Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra
dramma per musica by Gioachino Rossini
Portrait of the composer
Librettist	Giovanni Schmidt
Language	Italian
Based on	Il paggio di Leicester by Carlo Federici
Premiere	4 October 1815 (1815-10-04) Teatro San Carlo, Naples

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (Italian pronunciation: [elizaˈbɛtta reˈdʒiːna diŋɡilˈtɛrra]; Elizabeth, Queen of England) is a dramma per musica or opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, from the play Il paggio di Leicester (Leicester's Page) by Carlo Federici, which itself "was derived from a novel The Recess (1785) by Sophia Lee."

It was premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 4 October 1815 and was the first of nine operas which Rossini wrote for the San Carlo. Altogether, this was one of eighteen operas which he wrote during the time he spent in Naples.

Rossini took melodies from other operas to compose Elisabetta, including the overture, first written for Aureliano in Palmira, which is famous as the overture to The Barber of Seville. As Holden notes, with the re-uses of earlier music, "it is as if Rossini wished to present himself to the Neapolitan public by offering a selection of the best music from operas unlikely to have been revived in Naples."

Some of Elisabetta 's music was recycled in later operas and a part of Elisabetta's first aria was re-used by Rossini four months later in Rosina's aria "Una voce poco fa" in the opera The Barber of Seville.

The opera was first given in the UK on 30 April 1818 at the King's Theatre in London.

It is rarely performed today, although recordings exist of live performances in Palermo (1970), in Arles (1975), at the Teatro Regio di Torino (1985, the only DVD), at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples (1991), in New York (1998, given by Opera Northwest), at the Teatro Margarita Xirgu, Buenos Aires (2004), and at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro (2004).