Roberto Devereux Tickets

The Music Center. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, USA

Scene 1 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 2 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 3 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 4 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 5 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 6 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

Scene 7 from the opera "Roberto Devereux"

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Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Los Angeles, USA

Duration: 2h 45min with 1 interval

Acts: 3

Intervals: 1

Sung in: Italian

Titles in: English

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choose the date to see the peformers

Overview

It's good to be the queen...most of the time.

In Tudor England, Queen Elizabeth I rules (literally). Ignoring advice from the court, she declines to charge her lover with treason, but he's not making it easy for her. Behind her formidable public persona hides a fragile heart that aches to reconnect with a suitor whose loyalties are uncertain. If ever there was a diva role, this is it—careening from outbursts of rage to heartbroken laments—and glamorous Spanish soprano Davinia Rodríguez has the vocal and dramatic goods to deliver a knock-out performance. The magnificent tenor Ramón Vargas returns as the scoundrel at the center of all the trouble.

Company premiere

Production from Canadian Opera Company

History

Premiere of this production: 28 October 1837, Teatro San Carlo, Naples

Roberto Devereux (or Roberto Devereux, ossia Il conte di Essex [Robert 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.

Synopsis

Queen Elizabeth I has sent her beloved Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, to lead a military expedition to Ireland. Without authorization, Devereux has signed a peace treaty with the Irish rebels. Jealous of Devereux's close relationship with the Queen, several nobles seize the opportunity to charge him with treason.

Act I

Sarah, the Duchess of Nottingham and a confidante of Queen Elizabeth, is wracked with a guilty secret; she had been romantically involved with Devereux prior to her marriage to the Duke. Elizabeth confides to Sarah that she suspects Devereux of being unfaithful. The Queen is visited by Lord Cecil and Sir Walter Raleigh, who convey Parliament’s frustration over her leniency towards Devereux. To stall the trial, she demands more proof of guilt before making a decision. When Devereux asks to meet with the Queen, her heart fills with hope that their love will be rekindled.

Elizabeth meets with Devereux in private. She reminds him of the ring she gave him, a special token that will guarantee his safety if he sends it back to her. Devereux accidentally lets it slip that he is in love with another woman. Seeing Elizabeth’s initial anger escalate to fury, he tries to deny everything, but the damage has been done: Elizabeth is set on vengeance against Devereux and his unknown lover.

Devereux’s only remaining ally is the Duke of Nottingham, none other than Sarah’s husband. Nottingham discloses to Devereux that he observed Sarah sobbing while embroidering a blue scarf. Their exchange is interrupted by Lord Cecil, who summons Nottingham to a meeting of Parliament to decide Devereux’s sentence. Nottingham vows to save his friend.

Devereux cannot resist visiting Sarah while Nottingham is out. He berates her for marrying the Duke while he was away at battle. She explains that the union was ordered by the Queen, who mistakenly thought it would secure Sarah's future. They acknowledge their mutual love but realize that they can never be together. As a parting gift, Sarah gives Devereux a blue scarf, which she has embroidered herself. Devereux unknowingly leaves Elizabeth’s ring behind.

Intermission

Act II

In the Great Hall at Westminster, Parliament reaches a verdict: the death penalty. Only Elizabeth’s signature is needed for the execution to take place. She dismisses the court for a private meeting with Sir Walter Raleigh, whom she trusts. Walter informs the Queen that Devereux was arrested with a blue scarf hidden under his shirt. Elizabeth assumes (correctly) that the scarf is a gift from the unknown woman that Devereux has been having an affair with. This fuels her agreement to sign the death warrant.

Nottingham begs the Queen to have mercy on Devereux, his friend. Devereux is brought in and Elizabeth demands to know who gave him the blue scarf. Recognizing the scarf as his wife's, Nottingham silently realizes that Devereux has betrayed him. In a jealous rage, the Queen signs the death warrant.

Act III

Devereux sends Sarah a letter, imploring her to take the ring back to Elizabeth, to guarantee his life. Before she can do so, Nottingham returns. He sees the letter and demands to read it. Understanding that returning the ring would spare Devereux’s life, Nottingham orders Sarah not to move.

Alone in the Tower of London, Devereux regrets his life of lies and indiscretions. He remains hopeful that Elizabeth will receive the ring in time to pardon him. For her part, the Queen is deeply conflicted, clinging to the hope that Devereux will return the ring as a sign of his renewed devotion. At the exact moment that Devereux is led to his execution, Sarah bursts in and hands the ring to Elizabeth, silently identifying herself as the Queen’s rival. It is too late: a cannon shot signifies that the fatal blow has been delivered. Elizabeth lashes out at Nottingham and Sarah for their part in Devereux’s death. They are taken into custody. Haunted by visions of her lover's severed head and the destruction she has caused her subjects, Elizabeth longs only for death. The Queen gives up her royal power by declaring James VI of Scotland, her nephew and heir to the throne, the new King of England.

