| Marketing Copy | SEMIRAMIDE stands as the final Italian opera by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) and one of his most ambitious bel canto creations. Based on the play SERIRAMIS, Voltaire’s tragedy about the legendary Assyrian queen, it tells a dramatic tale of murder, mistaken identity, and royal intrigue, featuring the titular queen’s tormented past and her eventual downfall at the hands of her own son, Arsace. The opera premiered at La Fenice in Venice on February 3, 1823. Achieving initial success across Europe, it fell into neglect until its eventual revival in the twentieth century. Today, it is celebrated as a pinnacle of the bel canto tradition, admired for its virtuosic vocal challenges and Rossini’s mature mastery of operatic form. The sparkling Overture, often performed apart from the opera, betrays nothing of the lurid, violent nature of the plot. Instrumentation: 1+Picc.2.2.2: 4.2.3.0: Timp.Perc(1): Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set). Reprint edition. |
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