Meyerbeer had become close friends with a man named Felice Romani in his younger years. They had passed many hours together, Romani tutoring Meyerbeer in Italian, and Meyerbeer helping Romani with his German. Meyerbeer again met Romani while in Italy, and the two spent much time together. They agreed to write an opera, with Romani as the librettist. They signed a contract with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and were supposed to come up with a new work for the Carnivale season of 1819-1820. However, Romani's libretto, called "Francesca da Rimini", was banned by the censors, so they had to postpone the composition of their new work until the following year.

Romani's new libretto, Margherita d'Anjou, was approved by the censors. The premier took place on November 14, 1820, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. A vigorous and spirited opera, it quickly won the hearts of the Italians, and Meyerbeer became in great demand as a composer as a result. The libretto was derived from a play by Guilbert de Pixerecourt, and the French origins of the plot are reflected in the elegance of the score. Later, when it was performed at the Odeon in Paris in 1826, the French were as full of praise for the music as the Italians had been.

The opera opens with a Sinfonia militare, which sets the vigorous tone of the work. The setting is Scotland, during the Wars of the Roses, and Margherita d'Anjou is both a dignitary and a military leader. Meyerbeer was known especially in his later operas for his large, integrated scenic units, which influenced the operas of Wagner and Verdi. In this opera, he composes an extended introduction, which includes the sinfonia and an opening scene and cavatina for Margherita d'Anjou and her followers. As usual in the operas of Meyerbeer, a love triangle plays a prominent role in the plot, and the sentimental military background sets both the love elements and the comic subplot in relief. Isaura is the leading lady in the love triangle, and is given ample opportunity for Italianate vocal display. However, she is also given simple, tender music, in harmony with her gentler character, which is accentuated by the circumstances of the plot. A terzetto featuring two bass voices and a buffo bass voice juxtaposes comic and serious elements also. Dramatic contrasts are resolved, however, in a typically happy ending, as all obstacles to the happiness of the lovers are removed.

© Rita Laurance, All Music Guide