Nelly Miricioiu and Renée Fleming, as Eleanor of Aquitaine and the fair Rosamund, battle for the love of Bruce Ford (Henry II of England) in one of Donizetti’s more intimate serious works. A cholera epidemic in 1837 prevented the performance of the revised ending – given here complete for the first time – in which the jealous Eleanor stabs her rival.

‘The performance could hardly be improved. As always with Opera Rara’s productions, the booklet adds substantially to the value of the set and contains a first-rate introduction by Jeremy Commons’ – John Steane, Gramophone