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Ciro in Babilonia, ossia La caduta di Baldassare
Azione sacra by Gioachino Rossini
Set design by Alessandro Sanquirico at La Scala, 1818
Librettist	Francesco Aventi
Language	Italian
Premiere	14 March 1812 (1812-03-14) Teatro Comunale, Ferrara

Ciro in Babilonia, ossia La caduta di Baldassare (Cyrus in Babylon, or The Downfall of Belshazzar) is an azione sacra in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Francesco Aventi. It was first performed at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara during Lent, 1812. The exact date of the premiere is unknown but is believed to be 14 March. During Lent it was the custom for Italian opera houses either to close or to stage works on themes from the Bible. Ciro in Babilonia is one of two Lenten operas by Rossini (along with Mosè in Egitto) and is based on the Biblical story of the overthrow of the Babylonian king Belshazzar by the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great.

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.

Roles

Synopsis

Time: 539 B.C.

Place: Babylon

https://www.rossinioperafestival.it/en/stories/ciro-in-babilonia/

Recordings

References

Notes

1. Gossett and Brauner 2001, p. 768
2. Mike Silverman, "Review: US premiere for Rossini opera at Caramoor", San Francisco Chronicle, 9 July 2012 online at sfgate.com. Retrieved 10 July 2012
3. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Ciro in Babilonia". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
4. Osborne, Charles 1996, p. 16
5. Recordings of Ciro in Babilonia on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
6. "Gioacchino Rossini: Ciro in Babilonia". Recording details and review (in French) on concertonet.com 9 December 2013

Sources

• Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), "Ciro in Babilonia", in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
• Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-71-3
• Osborne, Richard (1998), "Ciro in Babilonia", in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One, p. 873. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5

External links

• Libretto in Italian Retrieved 13 December 2012

• 1812 operas
• Cultural depictions of Belshazzar
• Cultural depictions of Cyrus the Great
• Operas
• Italian-language operas
• Operas by Gioachino Rossini
• Operas based on the Bible
• Works set in the 6th century BC
• Babylon in fiction