Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Classical Music Discoveries
Episode: 17046 Donizetti: Elvida
Description: Elvida is a melodrama or opera in one act by Gaetano Donizetti. Giovanni Schmidt wrote the Italian libretto. The opera was written as a pièce d'occasion for the birthday of Queen Maria of the Two Sicilies. The choice of subject matter was no doubt intended as an elegant acknowledgment of the Queen's Spanish ancestry. Donizetti received a little financial reward for the work and, as a result, put the minimum of effort into its composition.
Elvida was first performed on 6 July 1826 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, but it "made little impression on the audience". This opera was n...