WHIRLWIND ITALIAN OPERA ABOUT BRITISH MONARCH
What more could any one want in grand opera—abundant arias, duets, cabalettas and scenas, plus choruses, opulence, a melodious score, and three superlative lead voices? Plus political intrigue and intimations of infidelity. In addition, Queen Elizabeth the First (QE1) played as much as a harridan as a hurricane leading the vocal fireworks in a Maria-Callas-like role. This one scores A+ in these departments. This was Donizetti’s historical opera “Roberto Devereux” (1837) at the S.F. Opera, a work that curiously was…