List of Italian Operas Set in the Crusades

Speranza Italian operas set against the background of the Italian participation in the mediaeval Crusades can be found in the earliest examples of the art form and continued to be written well into the 21st century. Many of the Italian operas listed here contain characters and plots based on real (but also 'fictional' or legendary) figures of the time such as Tancredi, Prince of Galilee, Godfrey of Bouillon or Jaufre Rudel. The majority of these Italian operas are set, at least in part, in the Holy Land (Gerusalemme) and the surrounding region and deal with the conflicts between the Christians and the heathens. Others, such as Donizetti's "Gabriella di Vergy", deal with the misadventures of knights RETURNING from the Crusades. In the case of Donizetti's "Gabriella di Vergy", Raoul de Coucy returns from the Third Crusade to find that his beloved Gabriella has married Lord Fayel. Following a duel, Fayel cuts out the heart of the unfortunate Raoul and presents it in an urn to Gabriella. The only comedy in the list, Rossini's "Il conte Ory", recounts the attempts by Ory and his friends to seduce the Countess of Formoutiers and the women of her household while their men are away at the Crusades. Ory's ploy of dressing up as nuns to gain access to the women is foiled when the Crusaders return. Many of the libretti for the Italian operas listed are based either directly or indirectly on Torquato Tasso's epic poem, "La Gerusalemme liberata", or on Voltaire's tragic play, Zaïre. Torquato Tasso's 1581 epic poem "La Gerusalemme liberata" and Voltaire's 1732 play, "Zaïre" were the sources for the majority of Italian operas in this list and are described in more detail below. Other literary works which have served as the basis for operas on the Crusades include: Niccolò Forteguerri's 1735 mock epic poem, "Il Ricciardetto" Dormont De Belloy's 1777 play, "Gabrielle de Vergy" Jean-Antoine-Marie Monperlier's 1813 play "Les Chevaliers de Malte" (The Knights of Malta) August von Kotzebue's 1820 play "The Crusaders" Sir Walter Scott's 1825 novel, The Talisman; Tommaso Grossi's 1826 epic poem "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" ---- At least one hundred operas have been inspired by Tasso's "La Gerusalemme liberata". Tasso began writing "La Gerusalemme liberata" while still a schoolboy and finished it in 1575 when he was thirty. The first complete editions were published in Parma and Ferrara in 1581. The main characters are a mixture of historical figures and ones invented by Tasso. Of the poem's main characters below, the invented "paladino Rinaldo" and "la maga Armida", are the most frequent operatic characters. The love story of Rinaldo and Amida, primarily recounted in Canto XVI, is one of the most famous episodes in La Gerusalemme liberata and has alone served as the theme for over fifty operas as well as many paintings. Apart from Tancredi, the historically based characters tend to have relatively minor roles in operas based on the poem. Goffredo is Godfrey of Bouillon, one of the military leaders of the First Crusade and later ruler of Jerusalem. (The original title of La Gerusalemme liberata was "Il Goffredo".) Pietro l'eremita is Peter the Hermit, the spiritual leader of The People's Crusade. Tancredi is Tancred, Prince of Galilee, a Norman knight who became the ruler of Galilee and Antioch. Tancredi and Gaston IV of Béarn claimed to be the first Crusaders to enter Gerusalemme when the city fell on 15 July 1099. In the poem, Tancredi falls in love with Clorinda and in turn is loved by both Clorinda and Erminia. Rinaldo is a valiant Christian knight. In the story, Rinaldo d'Este is an ancestor of the House of Este, a compliment paid to Tasso's patron Alfonso II d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara. Rinaldo shares the name (but NOT the identity) of an earlier Christian knight, Rinaldo (di Montalbano) who was a character in Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso" -- and who shared with Orlando a love for Angelica. After escaping Armida's enchantment, Rinaldo d'Este seeks penance on the Mount of Olives for having abandoned his Christian duty for love and participates in the final assault on Jerusalem. Armida is a beautiful highborn woman from Damasco and a sorceress. Her grandfather Idraote, the ruler of the city was also a sorcerer. Armida uses her beauty and her magic to enchant the Christian knights and sow discord amongst them. After spiriting Rinaldo away to her magic isle, they fall in love. When Rinaldo comes to his senses and leaves her to return to battle, she becomes suicidal. Her character has elements of both Homer's Circe and Ariosto's "Alcina". Erminia (fictional) is the daughter of the Muslim King of Antioch (Cassano) who was killed