Torquato Tasso is a melodramma

Melodramma

Melodramma is an Italian term for opera, used in a much narrower sense by English writers to discuss developments in the early 19th century Italian libretto...

 semiseria, or 'semi-serious' 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 three acts by Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

 and based on the life of the great poet Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...

. The 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...

 was written by Jacopo Ferretti

Jacopo Ferretti

Jacopo Ferretti was an Italian writer, poet and opera librettist.He is most famous for having supplied the libretti for two operas by Rossiniand for five operas by Donizetti....

, who used a number of sources for his text, including works by Giovanni Rosini, Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

, Goldoni

Carlo Goldoni

Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...

, and Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...

 as well as Tasso's actual poetry. It premiered on September 9, 1833 at the Teatro Valle

Teatro Valle

The Teatro Valle is a theatre and former opera house in Rome, Italy.Commissioned by the Capranica family, the architect Tommaso Morelli designed the theatre which was built in 1726. It was inaugurated with the staging of the tragedy Matilde by Simon Falconio Pratoli...

, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

The work has been criticized for "its odd deployment of vocal types" characteristic of the semiseria genre.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 9 September 1833 (Conductor: - )
Eleonora, Duke Alfonso's sister	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...	Adelina Spech
Eleonora, Countess of Scandiano	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...	Angiolina Carocci
Torquato Tasso	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Giorgio Ronconi Giorgio Ronconi Giorgio Ronconi was an Italian operatic baritone celebrated for his brilliant acting and compelling stage presence. In 1842, he created the title-role in Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco at La Scala, Milan.-Career:...
Roberto Geraldini, the duke's secretary	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...	Antonio Poggi Antonio Poggi Antonio Poggi was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international career from 1827-1848. He is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of operas by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi...
Don Gherardo	bass	Ferdinando Lauretti
Ambrogio, Torquato's servant	tenor	Luigi Garofalo
Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara	bass	Antonio Rinaldi
Pages, knights

Recordings

Year	Cast (Torquato Tasso, Eleanore d'Este, Roberto, Don Gherhardo)	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1974	Christian du Plessis Christian du Plessis Christian du Plessis is a South African baritone, largely based in England, and particularly associated with the bel canto repertory.... , Janet Price Janet Price Janet Price is a Welsh soprano particularly associated with the 19th century Italian bel canto repertory. She has been married to composer Adrian Beaumont since 1963.... , Bruce Brewer, Andrea Snarski	Kenneth Montgomery, Opera Rara Orchestra and Chorus (Recording of a performance in the Collegiate Theatre, London as part of the Camden Festival on 27 February and 1 and 2 March)	Audio CD: Celestial Audio Cat: CA 247
1985	Simone Alaimo Simone Alaimo Simone Alaimo is an Italian bass-baritone. He is particularly known for his performances of the bel canto repertoire.... , Luciana Serra Luciana Serra Luciana Serra is an Italian soprano.-Debuts:Serra made her international debut in 1966 at the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest, but did not achieve general acclaim until the late 1970s, when she took on coloratura roles in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's La sonnambula... , Ernesto Palacio Ernesto Palacio Ernesto Palacio is a Peruvian tenor, particularly associated with Rossini and Mozart roles.Palacio first studied theology before turning to music... , Roberto Coviello	Massimo De Bernart Orchestra and chorus of Teatro Comunale, Genova	Audio CD: Bongiovanni Cat: GB 2028/0-2