Donizetti's
EOVINA DI ROHAN
CAST
Eovina (soprano)
Aruenna/"Legoletto" (soprano)
Merrino (mezzo)
Aragone (baritone)
Teodone (bass)
Grimaldo (tenor)
Donizetti liked to cut to the chase. He wanted "love, violent love,
for without this all subjects are cold." The Quest of the Ring and
all that he would probably have found boring. (I can't imagine what
he would have done with the Council of Elrond.) But the love triangle
involving Aragorn, Eowyn, and Arwen would make a perfect bel canto
plot.
ACT I
Eovina's maids sing a chorus lamenting that their mistress is so
unhappy (servants in opera are generally à la Sam in terms of
unquestioning loyalty to their masters, but with rather less
personality). Eovina sings a slow, melancholy aria about her grief at
being forced by her father Teodone, King of Rohan, to marry the odious
Grimaldo (come to think of it, in Verdi's Luisa Miller, someone tries
to force the heroine to marry a nasty specimen named Wurm). Merrino,
the page, announces guests: King Aragone of Gondor, and "Legoletto,"
an elf he'd met en route and is now travelling with him. On beholding
Aragone, Eovina gets very excited and sings a fast, frenetic cabaletta.
She greets the guests in a recitative, in which she observes how
suspiciously high-pitched "Legoletto"'s voice is; "he" claims to be a
castrato, but Eovina isn't convinced, since castrati rather went out
with the Fall of Gondolin. Nevertheless, Aragone greets her at least
cordially enough (Grimaldo and Teodone grit their teeth but pretend
everything's fine), before relating the condensed libretto version of
the Quest of the Ring -- leaving out insignificant details like
Frodo: he doesn't have a love interest, so he might as well not exist.
In this version, Aragone (already King of Gondor) had been betrothed
to Aruenna, but her father Gandalfo's will stipulates that he can't
marry her till he defeats Saurone. In an aria, he sings of the grief
this has caused him, but how he is now filled with joy at meeting the
beautiful Eovina. "Legoletto" and Grimaldo interpose jealous asides.
In the next scene, Eovina, alone, anxiously awaits Aragone, whom she'd
asked to see her that night. She declares her love, and Aragone is
happy enough to sing a love duet with her, brushing aside her fear of
Grimaldo. He gives her the Ring he'd received from Aruenna in token
of her love. Suddenly "Legoletto" appears. "Not now!" grumbles
Aragone. "What the blazes do you want?" (In appropriate librettese,
of course.) "Legoletto" removes "his" disguise and reveals that "he"
is Aruenna. At the ensuing noise, Grimaldo and Teodone arrive and howl
with rage. The Finale to Act I brings down the house.
ACT II:
Aruenna, alone, sings a brief aria about her grief at catching Aragone
in flagrante with Eovina. Suddenly, Grimaldo appears, and sings a duet
with her. He proposes that the two of them join forces and avenge their
betrayal. He will obtain aid from Saurone, Teodone's enemy, who will be
glad to off Aragone; her task is to kill Eovina and obtain the Ring. At
first horrified, Aruenna is then carried away by her desire for revenge
and agrees. She rushes off to Eovina's quarters.
In II.2, Eovina and Aruenna confront each other over the Ring in a
vicious duet, very like the confrontation between Mary Queen of Scots
and Elisabeth in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. Traditionally this duet
is called "the War of the Ring" (la Guerra dell'Annello). Act II ends
with Aruenna stabbing Eovina, as the entire household rushes in and is
duly filled with orrore, except the gloating Grimaldo.
ACT III: Aragone is alone, ruminating on events, when Grimaldo rushes
in and, blaming him for Eovina's fatal wound (she is not yet dead, but
the doctors only grant her a few hours of life), insults him. Aragone
suddenly recalls that he has the hands of a healer, and all that, and
rushes off to try to save her. Grimaldo, however, taunts him to a
duel, in which Aragone would have been victorious if the weaselly
Grimaldo hadn't arranged an ambush by Saurone's assassins.
The next scene takes place in Eovina's bedchamber. Eovina is still
dying, with Aragone already dead. Grimaldo and Aruenna enter and
gloat. But Eovina, with her last strength, stabs Aruenna, killing her
instantly; seizes the Ring and swallows it; and sings a beautiful
final aria, while Grimaldo is left raging at the loss of the Ring.
(Note: Donizetti actually composed an opera entitled Maria di Rohan; it's excellent)
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