Album: Donizetti, Maria di Rohan – Orchestra of the Enlightenment / Elder (Opera Rara)

Donizetti's taut, dark opera of stifled desire in 17th-century France is handsomely presented and performed in the 1843 Vienna version under Mark Elder. There is little wastage. Musky period brass and woodwind intensify the sense of entrapment.

Christopher Purves's multi-faceted, volatile Chevreuse dominates. Krassimira Stoyanova is a cool, eloquent Maria, while Enkelejda Shkosa shines as the second Gondi, transformed into a trouser-role for an ungrateful French audience.