Dom Sébastien

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Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal (Don Sebastian, King of Portugal) is a French grand opera in five acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe, based on Paul-Henri Foucher's play Dom Sébastian de Portugal (1838). It premiered on November 13, 1843 at the Paris Opéra.

1 Roles
2 Synopsis
3 Recordings
4 External links

[edit] Roles

		Premiere, November 13, 1843
Dom Sébastian, King of Portugal	tenor	Gilbert Duprez
Dom Antonio, his uncle	tenor	Jean-Baptiste Octave
Dom Juam de Sylva, Grand Inquisitor	basso profundo	Nicholas-Prosper Levasseur
Dom Louis, Spanish ambassador	tenor
Camoëns, soldier and poet	tenor	Paul Barroilhet
Ben-Selim, governor of Fez	bass	Hippolyte Brémont
Abayaldos, leader of the Arab tribe	baritone	Jean Etienne Massol
Zayda, his betrothed	mezzo-soprano	Rosina Stoltz
Dom Henrique Sandoval, Dom Sébastian's lieutenant	bass	Ferdinand Prévost
Ladies and gentlemen of the Court, Portuguese soldiers and sailors, Arab soldiers and women, members of the Inquisition

[edit] Synopsis

While the Christian king of Portugal, Dom Sebastian is invading the Muslim Moors, the Grand Inquisitor takes advantage of his absence to seize power. Dom Sebastien rescues Zayda from the Inquisition with the intention to return her to her father, but the father wants her to marry the Moor leader Abayaldos against her will (she had fallen for Sebastien). Sebastien, in cognito, fights Abayaldos for Zayda, but is beaten and lays wounded. Zayda pledges to marry Abayaldos without a fuss in return for his sparing Sebastien's life.

Back in Lisbon Sebastien's uncle, Dom Antonio, had usurped the throne, and when Sebastien identifies himself, both he and Zayda are thrown in prison. In his attempt to spare Zayda's life, Sebastien signs the instrument of abdication, but both are killed in their attempt to escape.

[edit] Recordings

Opera Rara CD (live recording from Sep 2005 performance at ROH). Mark Elder: Filianoti, Keenlyside, Kasarova, Corrado-Caruso). To be released February 2007.