About the work
Melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, based on the melodrama "Jean de Calais" (1810) by Louis-Charles Caigniez. It premiered on 2 August 1828 at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples, with Giovanni Battista Rubini in the title role.
Plot
The shipowner Gianni unknowingly marries the fugitive princess Metilde, who has fled an arranged engagement. When her royal identity comes to light, Gianni finds himself confronted by her father, the King of Portugal, and a jealous former suitor plotting murder. In the end, recognition of the marriage brings about a reconciliation of all parties.
Cultural significance
With the celebrated tenor Rubini in the lead, the opera was initially successful but soon disappeared from the repertoire and remains among Donizetti's unrevived works to this day. The composer reused its second-act aria in 1840 for the character of Tonio in his Italian version of "La fille du régiment".