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''Roberto Devereux'' (or ''Roberto Devereux, ossia Il conte di Essex'' (Devereux, or the Earl of Essex'' )) is a ''tragedia lirica'', or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's tragedy ''Elisabeth d'Angleterre'' (1829), and based as well on the ''Historie secrete des amours d'Elisabeth et du comte d'Essex'' (1787) by ''Jacques Lescéne des Maisons'', although Devereux was the subject of at least two other French plays: ''Le Comte d'Essex'' by Thomas Corneille and ''Le Comte d'Essex'' by Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède. The opera is loosely based on the life of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, an influential member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The plot of ''Roberto Devereux'' was hardly original, mainly derived from Felice Romani's libretto ''Il Conte d'Essex'' of 1833, originally set by Saverio Mercadante. Romani's widow charged Cammarano with plagiarism, although the practice of stealing plots was very common between rival Italian opera houses. It is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period in English history and include ''Anna Bolena'' (named for Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn), ''Maria Stuarda'' (named for Mary, Queen of Scots) and ''Il castello di Kenilworth''. The lead female characters of the operas ''Anna Bolena'', ''Maria Stuarda'', and ''Elisabetta'' are often referred to as the "Three Donizetti Queens." They earned some degree of fame in the 1970s, when the American soprano Beverly Sills promoted them as a series at New York City Opera. It has been noted that, "although the plot plays fast and loose with history, the opera carries it own brand of dramatic conviction".〔Ashbrook and Hibberd 2001, p. 239〕 ==Origin== The contract for a new opera seria for the Teatro San Carlo in Naples was concluded in spring 1837. The generation of ''Roberto Devereux'' was overshadowed by a serious crisis in the life of the composer. During the previous year, Donizetti had lost both his parents and then his wife Virginia Vaselli delivered a stillborn baby. In June 1787 another child died during birth. On July 30, his wife finally died at the age of 28. Therefore the rehearsals for the premier began at the end of August 1837, and consequently most of the score had to be written in the month following his wife´s death. Additionally, a cholera epidemic delayed again the start of rehearsals. Salvatore Cammarano´s libretto is very truthful to Ancelot´s tragedy, a romantic rewrite of the material already dealt with by Pierre Corneille and La Calprenède in France, to which he added individual touches from Lescènes´s ''Historie''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roberto Devereux」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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