This clip from a pretty gorgeous Liceu production reaffirms this view. This sequence arguably should be the toughest part for a higher-voiced Elisabetta to sing: it’s fairly low and requires riding over a full orchestra and chorus repeatedly. It’s hard to imagine a singer best known at the time as the world’s reigning Zerbinetta really summoning the venom required of the part. Yet Gruberova makes it fully her own. You can see how so many Elisabettas would be influenced by her physicality in the part (I think of Gruberova’s limping here as similar to Rysanek‘s Sieglinde Schrei: many have tried it, no one has matched it). In this scene, Gruberova makes you aware of both the character’s vulnerability combined with her sheer fury, something perhaps best illustrated by her declamatory “Va” as she hurtles herself down at Devereux. The result is Gruberova at her very best, fearless, dangerous singing combined with impeccable technique, where she sacrifices absolutely nothing for dramatic impact.

Niel Rishoi adds:

In my 50th anniversary tributes to Edita Gruberova, many pointed out what they felt was an egregious omission: her Elisabetta from Barcelona in 1990. In my opinion, it may be her greatest single performance not only in a Donizetti role, but of her entire career. Vocally and dramatically, Gruberova hits all the right notes – and then some.