by the Crusaders when they conquered the city. Tancredi nevertheless treats her with honour and protects her, causing Erminia to fall in love with him. When Tancredi is wounded in battle and on the verge of death, she abandons her people and comes over to the Christian side, curing him with special herbs. Clorinda (fictional) is a warrior-princess, fighting on the side of the Muslims. Unbeknownst to her, she is actually the daughter of the Christian King of Ethiopia. She was born white, an extraordinary fact attributed to her having been conceived beneath a painting of Saint George. Fearing that the dark-skinned King would not believe this explanation, Clorinda's mother had the child taken to Egypt by her servant (Arsete), where she was raised a Muslim. Clorinda and Tancredi fall in love, but ultimately meet in battle during the final assault on Jerusalem, although they don't recognize each other beneath their armour. Clorinda is killed by Tancredi, and dying in his arms asks him to baptize her. Sofronia and Olindo (fictional) are young Christian lovers living in Jerusalem before its fall to the Crusaders. When the Muslim ruler of the city, Aladino, orders a persecution the Christians, they are sent for execution. Clorinda takes pity on them and rescues them as they are about to be burnt at the stake. Argante (fictional) is a hot-headed Saracen warrior and an emissary of the King of Egypt and King Aladino. He is eventually slain by Tancredi. Ismene (fictional) is a powerful sorceror in the service of King Aladino. At one point Ismene convinces Aladino to steal an icon of the Virgin Mary and hang it in a mosque, where he can cast a spell on it. Voltaire's "Zara" was given its first public performance on 13 August 1732 by the Comédie française at the Théâtre de la rue des Fossés Saint-Germain. It was a great success with the Paris audiences and marked a turning away from tragedies caused by a fatal flaw in the protagonist's character to ones based on pathos. The tragic fate of its heroine is caused not through any fault of her own, but by the jealousy of her lover and the intolerance of her fellow Christians. Voltaire ostensibly set the play in the "Epoch of Saint Louis". However, the plot and characters are largely fiction. The historical characters alluded to, members of the Lusignan and Châtillon families, were related to events of the Crusades but not alive at the time of Louis IX.[9] The characters' names in the original French are: Orosmane, (Osman) the Sultan of Jerusalem Zaïre, (Zara) a Christian slave kidnapped as a baby when Cesarea was sacked by the Muslim armies and the lover of Orosamane Nérestan, a French knight, and unbeknownst to Zaïre, her brother Lusignan, a descendant of the Christian princes of Jerusalem, now a prisoner of the Sultan and, unbeknownst to Zaïre, her father Fatime, (Fatima) a slave girl and Zaïre's friend Châtillon, a French knight and comrade of Nérestan Corasmin and Mélédor, officers of the Sultan Un esclave, an un-named slave The play's melodramatic plot and a setting that appealed to the orientalism in vogue in late 18th and early 19th century Europe made it popular with opera composers. Zaïre has been the inspiration for at least thirteen operas.[10] One of the earliest operatic adaptations was Peter Winter's Zaire which premiered in 1805 at The King's Theatre in London with the famous Italian contralto, Giuseppina Grassini, in the title role.[11] Bellini's 1829 Zaira, also based on the play, was expressly written for the inauguration of the Teatro Regio di Parma but was a failure on the opening night and has been rarely performed since then.[12] Johann Andreas Schachtner's libretto for Mozart's unfinished opera Zaïde, was based largely on a 1778 singspiel, The Seraglio, or The Unexpected Reunion of Father, Daughter and Son in Slavery. However, both appear to have been significantly influenced by the plot and themes of Zaïre which had been performed in Salzburg as late as 1777.[13] ---- The earliest work on this list, "Il Tancredi" by Girolamo Giacobbi, dates from 1615 when opera was still in its infancy and performed only in private palaces or court theatres. During this period operas co-existed with other forms of music drama which featured virtuoso singing – the intermedio (a short spectacle performed between the acts of a play with its own story-line) and the madrigale concertato (literally "concerted madrigal", a dramatic composition for voices and instruments, often performed semi-staged). Several works in those genres were also based on Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata, including: A set of intermedi composed by Cesare Marotta on the imprisonment, enchantment and liberation of Rinaldo (first performed in Rome in 1612) Giovanni Rovetta's Le lagrime di Erminia (published in 1629) [15] Monteverdi's, Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (first performed in Venice in 1624) [16] Domenico Mazzocchi's Olindo e Sofronia (published in 1637) [17] The operas below are listed in chronological order by the date of their first performance. Where this is unavailable, or the opera premiered many years after the composer's death, the date of composition is given.