Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti’s Ange de Nisida has had a strange history. It is never included in the composer’s list of operas for a very simple reason: Escaping Italian censorship, Gaetano Donizetti decided to have it performed in French in Paris (libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz). Rehearsals began in 1840, but stopped when the company went bankrupt. Donizetti ended up using some of this work in La Favorite, similar to the way Rossini used Il Viaggio a Reims in Le Comte Ory.Sir Mark Elder’s record is therefore a world premiere. The maestro is surrounded by outstanding soloists in this recording made in July 2018 at Covent Garden in London. The concert was made in collaboration with the label Opera Rara, dedicated to opera premieres. The opera’s libretto had never been printed before. At the French National Library, the piece required major archival research using three different manuscripts for it to be to put together. Candida Mantica worked as an archeologist carefully exploring and comparing numerous versions including the composer’s own manuscript. The scenes that were discovered were not in the right order and often not fully orchestrated.Though it was written for France and in French, the opera is a 100% Italian in its style. It shines as a wonderful discovery, even if it never changes our idea of Donizetti. Now that the record is out, we are looking forward to its rendition on stage. The plot takes place in the 15th century on a desert island, the way opera lovers liked at that time. The king of Naples is keeping his mistress a prisoner when a young and fiery tenor falls in love with her. The story goes through many twists, featuring the pope, between comedy and tragedy before its tragic ending for poor Sylvia, who dies, creating one more female martyr in the history of opera. © François Hudry/Qobuz