Comedy with violence: a chance to stream the German premiere of the original French version of Donizetti's Deux Hommes et une Femme

Donizetti's Rita (or Deux Hommes et une Femme) is a somewhat problematic work, essentially it is a delightful comedy featuring a spousal violence. Written, in French, in the 1840s the work dates from the period when Donizetti was working on the French version of Lucia di Lammermoor for Paris and uses the same librettist. But the work remained unperformed until the 1860s (well after Donizetti's death) and became known in an an Italian version which made significant changes to the work. Opera Rara restored the original French and went back to Donizetti's manuscript for their 2014 recording [see my review]. The work occasionally pops up on stages, after all a comedy from Donizetti's mature period is quite a draw, and directors approach the challenges of the plot in a variety of ways.

In September 2021, the Berliner Operngruppe gave the German premiere of this original French version of Donizetti's Deux Hommes et une Femme at the Konzerthaus, Berlin in a production directed by Lorenzo Fioroni, conducted by Felix Krieger and starring Elbenita Kajtazi, Alasdair Kent and Pablo Ruiz.

The production was filmed and the opera is being streamed by CueTV starting tonight (18 January 2022) and available until 25 January. Full details from CueTV.