La favorite

*La favorite*
La favorite
Grand opera by Gaetano Donizetti
	Singers of the premiere, Rosine Stoltz and Gilbert Duprez in act 4
Librettist	Alphonse Royer; Gustave Vaëz; Eugène Scribe;
Language	French, Italian
Based on	Le comte de Comminges; by Baculard d'Arnaud
Premiere	2 December 1840; Académie Royale de Musique, Paris

La favorite (The Favourite, sometimes referred to by its Italian title: La favorita) is a grand opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Baculard d'Arnaud with additions by Eugène Scribe based on the story of Leonora de Guzman.^[1] The opera concerns the romantic struggles of the King of Castile, Alfonso XI, and his mistress, the "favourite" Leonora, against the backdrop of the political wiles of receding Moorish Spain and the life of the Catholic Church. It premiered on 2 December 1840 at the Académie Royale de Musique (Salle Le Peletier) in Paris.

^ William Ashbrook, "La favorite", pp. 285–286, in The Viking Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden (London: Viking, 1993). ISBN 0-670-81292-7.