Music
Although not frequently performed today, it contains some of Donizetti's best vocal writing, some of it "first rate" (the end of Act 1's duet between Roberto and Sara beginning with Dacchè tornasti, ahi misera ("Since you returned, ah miserable me!"), while the brief second act is "superb". The opera is raw and emotional; it is a powerful vehicle for the soprano. Some of the highlights include the Act 1 duet between Elizabeth and Robert, Nascondi, frena i palpiti ("Hide and check your wild beating / oh my unhappy heart"). The final scene is one of the most dramatic and difficult in bel canto opera. As Elizabeth is going mad with the death of her lover, Quel sangue versato ("That spilled blood / rises to heaven") pushes romantic opera to the limits of melodic expression and has been described as "mak(ing) a powerful end to one of Donizetti's finest and most affecting operas."
Read more about this topic: Roberto Devereux
Famous quotes containing the word music:
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“As polishing expresses the vein in marble, and grain in wood, so music brings out what of heroic lurks anywhere. The hero is the sole patron of music.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If this be love, to clothe me with dark thoughts,
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—Samuel Daniel (1562–1619)