The premiere of Belisario took place at La Fenice, Venice, in 1836. The libretto was by Salvadore Cammarano, with whom Donizetti had first collaborated on Lucia di Lammermoor the year before. The historical Belisarius was an outstanding general during the reign of the sixth-century Byzantine emperor Justinian. The story of the opera originated in a play produced in Munich in 1820 and is a complete fiction, though it does include the blinding of Belisarius, credited for centuries but now reckoned to be a myth.

The general, returning from a successful campaign, is falsely accused by Eutropio of plotting to murder the emperor. Antonina, Belisario’s wife, endorses the accusation in revenge for the death of their infant son. Belisario did order his death, for reasons of state, but he survived: as Alamiro, one of the captives, he is freed and adopted by Belisario. In exile with his daughter Irene, Belisario – finally recognising Alamiro as his son – vanquishes an invading force by his mere presence. Mortally wounded, he dies before he can either execrate or forgive his repentant wife.

In his booklet article Jeremy Commons commendably draws attention to the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the score. The plot, too, is uneven. The most serious flaw concerns Eutropio: the price of his false accusation is Antonina’s hand in marriage, but this is not followed up and indeed he disappears completely after Part 1. On the other hand, Antonina as grieving mother and remorseful wife is believable. Some of Donizetti’s writing anticipates the music for Abigaille in Nabucco.

There’s a Verdian air to the music for Belisario, too. Nicola Alaimo has a well-schooled voice, slightly reminiscent of Renato Bruson. His martial duet with Russell Thomas’s forthright tenor is exciting. Camilla Roberts is a touching Irene, Joyce El Khoury seizes all the opportunities in the last scene, and Alastair Miles makes much out of little. Trained by Renato Balsadonna, the BBC Singers sound like an opera chorus. There are blunt endings in the recitatives, but otherwise I have nothing but praise for Sir Mark Elder’s vigorous and sensitive direction.