''Ricciardo e Zoraide'' (''Ricciardo and Zoraide'') is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in two acts by

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

to an Italian

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Francesco Berio di Salsa. The text is based on cantos XIV and XV of '' Il Ricciardetto'', an epic poem by Niccolò Forteguerri.

Performance history

''Ricciardo e Zoraide'' was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, on 3 December 1818. It continued to be performed until 1846 but fell out of favor afterwards and was not performed in public again until its revival at the

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

Rossini Opera Festival in 1990. The Rossini Opera Festival featured a new production of the opera in 2018. Among other performances, the opera received a production at the Rossini in Wildbad festival in 2013.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: the city of Dongola in ancient

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

. :Time: The time of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

The Nubian King Agorante, who is infatuated with Zoraide, has defeated her father, Ircano and captured her. Ricciardo, a Christian knight and Zoraide's lover, accompanies an emissary to plead for her release. Agorante's jealous wife, Zomira, arranges the capture of Ricciardo as well and plots to have the young lovers executed to protect her position as Queen. The opera ends with an army of Christian knights rescuing Ricciardo and Zoraide. Ricciardo spares Agorante's life.

Recordings

References

Notes Sources * *Farr, Robert
Recording review: ''Ricciardo e Zoraide''
Opera Rara, ''Music Web International''. * Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), "''Ricciardo e Zoraide''" in Holden, Amanda (ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam. * Osborne, Charles (1994), ''The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini'', London: Methuen; Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. *Osborne, Richard (1990), ''Rossini'', Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. *Osborne, Richard (1998), ''Ricciardo e Zoraide'', in

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

, (Ed.), ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', Vol. Three, p. 1312. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. *Osborne, Richard (2018)
Recording review: ''Rossini Ricciardo e Zoraide''

Gramophone (magazine) ''Gramophone'' (known as ''The Gramophone'' prior to 1970) is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who contin ...

. *Servadio, Gaia (2003), ''Rossini'', New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. *Steen, Michael and Richard Osborne, '' The Lives and Times of the Great Composers: His Life and Works'', Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 271–278. * Toye, Francis (re-issue 1987), ''Rossini: The Man and His Music'', Dover Publications, 1987.

External links

Libretto in Italian
Retrieved 13 December 2012 {{Authority control Operas by Gioachino Rossini Italian-language operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Teatro San Carlo Operas set in Africa 1818 operas