Plot
Henrighetta (Henrietta Maria), Queen of England has escaped from Cromuele (Oliver Cromwell), the tyrant usurper who imprisoned her husband King Carlo (Charles I of England) in the Tower of London. After useless petitions to the Government of Edinburgh and to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, she sails towards France to ask for help from her nephew Louis XIV.
She is accompanied by Delmira, a young Irish girl she met during the trip. The two women, for their security, disguise themselves as men and claim to be Dutch Merchants. During the voyage, their ship crashes and their lifeboat is pushed by the wind to the English coast. From there they reach London under the identities of Henrico (Henry) and Edmondo (Edmund).
In this guise, they find refuge in the Palace of Odoardo ( Edward ) and Anna ( Anne ) Hide, a family in pectore still loyalist despite showing fidelity to Cromuele. The beauty and skillful singing of Edmondo/Delmira earns the two women an invitation to Whitehall to attend a major Costume party that Cromuele has ordered to distract Londoners from the consequences of his despotic government and a looming plague.
With the arrival of Edmondo/Delmira and Henrico/Henrighetta, tragedy begins.
It is now the eve of King's decapitation. The death warrant has not yet been issued. Elisabetta ( Elizabeth ), the wife of Cromuele wants her husband to postpone the decision as she's secretly in love with the King. Her confidant Orinda, an elder widow sensitive to [love affairs, schedules her clandestine meeting with Carlo within the prison, where Elisabetta will be able to offer him clemency in exchange for love.
To arrange such an encounter, Orinda asks for help from Edmondo/Delmira (of whom she fell in love with, under the impression that she was a boy) and of Henrico/Henrighetta, reassured by their seeming foreigness.
The two heroines take this opportunity to free Carlo, with the help of Odoardo and Anna Hide, who in the meantime have revealed their true identities. The discovery of the conspiracy, however, precipitates the fate of Carlo who is executed at dawn as well as Edmondo/Delmira who, dying, has time to prove her identity, and through some details of her story, Orinda recognizes her as her daughter, who was sent abroad when very young to save her from a prophecy of dying at home foretold by relatives. Overwhelmed with grief, Orinda commits suicide on what she believes to be her daughter's corpse.
After the regicide, Cromuele can finally sleep, but his sleep is interrupted by a nightmare in which Mary Stuart heralds the end of his power. Upon awakening, Cromuele receives the glad tidings of the existence of a newborn daughter previously believed to be dead, but is found to still be alive because she was swapped with Orinda's child whilst in a bassinet.
However, his happiness is short-lived because the anagnorisis plunges him into utter turmoil when he discovers that his beloved daughter was actually the Edmondo/Delmira he has just executed.
Performance history
The Preface to the second edition of Il Cromuele (1673), shows no trace of its premiere. There is also no trace of it in the rich documentation of the Este's National Archives in Modena.
The most probable cause of this disappearance is the dynastic marriage which occurred in 1673 (then only two years after the first publication) between Mary of Modena and James Stuart, the latter newly widowed by the afformentioned Anne Hyde with whom, in Il Cromuele, he appears in love. A presence unwieldy for Graziani who, as Secretary of State, made sure to keep the interests of the House of Este in the marriage.
In modern times, Il Cromuele has been represented in Piacenza in the theatre season 1996–97 by Piacenza's Company Gli Infidi Lumi, directed by Stefano Tomassini, music by Massimo Berzolla. [4]
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