Semiramide HD Live from the Met will be featured Saturday, March 10 at the Salmar Classic.
Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) was the world’s foremost opera composer of his day. Semiramide is the culmination of the Italian phase of his monumental career. He had already produced such immortal comedies as Il Barbiere di Siviglia and l’Italiana in Algeri but in the early 19th century he was celebrated above all else for his tragedies — none more so than Semiramide which had its world premiere in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice in1823. For decades this opera swept through the music capitals of Europe and beyond, enthralling audiences with its urgent, transcendentally beautiful use of melody, undeniably exhilarating drama, and most importantly, astonishing vocal displays.
Gaetano Rossi (1774 – 1855) wrote the opera libretto based on the French play Semiramis by Voltaire. The setting is in ancient Babylon, now modern-day Iraq, a kingdom, which flourished between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. Historians have surmised that the figure of Semmiraminis may be based on the regent Sammuramat who reigned 810 to 805 BC. While the opera includes a handful of local details for colour, including the legendary Hanging Gardens, Rossini and Rossi were more concerned with establishing a feeling of legend and wonder than presenting any true historical accuracy.
The music of Semiramide highlights Rossini’s style—magnificent and difficult vocalism, irresistible melody, buoyant energy and his famous mastery of rhythm. In the justly famous duets, especially those between the Queen and Arsace, subtle rhythmic changes and pulsing melodic figures illustrate the characters’ emerging realizations. The towering ensembles, such as the extended Act I finale, are proof of the vast musical conception Rossini realized in this opera.
The Met’s stellar cast features soprano Angela Meade as the Queen; mezzo Soprano Elizabeth De Shong in the trouser role of Arsace and baritone Ildar Abdrazakov as Assur
Start time at the Salmar Classic is 9:55 a.m.
-Submitted by Gabriele Klein
