About the work
Alfredo il Grande is a two-act melodramma serio by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola about the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great. Its premiere on 2 July 1823 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples marked Donizetti's debut at what was then Italy's leading opera house.
Plot
On the Isle of Athelney in Somerset, King Alfred and his wife Amalia and their generals fight the invading Danish forces; the military conflict is entwined with a love story that ends with the Britons' victory.
Cultural significance
Despite a score heavily influenced by Rossini, the opera failed at its premiere and went unperformed for 200 years. Only in 2023 did the Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo revive it, in a critical edition by Edoardo Cavalli.