Ciro in Babilonia

Performance history#

In a concert form, the work’s UK premiere took place on 30 January 1823 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. The quasi-opera premiered in the United States on 7 July 2012 at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts as part of the Festival, starring contralto Ewa Podleś in the title role, tenor Michael Spyres as Baldassare (Belshazzar), and soprano Jessica Pratt as Amira, with Will Crutchfield conducting. Performances with the same principal singers opened in a more elaborate staging on 10 August 2012 at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro.

Synopsis#

:Time: 539 B.C. :Place: Babylon https://www.rossinioperafestival.it/en/stories/ciro-in-babilonia/ The plot of “Ciro in Babilonia” concerns the events, drawn from the Bible, surrounding the invasion of Babylon by Ciro (Cyrus), king of Persia. During the fighting, Ciro’s wife, Amira, and their son are captured by Baldassare (Belshazzar), king of Babylon. Under a plan hatched by Arbace, Ciro’s general, Ciro disguises himself as an ambassador to the Babylonians, so as to embed himself in Baldassare’s court and plot the release of his wife and son. After a series of tribulations and plot twists (including divine intervention), Baldassare is defeated, and in triumph, Ciro is joyfully reunited with his wife and son.

References#

Notes Sources *Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), “Ciro in Babilonia”, in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. *Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. *Osborne, Richard (1998), “Ciro in Babilonia”, in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One, p. 873. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc.

External links#

• Libretto in Italian Retrieved 13 December 2012