Elvida is a one-act opera seria, composed as part of an evening's events at a gala in honor of the Queen Mother's birthday. The premiere took place at the San Carlo theater of Naples on July 6, 1826. The libretto is by Giovanni Schmidt and is exceedingly bad. However, Donizetti largely ignored the story when setting the text. His cast was a star-studded one of vocal virtuosos, and he composed florid and difficult music for all of them. It contains the most elaborate of all of Donizetti's vocal writing, and the most florid. The finale is a two-movement work: the adagio is a brilliant quartet showing Donizetti's adeptness with ensemble writing, and it is punctuated by a soprano-tenor duet in rondo form, with tons of figurations to produce an electrifying ending. Elvida was performed only four times, and then dropped from the repertoire completely.

© Rita Laurance, All Music Guide