defend Roberto’s honour.
At the Duchess’ chambers in Nottingham palace, Sara is waiting for Roberto. He arrives and accuses her of having betrayed him. She tells him that, when he left for the war and her father died, she was given in marriage to the Duke. She then encourages him to bestow his affections on the Queen. But Roberto loves her and only her and gives her the ring that Elisabetta once gave to him. The two of them exchange words of intense love until Sara bids him farewell and gives him the scarf as a pledge of their ill-starred love.
Act II
A magnificent gallery in Westminster palace. The lords and the ladies are waiting for the Parliament’s response. Elisabetta enters and Cecil informs her of the decision: Roberto has been sentenced to death. Gualtiero is back from Devereux’s house and presents his report: the Count did not spend the night at home and returned at dawn; when he was being arrested he tried to hide a scarf. For Elisabetta, this is the final proof of Roberto’s betrayal. Nottingham enters to plead mercy for his friend, but the Queen refuses and informs the Duke of the facts that have been established. Nottingham is upset at first, but when Elisabetta, in the presence of Roberto, who has now been taken to the Royal Hall by the guards, shows the scarf to those present, he realises that he is in fact his wife’s lover and is overcome with rage. Elisabetta demands to know the name of the woman the scarf belongs to in exchange for his salvation. But Roberto refuses to reveal it and is sentenced to death.
Act III
In a hall in Nottingham palace, while Sara is waiting for her husband to return, a relative of the Duke’s gives her a letter. It is from Roberto: he says that he has been sentenced to death and that he can only be saved if she takes the ring to the Queen. Sara is about to leave, but her husband reaches her, accuses her of infidelity, reads the letter and orders the guards to keep her confined in the house so that she cannot go to the palace until the sentence has been executed.
In a horrible dungeon in the Tower of London, Roberto awaits his fate: he wonders if Sara will take the ring to the Queen in time to save him from the death penalty. His hopes vanish when the guards arrive to take him to the scaffold.
In her chambers, the Queen is waiting for Sara’s arrival. She has sent for her friend so that she may comfort her. She thinks about her beloved Roberto and now that her anger has abated she only wants him to be saved, even if he has to live in the arms of an unknown lover. Cecil arrives and informs her: Roberto is about to be executed. Elisabetta asks about the ring that could have granted him a pardon, but Cecil replies that Roberto has not delivered it. Gualtiero arrives with Sara, pale and exhausted. She is the one who finally gives the ring to Elisabetta. At that moment, with that gesture, the Queen realises that Sara is Roberto’s lover. The Duchess begs the Queen to save Roberto’s life, but to no avail: a sombre sound makes those present tremble, and Nottingham, overflowing with joy, loudly announces that Roberto has died. Elisabetta, distraught and overwhelmed with anger, accuses Sara of being responsible for Devereux’s death, but the Duke confesses that it was actually him. The Queen has the couple imprisoned and, obsessed with the visions of her lover’s spectre, abdicates in favour of James I.
Luis Gago
He is an editor and music critic for El País and co-director of the Chamber Music Festival of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. He usually prepares the subtitles in Spanish for the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera and the Digital Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.