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. 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 December 2, 1840 at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris.
Cast:
Alfonso - Gabriel Bacquier
Leonora - Fiorenza Cossoto
Fernando - Luciano Pavarotti
Badldassarre - Nicolai Ghiaurov
Don Gasparo - Piero de Palma
Ines - Ileana Cotrubas
Richard Bonynge - conductor
DECCA - 1974
Cast:
Alfonso - Gabriel Bacquier
Leonora - Fiorenza Cossoto
Fernando - Luciano Pavarotti
Badldassarre - Nicolai Ghiaurov
Don Gasparo - Piero de Palma
Ines - Ileana Cotrubas
Richard Bonynge - conductor
DECCA - 1974