Ricciardo e Zoraide is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Francesco Berio de 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

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

, on 3 December 1818.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, December 3, 1818 (Conductor: Nicola Festa )
Agorante, King of Nubia, infatuated with Zoraide	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Andrea Nozzari Andrea Nozzari Andrea Nozzari was an Italian tenor.Nozzari was born in Vertova and studied in Bergamo and Rome. He is notable for the principal roles written for him by Gioachino Rossini and mostly premiered in Domenico Barbaia's theatres in Naples...
Zomira, wife of Agorante	contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...	Benedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni Benedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni Benedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni was an Italian soprano who later became a contralto.Active on the operatic stage from 1811 to 1831, she suffered of smallpox in the early years of her career which caused a change in her extended vocal range.Appearing in Bergamo, Padua, Bologna, Venice, Milan, Rome and...
Zamorre, confidant of Agorante	tenor	Gaetano Chizzola
Elmira, confidant of Zomira	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Raffaella de Bernardis
Ircano, a Nubian prince	bass	Michele Benedetti Michele Benedetti Michele Benedetti was an Italian bass particularly associated with Rossini roles.-Career:...
Zoraide, daughter of Ircano, in love with Ricciardo	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Isabella Colbran Isabella Colbran Isabella Colbran was a Spanish opera singer, who was known in her native country as Isabel Colbrandt. Many sources note her as a dramatic coloratura soprano but, some believe that she was a mezzo-soprano with a high extension, a soprano sfogato...
Ricciardo, a Christian paladin knight, in love with Zoraide	tenor	Giovanni David Giovanni David Giovanni David was an Italian tenor particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas....
Fatima, confidant of Zoraide	mezzo-soprano	Maria Manzi
Ernesto, friend of Ricciardo, Christian camp ambassador,	tenor	Giuseppe Ciccimarra Giuseppe Ciccimarra Giuseppe Ciccimarra was an Italian tenor, closely associated with Rossini roles.-Career:Ciccimarra was born in Altamura...

Synopsis

Place: the city of Dongola

Dongola

Dongola , also spelled Dunqulah, and formerly known as Al 'Urdi, is the capital of the state of Northern in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, an ancient city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank....

 in ancient Nubia

Nubia

Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...

.

Time: The time of the Crusades

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

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

Year	Cast: Agorante, Zoraide, Ricciardo, Zomira Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label:
1990	Bruce Ford, June Anderson June Anderson June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize... , William Matteuzzi William Matteuzzi William Matteuzzi is an Italian operatic tenor renowned for his impressive vocal range and prominent upper register, reaching a high F in full voice., which enabled him to participate in the recent revival of the tenore contraltino repertoire... . Gloria Scalchi	Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor. He started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music.-Biography:... , Orchestra and Chorus unknown	VHS Video: Bel Canto Society Cat: #619
1995	Bruce Ford, Nelly Miricioiu Nelly Miricioiu Nelly Miricioiu is a British operatic soprano of Romanian birth, one of the most versatile artists of recent years, singing a large repertoire ranging from bel canto to verismo with equal success.-Biography:... , William Matteuzzi William Matteuzzi William Matteuzzi is an Italian operatic tenor renowned for his impressive vocal range and prominent upper register, reaching a high F in full voice., which enabled him to participate in the recent revival of the tenore contraltino repertoire... , Della Jones Della Jones Della Jones , is a Welsh mezzo-soprano, particularly well-known for her interpretations of works by Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, and Britten.-Life and career:Della Jones was born in Tonna, near Neath, Wales...	David Parry David Parry (conductor) David Parry is an English conductor who is particularly known for his work within the field of opera. Described as "a man of the theatre with whom directors love to work; he is good with singers; he knows the British opera world like the back of his hand... , Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir	Audio CD: Opera Rara Opera Rara Opera Rara is a British record label, founded in the early 1970s by Americans Patric Schmid and Don White to promote concerts of rare and/or forgotten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Donizetti and such other "bel canto" composers as Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, and Federico Ricci.The... Cat: ORC 14

External links

• Italian libretto at Karadar.com