About the work
Donizetti composed Emilia di Liverpool in 1824 as a two-act opera semiseria for the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, where it premiered on 28 July 1824. In 1828 he revised the work under the title L'eremitaggio di Liverpool, reducing the amount of spoken dialogue.
Plot
The action centers on a hermitage near Liverpool where Emilia has withdrawn after being seduced and abandoned by an officer. When her father Claudio, long presumed dead after years of captivity, unexpectedly returns, the family's history of guilt, remorse and forgiveness unravels.
Cultural significance
Both versions failed with their first audiences — the 1824 original closed after just seven performances, the 1828 revision after six — even though the music was praised, with critics faulting mainly the libretto. The opera then lay forgotten for roughly 130 years until its rediscovery in 1957.