Donizetti: L'assedio di Calais

This is the first performance in 150 years of an opera considered to be Donizetti’s most interesting and visionary work. It is a pivotal score in which the composer is clearly aiming at a more international audience – in fact Paris. As a result of Opera Rara’s discovery, staged revivals have been given in Italy, England and Ireland. The opera is set in 1347, Calais is under siege by the English army under Edward III. Six noblemen of Calais, including the mayor, volunteer their lives in exchange for lasting peace. The English Queen is so moved by their valour that she persuades her husband to end the siege and spill no more blood.

‘One of the most invigorating of all the complete opera recordings made over the years by this enterprising organisation’ – Penguin CD & DVD Guide