Maria di Rohan is a melodramma

Melodramma

Melodramma is an Italian term for opera, used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early 19th century Italian libretto...

 tragico, or tragic opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

. The Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 June 1843 (Conductor: - )	Revised version, Paris, 14 November, 1843
Maria, countess of Rohan	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Eugenia Tadolini Eugenia Tadolini Eugenia Tadolini was an Italian operatic soprano. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix and Maria di Rohan and Verdi's...	Giulia Grisi Giulia Grisi Giulia Grisi, also known as Madame De Candia was an Italian opera singer...
Riccardo, count of Chalais	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Carlo Guasco Carlo Guasco Carlo Guasco was a celebrated Italian operatic tenor who sang in Italian and other European opera houses from 1837 to 1853...	Lorenzo Salvi Lorenzo Salvi Lorenzo Salvi was an Italian operatic tenor who had a major international opera career during the nineteenth century...
Enrico, duke of Chevreuse	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Giorgio Ronconi Giorgio Ronconi Giorgio Ronconi was an Italian operatic baritone celebrated for his brilliant acting and compelling stage presence. In 1842, he created the title-role in Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco at La Scala, Milan.-Career:...	Giorgio Ronconi
Armando di Gondì	tenor (then contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... )	Michele Novaro Michele Novaro Michele Novaro was an Italian songwriter. He composed the Italian national anthem popularly known as the "Inno di Mameli", which was unofficially adopted in 1946 and confirmed in 2005.-External links:...	Marietta Brambilla
The visconte of Suze	bass	Friedrich Becher	Giovanni Rizzi
de Fiesque	bass	Gustav Hölzel Gustav Hölzel Gustav Hölzel was an Austro-Hungarian bass-baritone and composer who sang in the opera-houses of Austria, Germany and elsewhere for nearly fifty years...
Aubry, secretary of Chalais	tenor	Anton Müller	Nicola Ivanoff
A familiar of Chevreuse	bass
Knights, the king's cabinet, pages, guards and domestic servants of Chevreuse

Synopsis

Time: Early 17th century

Place: Paris

The comte de Chalais, lover of Marie de Rohan, intercedes with the king, Louis XIII, to save the life of the duc de Chevreuse, condemned to death for having killed in a duel a nephew of Cardinal Richelieu. But Chalais discovers that Marie has secretly married the duke, when he takes part in a duel with Armand de Gondi. And Chevreuse, deciding to replace his benefactor in the duel, discovers that his friend has been the lover of his wife.

Recordings

Year	Cast (Maria, Riccardo Enrico Armando di Gondi)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1974	Renata Scotto, Umberto Grilli, Renato Bruson, Elean Zilio	Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro La Fenice, Venice (Recorded at a live performance, Venice, March 26, 1974	Audio CD: Opera D'Oro Cat: OPD 1412
1996	Edita Gruberova Edita Gruberová Edita Gruberová , is a Slovak soprano who is one of the most acclaimed coloraturas of recent decades. She is noted for her great tonal clarity, agility, dramatic interpretation, and ability to sing high notes with great power, which made her an ideal Queen of the Night in her early years... , Octavio Arévalo, Ettore Kim, Ulrika Precht	Elio Boncompagni, Radio Symphonieorchester Wien and Wiener Konzertchor (Recorded at performances in the Konzerthaus, Vienna, 6 & 12 December	Audio CD: Nightingale Cat: NC 070567-2