[18] "Il Tancredi", 1615, Bologna, composed by Girolamo Giacobbi; libretto by Rodolfo Campeggi, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Rinaldo innamorato" (1623, Florence)[19] composed by Francesca Caccini; libretto after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata (music lost) "Erminia sul Giordano" (1633, Rome) composed by Michelangelo Rossi; libretto by Giulio Rospigliosi, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Rinaldo ed Armida" 1639, Venice composed by Benedetto Ferrari; libretto by Benedetto Ferrari, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "L'Amore trionfante dello sdegno" (1641, Ferrara) composed by Marco Marazzoli; libretto after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Rinaldo ed Armida" (1686, Paris) composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully; libretto by Philippe Quinault, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "La Gerusalemme liberata da Rinaldo" (1687, Venice) Composed by Carlo Pallavicino; libretto by Vincenzo Grimani and Girolamo Frisari, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Gli avvenimenti di Erminia e di Clorinda" (1693, Venice) composed by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo; libretto by Giulio Cesare Corradi, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata (music lost) "Gli amori e incanti di Rinaldo con Armida" 1694, Rovigo. Composed by Teofilo Orgiani. Libretto by Giralomo Colatelli, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata (music lost) "Tancredi" 1702, Paris Composed by André Campra; libretto by Antoine Danchet, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Armida abbandonata" (1707, Venice) composed by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri; libretto by Francesco Silvani, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Armida al campo" (1708, Venice) composed by Giuseppe Boniventi; libretto by Francesco Silvani after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Rinaldo" (1711, London) composed by George Frideric Handel; libretto by Giacomo Rossi after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Armida regina di Damasco" (1711, Verona) composed by Teofilo Orgiani (music lost) "Armida in Damasco" (1711, Venice) composed by Giacomo Rampini; libretto by Grazio Braccioli "Armida al campo d'Egitto" (1718, Venice) composed by Antonio Vivaldi; libretto by Giovanni Palazzi, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "La Gerusalemme liberata da Rinaldo; ossia, Armida e Rinaldo" "Das eroberte Jerusalem, oder Armida und Rinaldo" (1722, Braunschweig) composed by Georg Caspar Schurmann; libretto by Johann Samuel Müller, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida abbandonata (1725, Prague) composed by Antonio Bioni; libretto by Francesco Silvani, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida al campo (1726, Breslau) composed by Antonio Bioni; libretto by Francesco Silvani, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Il trionfo di Armida (1726, Venice) composed by Tomaso Albinoni; libretto by Girolamo Colatelli, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata[21] L'abbandono di Armida (1729, Venice) composed by Antonio Pollarolo; libretto by Giovanni Boldini, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida (1751, Berlin) composed by Carl Heinrich Graun; libretto by Leopoldo di Villati, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata L'Armida aplacada (1750, Madrid) composed by Giovanni Battista Mele; libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida (1761, Vienna) composed by Tommaso Traetta; libretto by Giacomo Durazzo after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida abbandonata (1770, Naples) composed by Niccolò Jommelli; libretto by Francesco Saverio De Rogatis, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida (1771, Vienna) composed by Antonio Salieri; libretto by Marco Coltellini after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armide (1777, Paris) composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck; libretto by Philippe Quinault, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata "Rinaldo ed Armida" 1777, Venice Composed by Gennaro Astarita; libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca and Giacomo Durazzo, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Armida (1780, Milan) composed by Josef