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Ricciardo e Zoraide

Dramma in two acts by
FRANCESCO BERIO DI SALSA

First performance:
Naples – Teatro San Carlo
3 December 1818

Critical Edition by
FEDERICO AGOSTINELLI
and
GABRIELE GRAVAGNA

FONDAZIONE ROSSINI PESARO 1990
[rental only]

CHARACTERS:
AGORANTE, King of Nubia, tenor, unrequited lover of
ZORAIDE, daughter of Ircano, lover of Ricciardo, paladin, soprano
RICCIARDO, paladin, lover of Zoraide, tenor
IRCANO, powerful lord of a part of Nubia, bass
ZOMIRA, wife of Agorante, rival of Zoraide, contralto
ERNESTO, ambassador from the Christian camp, friend of Ricciardo, tenor
FATIMA, confidante of Zoraide, soprano
ELMIRA, confidante of Zomira, soprano
ZAMORRE, confidant of Agorante, tenor
Mixed chorus of harem guards, Zomira's serving-women, noblemen of Agorante's court, warriors in Ricciardo's service, Agorante's soldiers, populace

The scene is in Dongala, capital of Nubia

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes/Piccolo, 2 Oboes/English Horn, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Bass Drum, Triangle, Harp, Strings. Onstage: Band
Performance time: 3h

Based on an 18th-c. mock-epic poem (Ricciardetto by Niccolò Forteguerri), the opera's plot centers around the love of Agorante, king of Nubia, for his captive Zoraide, daughter of an Asian prince; she in turn loves the Christian knight Ricciardo, who comes to rescue her. A further complication is provided in Agorante's repudiated wife, Zomira. Rossini exploited the resulting abundance of lyrical and dramatic opportunities in a series of exquisite numbers that were thoroughly appreciated by his contemporaries. Ensembles dominate the work, and local color is provided through the use of an offstage orchestra as well as Rossini's first use of a stage band.

The critical edition restores to the public this opera that a Neapolitan reviewer praised as returning, after the "Germanic" experiment of the previous years' Elisabetta, Otello, and Armida, to a more Italianate style of form, vocal writing, and orchestration.

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