[4] However, as has been noted by Charles Osborne, the "ultimate derivation of both play and libretto is an episode in part 1 of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes's published in 1605" which is the story of Cardenio and Lucinda.

[5] After completing L'elisir d'amore for Milan and being present for its first performance on 12 May 1832 where it was immediately successful, Donizetti and his wife, Virginia, left for Rome.

Within a few weeks of his arrival, he had signed a contract to write Parisina for Florence and, for Rome, Il furioso with the librettist to be Ferretti.

As Battaglia notes, for the composer: Then the couple moved on to a busy schedule in Naples, which included the preparation for what became Sancia di Castiglia for a November premiere.

Much of the "discussion" between Donizetti and Ferretti had taken place by means of letters during the previous months (an unusual procedure for this composer, since he usually worked with the librettist present).

[7] Significantly, as Ashbrook points out, the composer "coins a maxim for Ferretti's benefit: "The good consists of making things small and beautiful, and not in singing a lot and being boring".

[6] In the composition of this opera, one thing stands out: the power of the baritone, the 23-year-old Giorgio Ronconi for whom the two men were writing the role of Cardenio.

[12] However, as Martin Deasy points out, it was the 1834 performances in Naples which drew the most attention, noting that when presented in that city on 11 May, the opera: He goes on to discuss the fact that frustration had built up during the immediate three-week period due to the closure of all the theatres in Naples for religious observances, including the Teatro San Carlo which was being renovated.

[14] Later in the century, it was given in Paris on 2 February 1862 at the Théâtre-Italien,[8] where Ronconi triumphed,[15] in Piacenza in the autumn of 1876,[8] but after an 1889 revival in Trieste, it disappeared until 1958.

[5] 20th Century and beyond Performances of the opera, which were all recorded, were given in Siena (September 1958), as part of the Spoleto Festival in Italy in July 1967, and in Savona in 1987.

On 4 June 1978 it was given its US premiere by the American Spoleto Festival in South Carolina, followed by the first New York staging at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on 22 February 1979.

However, scholar William Ashbrook notes that much damage had been done to the score by the time it reached the United States: he complains of reduced orchestration, the score badly cut and re-arranged, and the buffo elements pulled out of proportion to disrupt "one of the most original aspects of Il Furioso – the way in which the comedy relates to and reinforces the serious plot.

[5] A review of a presentation in November 1987 at the Teatro Gabriello Chiabrera in Savona in Italy appeared in the Donizetti Society's Newsletter: In September 2006, it was given at the Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

[20] On the seashore of the island Carrying a basket, Marcella emerges from her hut and observes the raging sea, expresses concern about "the raving one", and prepares to leave her basket of food under a bush for him: (Freme il mar lontan lontano / "The sea is agitated / I hear the thunder...").

He discovers food hidden in the basket and, understanding that this is designed for the "madman", Cardenio, Bartolomeo describes the bizarre behavior of this man and despairs of the attraction which women seem to have in helping insane people: (So per chi.

He enters and expresses his sadness when describing a woman who clearly was his love: (Aria: Raggio d'amor parea / Nel anno primo april degli anni / "Like a gleam of love she was / In the prime of her life / But she was as beautiful as she was evil / Mistress of deceit / She had roses on her face / And thorns hidden in her heart").

The assembled company laments, Bartolomeo instructs his daughter to leave the basket of food, and then moves towards the rocks to find the madman.

Marcella offers her a change of clothes, but when Bartolomeo returns, having failed to find Cardenio, he demands the identity of the woman.

The servant is in pain and, in a duet finale, the two men sing of their frustrations: Cardenio (Era il sorriso giorni miei / "She was the joy of my life") while Kaidamà demands to be left alone and proclaims that he will run away.

It comes to shore and Fernando and sailors disembark, the latter proclaiming their joy at a safe arrival and Ferrando telling that his mother had urged him to try to find his brother (Ah!

dammi, o ciel pietoso /, Ch'io qua non giunga invano / "Ah, pitiful heaven / not to have not come here in vain").

Both parents had approved, but the ship carrying her dowry sank, leaving her father ruined and her prospective father-in-law refusing to allow his son to marry her.

The brothers embrace until, finally unable to control herself, Eleonora breaks free and collapses at her husband's feet.

This is immediately confirmed by Ferrando who recounts his brother’s wish to return to his country (Aria: No, quel di pria piu non e / "No, he is no longer his former self", and he expresses the hope that "his heart will make him shed a / A pitiful tear from his eye.

/ If pity wins, love triumphs..”) As evening approaches, Cardenio, now dressed in new clothes and clean shaven, is melancholy (Aria: Qui pianse al pianto mio Qui la rividi / Piu bella del dolor…Pieta mi vines... / "Here she cried at my tears.

Cabaletta: Che dalla gioia / "For the extreme happiness / I fear that my heart, / Oppressed by such joy, / Bursts in my breast").