A hauntingly beautiful cavatina followed by a dramatic, fiery cabaletta often capped by a stratospheric high note which just catapults the entire piece into the heavens, sending the audience to their feet.

I have many favorite Donizetti operas, but the one most beloved to me is Roberto Devereux.

There are of course, several sublime recordings of this opera with divine artists such as Sutherland, Caballe, Gencer, and Devia, but for me one that particularly stands out is the final scene from the 1975 Wolf Trap version with Beverly Sills as Elisabetta I, which I think encompasses everything. She is able to maintain beautiful lyricism while also achieving dramatic vocalism and theatricality.