About this edition
Roberto Devereux, ossia Il conte di Essex is the searing conclusion to Gaetano Donizetti's celebrated trilogy of Tudor queens, following Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda in its unflinching portrait of the aging Elizabeth I. Premiered at Naples' Teatro San Carlo on 28 October 1837, with a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, the opera compresses political intrigue, forbidden love, and royal betrayal into three taut acts, culminating in Elisabetta's shattering final scene — one of the most demanding vocal and dramatic assignments in the entire bel canto soprano repertoire. After decades of neglect, the opera found new life in the twentieth century through landmark revivals, most famously those championed by soprano Beverly Sills, which helped restore it to the international stage.
This score reproduces a historical full orchestral edition issued by Casa Ricordi of Milan, the storied publishing house founded in 1808 by Giovanni Ricordi, whose firm became the principal Italian publisher of Donizetti's operas during the composer's lifetime and for generations afterward. Bearing Ricordi's plate number 42047 and credited to editor Edwart, this undated edition belongs to Ricordi's extensive series of Italian opera scores — engravings that have long served as the standard reference and performance material for Donizetti's works in opera houses, conservatories, and libraries around the world.
About this edition:
- Full orchestral score (partitura)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Reproduced from a public domain historical source
- Published by Purple 4R Publishing
This edition brings that historical Ricordi score back into circulation as a public domain classic, making Roberto Devereux newly accessible to conductors, orchestras, and scholars who wish to study or perform this powerful, unjustly overlooked work from a faithful, complete orchestral source.
