Alina, regina di Golconda

Alina, regina di Golconda (Alina, Queen of Golconda) is an opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani after Michel-Jean Sedaine's French libretto for Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's ballet-heroique Aline, reine de Golconde (Paris Opera, 1766), in its turn based on the novel by Stanislas de Boufflers. The opera was commissioned for the opening festivities of the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, where it premie... more

Alina, regina di Golconda (Alina, Queen of Golconda) is an opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Felice Romani after Michel-Jean Sedaine's French libretto for Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's ballet-heroique Aline, reine de Golconde (Paris Opera, 1766), in its turn based on the novel by Stanislas de Boufflers. The opera was commissioned for the opening festivities of the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, where it premiered with success on May 12, 1828. Soon after, a revised version debuted at the Teatro Valle, Rome on October 10, 1829. Alina, a humble country girl, has been captured by pirates and taken to the kingdom of Golconda, where the elderly king falls in love with her, marries her, and shortly dies, leaving Alina a widow and queen. Her subjects urge her to choose another husband, and the noble and handsome Seide emerges as leading candidate. Alina, however, cannot forget a previous lover, Ernesto Volmar, a French army officer; despite this, she is... less