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A quick overview of Donizetti’s 1833 melodramatic opera.

Premiered

1833

Music by

Gaetano Donizetti

Libretto by

Felice Romani

Language

Italian

Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia is based on a play, Lucrèce Borgia, by Victor Hugo, which was, in turn, based on an historical figure.

The actual Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519) was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI of the infamous Borgia family. She was married three times—each match was a political strategy planned by her father.

It is said that when her husbands were no longer politically useful to her father, they were disposed of. Poison was the Borgia family’s weapon of choice. Their penchant for poison is perfectly illustrated in the final scene of Donizetti’s melodrama, when Lucrezia vengefully poisons the wine of partygoers who had insulted her in the prologue by saying that her family had caused the deaths of their loved ones (ironically enough, through poisoning).

Act I

Venice: The Grimani Palace in a time period ruled by male force.

A celebration in honor of the imminent departure of the legation from Venice to Alfonso D’Este, the Duke of Ferrara, is in full swing. The party’s host, Duke Grimani, has invited many of the great families of Italy to attend the party. Young warriors from each of them comment with distaste on the fact that the Duchess of Ferrara is also a Borgia, for whom they have a profound hatred, since many of their relatives have been killed or robbed by the Duchess or her brother.

Gennaro and Maffio Orsini, the most famous of all the young warriors, have committed to live and die together. However when Maffio again starts to berate the name of Lucrezia Borgia, Gennaro withdraws and manages to nap.

The party moves into the ballroom and unseen by most, Lucrezia arrives wearing a mask and sees Gennaro sleeping. She gazes at him adoringly; he is her long lost son and, not having seen him since birth, she is enraptured by his noble beauty (“Com’è bello”). Finally, she kisses him.

Gennaro wakens to being kissed by this unknown beauty and, not knowing who she is, tells her of his instantaneous love for her and also for the mother he has never known. He then recounts the story of his humble background (“Di pescatore ignobile”).

Maffio returns with the other revelers. Upon seeing Lucrezia, they all tell the horrified Gennaro of the number of their family members who have died because of her. Unmasked, she is then declared to be ‘La Borgia’ and a virtual riot ensues as the Grimani household guards try desperately to protect her from the wrath of the young men.

Act III

Scene 1. A square later that evening.

Gennaro, having so narrowly escaped, is now being hunted by the Duke who has sent the same large of brigands to abduct him at nightfall.

Ready to leave for Venice, Gennaro encounters Maffio Orsini. He tells his friend that he must leave Ferrara, where he risks death at every turn. Maffio scoffs at this, though he finally agrees to Gennaro’s departure. But Gennaro can’t bring himself to leave and they sing of their undying love for each other (“Sia qual vuolsi”). The two agree to go to a party that evening at the Negroni palace and then to leave for Venice the next morning together. The brigands realize that they do not need to do anything as the two young men are walking into a trap.

Scene 2. The party at Princess Negroni’s palace in Ferrara.

During the riotous party, one of the group, Gubetta (a Borgia agent), offers a special wine. Once the others have taken a drink, Maffio sings a drinking song (“Il segreto per esser felici”). As the wine begins to take effect, the men find that the doors are unexpectedly closed and the ladies have fled. Lucrezia enters with guards and announces that she has poisoned their wine. To Lucrezia’s horror, Gennaro steps forward and
proclaims that in so doing she has also poisoned him.

Lucezia dismisses everyone, leaving her with Gennaro. He tries to lunge for her but halts when she reveals she is his mother. She begs him to take the remains of the antidote, but hearing Maffio’s death cries, he decides to die with him rather than live without him. He then dies in his mother’s arms. Horrified at the result of her actions and gradually losing her mind, she sings of her son and her hopes that he would have been a bridge for her to the afterlife (“Era desso il figlio mio”).

Listen to the Story

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lucrezia Borgia, 1861 [].

Presented by Washington National Opera, host Saul Lilienstein takes you through the musical world of Donizetti’s 1833 melodramatic opera, Lucrezia Borgia.

Watch an Excerpt

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