Synopsis courtesy of Canadian Opera Company

Place: London, England
Time: 1601, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, favorite of Queen Elisabeth, has been removed from office as Governor of Ireland because, acting on his own initiative, he has agreed to a ceasefire with the rebels. Following an attempted uprising, he is awaiting his trial for high treason in London.

Act 1
Scene 1: The Great Hall at Westminster

Sara, Duchess of Nottingham, is trying in vain to hide her tears from the eyes of the Court, as she reads the sad story of Fair Rosamond, the unfortunate lover of King Henry II of England, and therein recognizes a very similar situation to her own. She is in love with Robert Devereux, her husband's closest friend. The Ladies of the court express concern, but she replies that she is happy, while privately revealing her sadness (All'afflitto è dolce il pianto). Elizabeth enters and states that, at the insistence of Nottingham, she has agreed to see Robert once again, now that he has returned from Ireland accused of treason (Duchessa..Alle fervide preci). The Queen is willing to release him without charges if she can be sure of his continued loyalty. To Sara's gradual dismay, the Queen reveals her love for Robert (L'amor suo mi fe' beata). Cecil enters and announces that Parliament is waiting for an answer from the Queen regarding the charges against Robert, since it considers her as being too lenient towards him, but she refuses to sign the death warrant proposed by the Royal Council.

Robert enters and, in a conversation overheard by the increasingly distraught Sara, Elizabeth declares her love for him. Now alone together, Elizabeth promises Robert that the ring she once gave him will always be the pledge of his safety should he ever return it to her. The dream of bygone happy days is shattered by an inappropriate comment by Robert, who assumes that Elizabeth knows the secret of his love for Sara. The Queen, increasingly jealous, demands that Robert name the woman he loves. He denies that he loves anyone (Nascondi, frena i palpiti), and then the Queen leaves.

Nottingham, Robert's friend and supporter, enters and the two men discuss Robert's situation and Nottingham's concerns about his wife's behaviour after he has observed her embroidering a blue shawl (Forse in quel cor sensible, Qui ribelle ognum ti chiama). The two men are interrupted by Cecil demanding that Nottingham attend a meeting of the Peers of the Realm.

Scene 2: Sara's Apartments at Nottingham House

Sara is alone when Robert enters, declaring her to be faithless because she has married Nottingham while he was in Ireland. She defends herself saying that it was the Queen's idea and that she was forced to do her bidding. At the same time, seeing the ring on Robert's finger, she assumes it to be a love token from the Queen, and tells him that they must never see each other again, giving him the blue shawl as a love token. In a final duet (Dacchè tornasti, ahi misera) each declares love for the other and they accept that they must say goodbye. Robert makes plans to escape.

Act 2
The Great Hall at Westminster

The Queen approaches Cecil to find out what has been decided. Cecil declares that the sentence is death. The Queen, asking Raleigh why the whole process took so long, learns that Robert had a shawl in his possession which he resisted giving over. It is handed to her. Nottingham enters and pleads for Robert's life (Non venni mai si mesto), insisting that he is innocent, but the Queen continues to describe how she knows that Robert has been unfaithful and, when he is brought in, confronts him, showing him the scarf. Nottingham sees it as well and recognizes it. Furious, he declares that he will have vengeance; while at the same time, Elizabeth offers Robert his freedom if he reveals the name of her rival. He refuses and she signs the death warrant, announcing that a cannon shot will be heard as the axe falls. Nottingham fumes that the axe is not a suitable punishment.

Act 3
Scene 1: Sara's Apartments

Alone, Sara receives Robert's ring along with a letter from him. In it, he tells her to take the ring to Elizabeth and beg for mercy. Before she can leave, Nottingham arrives and reads the letter (Non sai che un nume vindice). Although she protests her innocence, he prevents her from leaving. They both hear the funeral march for Robert as he is led to the Tower, and Nottingham leaves to exact his revenge on Robert. She faints.

Scene 2: The Tower of London

In his cell, Robert ponders as to why it appears that his ring has not been received by the Queen. But he refuses to betray Sara (Come uno spirto angelico... Bagnato il sen di lagrime), and when Cecil arrives at the door of the cell, it is not to free Robert but to take him to his execution. He is led away.

Scene 3: The Great Hall at Westminster

Elizabeth is mournful about the pending death of her lover and wonders why Sara is not there to give her comfort (Vivi ingrato, a lei d'accanto). Cecil announces that Robert is on his way to the block, and Sara arrives disheveled. She gives Elizabeth the ring along with confessing her guilt at being the Queen's rival. In vain, the Queen tries to stop the execution, but they hear the cannon announcing Robert's death. After Nottingham has arrived, Elizabeth demands to know why he prevented the ring from being brought to her. He replies: "Blood I wanted, and blood I got!" Elizabeth is haunted by the headless corpse of Robert, and longs for her own death, announcing that James VI of Scotland (son of Mary Queen of Scots) will be king. Alone, she kisses Robert's ring.

Venue Info

The Music Center. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - Los Angeles
135 N. Grand Avenue, 90012

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