- Rossini’s Tancredi premiered in February 1813 at the Teatro La Felice in Venice.1
- Tancredi is based on Voltaire’s 5-act tragedy Tancrède.2
- Although Tancredi is technically an opera seria, in this opera Rossini brought new life to that rather stilted genre by injecting drama and contrast into individual movements (rather than having characters just stand and sing one mood per aria, as in old-school opera seria.)3
- Story: set in 11th C. Syracuse, the opera follows the tragic adventures of the ill-fated crusading knight Tancredi and his lover Amenaide. (convoluted synopsis available here)4
Sources
- Philip Gossett and Richard Osborne, “Rossini, Gioachino (opera),” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed January 9, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000004337.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Richard Osborne, “Tancredi,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed January 9, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000005711.
Cut IDs
11132, 40888