Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Roberto Devereux ("Robert Devereux, or the Earl of Essex") is a tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's tragedy Elisabeth d'Angleterre (1829), and based as well on the Historie secrète des amours d'Elisabeth et du comte d'Essex (1787) by Jacques Lescène des Maisons. Devereux was the subject of at least two other French plays, both titled Le Comte d'Essex: one by Thomas Corneille and one by Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède.

The opera is loosely based on the life of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, an influential member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The plot of Roberto Devereux was hardly original, mainly derived from Felice Romani's libretto Il Conte d'Essex of 1833, originally set by Saverio Mercadante. Romani's widow charged Cammarano with plagiarism; the practice of stealing plots was very common between rival Italian opera houses.

It is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period of English history and which include Anna Bolena (about Anne Boleyn), Maria Stuarda (about Mary, Queen of Scots) and Il castello di Kenilworth. The lead female characters – Anne Boleyn, Mary Stuart and Elizabeth herself – have been referred to as the "Three Donizetti Queens." They became popular in the 1970s, when the American soprano Beverly Sills promoted them as a series at New York City Opera.

The last episode of Donizetti's Tudor trilogy is a bel canto masterpiece.
In 1598 in London, Queen Elizabeth I loved the noble Roberto Devereux, Earl of Essex. She finds herself torn between duty and feelings when she must condemn the object of her affection for treason against the kingdom. Queen Elisabeth removed Robert Devereux from office as Governor of Ireland because, acting on his own initiative, he has agreed to a ceasefire with the rebels. Following an attempted uprising, he is awaiting his trial for high treason in London.

Direction: Alessandro Talevi (Director), Bruno Campanella (Music Conductor)
Cast: Elisabeth I: Mariella Devia, The Duke of Nottingham: Marco Caria, Sara: Silvia Tro Santafé, Robert Devereux: Gregory Kunde, Lord Guglielmo Cecil: Juan Antonio Sanabria, Sir Gualtiero Raleigh: Andrea Mastroni, Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro Real de Madrid