Ricciardo e Zoraide (Ricciardo and Zoraide) is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio di Salsa. The text is based on cantos XIV and XV of Il Ricciardetto, an epic poem by Niccolò Forteguerri.Richard Osborne, "Ricciardo e Zoraide," Grove Music Online (article revised 2002), accessed 13 May 2019.
Performance history Ricciardo e Zoraide was first performed at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 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 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 RoleVoice typePremiere Cast, 3 December 1818(Conductor: Nicola Festa )Agorante, King of Nubia, infatuated with ZoraidetenorAndrea NozzariZomira, wife of AgorantecontraltoBenedetta Rosmunda PisaroniZamorre, confidant of AgorantetenorGaetano ChizzolaElmira, confidant of Zomiramezzo-sopranoRaffaella de BernardisIrcano, a Middle Eastern princebassMichele BenedettiZoraide, daughter of Ircano, in love with RicciardosopranoIsabella ColbranRicciardo, a Christian paladin knight, in love with ZoraidetenorGiovanni DavidFatima, confidant of Zoraidemezzo-sopranoMaria ManziErnesto, friend of Ricciardo, Christian camp ambassador, tenorGiuseppe Ciccimarra
Synopsis Place: the city of Dongola in ancient Nubia. Time: The time of the Crusades
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 YearCast:Agorante, Zoraide, Ricciardo, Zomira, Ircano Conductor,Opera House and OrchestraLabel: Recordings of Ricciardo e Zoraide on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk1990Bruce Ford,June Anderson,William Matteuzzi, Gloria Scalchi, Giovanni FurlanettoRiccardo Chailly, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Prague Philharmonic ChorusVHS Video: Bel Canto SocietyCat: #6191995 Bruce Ford,Nelly Miricioiu,William Matteuzzi, Della Jones,Alastair Miles David Parry,Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Geoffrey Mitchell ChoirAudio CD: Opera RaraCat: ORC 142018 Randall Bills,Alessandra Marianelli,Maxim Mironov,Silvia Beltrami,Nahuel di Pierro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra,Virtuosi Brunensis and the Camerata Bach Choir of Poznań2019Sergey Romanovsky,Pretty Yende,Juan Diego Flórez,Victoria Yarovaya,Nicola UlivieriGiacomo Sagripanti,Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI,Marshall Pynkoski, stage directorDVD:C MajorCat: 752704
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, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Three, p. 1312. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. Osborne, Richard (2018), Recording review: Rossini Ricciardo e Zoraide, Gramophone (magazine). 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