Maria, regina d'Inghilterra

Giovanni Pacini
Operas Alessandro nelle Indie (1824) Carlo di Borgogna (1835) Saffò (1840) Maria, regina d'Inghilterra (1843) Medea (1843)
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Maria, regina d'Inghilterra (Mary Tudor, Queen of England) is an Italian opera in three acts, composed by Giovanni Pacini from a libretto by Leopoldo Tarantini, which was based on the play Marie Tudor by Victor Hugo. It was given its first performance at the Teatro Carolino, in Palermo, on 11 February 1843.

Performance history

The opera was greeted with considerable acclaim at its creation. After a decade or so, it lost its popularity and disappeared from the stage until its revival by Opera Rara at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London as part of the Camden Festival on 23 March 1983.^[1]

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast (Conductor: -)
Maria, Queen of England	soprano	Antonietta Marini-Rainieri
Riccardo Fenimoore	tenor	Nicola Ivanoff
Clotide Talbot	soprano	Teresa Merli-Clerici
Ernesto Malcolm	baritone	Antonio Superchi
Gualtiero Churchill	bass	Antonio Benciolini

Synopsis

Place: London

Time: 1553.

Mary I of England is infatuated by the adventurer Riccardo Fenimoore, whom she has ennobled as Lord Talbot, but he is unfaithful having seduced the foundling Clotide, who has been raised and is now betrothed to the adoring Ernesto Malcolm, a commoner. Gualtiero Churchill, the Lord Chancellor, wants to protect the Queen by bringing Riccardo down, so he tells the Queen of Talbot's duplicity, and also reveals his knowledge that Clotilde is actually heir to the Talbot name. The Queen condemns Talbot to death but repents and orders Clotilde to see to his release, however Churchill sees to it that the execution is carried out (to the dismay of the Queen).

Recordings

Year	Cast: (Mary, Riccardo, Clotilde, Ernesto)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1996	Nelly Miricioiu, Bruce Ford, Mary Plazas, José Fardilha	David Parry, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir	Audio CD: Opera Rara ORC15

Notes

1. ^ Holden, p.650

References

• Commons, Jeremy, "Maria, regina d'Inghilterra", essay in the booklet accompanying the Opera Rara recording.
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001, ISBN 0-140-29312-4