Donizetti: Rosmonda D'lnghilterra (highlights)

Renee Fleming’s remarkable vocal technique is ideally suited to the role of Rosmonda, who battles with Eleanor of Aquitaine, (Nelly Miricioiu) for the love of Henry II (Bruce Ford). Donizetti reserves some deliciously florid vocal writing for Rosmonda, allowing Fleming to display the luscious tone for which she is so admired. This disc contains all of Rosmondas music, with her big Act 2 aria as the final item. Don’t miss Donizetti’s powerfully tragic duet for two sopranos, playing one diva off against the other.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, Opera Rara proudly presents this re-release of highlights from the first complete opera recording ever made by world-famous soprano and Opera Rara Patron, Renée Fleming.

One of Opera Rara’s historical strengths has been its enthusiasm to discover, nurture and promote bright young singers. One of the beautiful lyric soprano voices the late Patric Schmid took under his wing belonged to American singer, Renée Fleming, who went on to become one of the most celebrated sopranos of our time. And also one of the best-selling!

Rosmonda d’Inghilterra was a work of Donizetti’s artistic maturity, produced in between Lucrezia Borgia (Milan, 1833) and Maria Stuarda (intended for Naples in 1834, but in fact premiered in Milan in 1835), with a libretto by Felice Romani, the leading practitioner of the genre in Italy at that time.

Despite the opera’s rarity, its qualities as a work remain exceptional. The plot is derived from English history (suitably fictionalised) and centres on the bitter hatred of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II, for his mistress Rosamond Clifford, whom she eventually murders. Donizetti was able to depict the heightened emotions of the characters with particular vividness.

In order to present these highlights to the best possible musical effect, Patric Schmid re-ordered them slightly from their appearance in the context of the opera.

Featuring the superb cast of the original recording (including Bruce Ford, Nelly Miricioiu, Alastair Miles and Diana Montague), the disc has undergone a stunning makeover and is sure to attract the attention of opera and Fleming fans alike.