Mysliveček; libretto by Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca after Philippe Quinault Armida (1784, Eszterháza) composed by Joseph Haydn; librettist unknown, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata ---- Richard Coeur-de-lion (1784, Paris) composed by André Grétry; libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine, based on Richard I of England, a central commander in the Third Crusade "Sofronia ed Olindo" (1793, Naples) composed by Gaetano Andreozzi; libretto by Carlo Sernicola, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Zaira (1797, Venice) composed by Sebastiano Nasolini; libretto by Mattia Butturini, after Voltaire's Zaïre La Zaira (1802, Lisbon) composed by Marcos Antônio Portugal; libretto by Mattia Butturini, after Voltaire's Zaïre Zaira ossia Il trionfo della religione composed by Vincenzo Federici; libretto by Mattia Butturini, after Voltaire's Zaïre Zaira (1805) composed by Peter Winter; libretto by Filippo Pananti, after Voltaire's Zaïre Gabriella di Vergy (1816, Naples) composed by Michele Carafa; libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy. Fayel (1817, Florence) composed by Carlo Coccia; libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy. "Rinaldo ed Armida" GLI AMORI E INCANTI DI RINALDO CON ARMIDA. 1817, Naples) composed by Gioaccino Rossini; libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818, Naples) composed by Gioachino Rossini; libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa, after Niccolò Forteguerri's epic poem, Il Ricciardetto [22] Pietro l'eremita (1822, London) composed by Gioachino Rossini; libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, a version of Rossini's Mosè in Egitto with the plot changed to one based on Peter the Hermit [23] Il crociato in Egitto (1824, Venice) composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer; libretto by Gaetano Rossi, after Jean-Antoine-Marie Monperlier's Les Chevaliers de Malte set in the Sixth Crusade.[24] Gabriella di Vergy (1826, first performed 1869, Naples) composed by Gaetano Donizetti; libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy.[25] Le comte Ory (1828, Paris) composed by Gioacchino Rossini; libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson [26] Gabriella di Vergy (1828, Lisbon) composed by Saverio Mercadante; libretto by Antonio Profumo, based on the tragedy Gabrielle de Vergy (1777) by Dormont De Belloy Zaira (1829, Parma) composed by Vincenzo Bellini; libretto by Felice Romani, after Voltaire's Zaïre Zaira (1829) composed by Alessandro Gandini; libretto by Felice Romani, after Voltaire's Zaïre Il talismano, ovvero La terza crociata in Palestina (1829, Milan) composed by Giovanni Pacini; libretto by Gaetano Barbieri, after Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Talisman Der Templer und die Jüdin (The Templar and the Jewess) (1829, Leipzig) composed by Heinrich August Marschner, libretto by Wilhelm August Wohlbrück, after Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe Zaira (1831, Naples) composed by Saverio Mercadante; libretto by Felice Romani, after Voltaire's Zaïre Emma d'Antiochia (1834, Venice) composed by Saverio Mercadante; libretto by Felice Romani [27] I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843, Milan) composed by Giuseppe Verdi; libretto by Temistocle Solera, after Tommaso Grossi's 1829 epic poem of the same name [28] Die Kreuzfahrer (The Crusaders) (1844, Cassel) composed by Louis Spohr; libretto by Louis Spohr, after August von Kotzebue's play of the same name [29] Richard en Palestine (1844, Paris) composed by Adolphe Adam; libretto by Paul Foucher based on Richard I of England in the Third Crusade [30] Zaira (1845, Modena) composed by Antonio Mami; libretto by Felice Romani, after Voltaire's Zaïre Jérusalem (1847, Paris) composed by Giuseppe Verdi; libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz [31] Aroldo (1857, Rimini) composed by Giuseppe Verdi; libretto by Francesco Maria Piave [32] Il talismano (1874, London) composed by Michael Balfe as The Knight of the Leopard and completed after his death by Michael Costa; libretto by Giuseppe Zaffira after Sir Walter Scott's novel, The Talisman Zaïre (1887, Lille) composed by Charles Edouard Lefebvre; libretto by Paul Collin, after Voltaire's Zaïre Zaïre (1890, Paris), composed by Paul Véronge de la Nux; libretto by Édouard Blau and Louis Besson, after Voltaire's Zaïre "Flammen" 1902, Vienna. Composed by Franz Schreker; libretto by Dora Leen "Rinaldo ed Armida" 1904, Prague Composed by Antonín Dvořák; libretto by Jaroslav Vrchlický, after Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata [33] "Castle Agrazant" (1929, Cincinnati) composed by Ralph Lyford; libretto by Ralph Lyford set in the aftermath of the Ninth Crusade "L'amour de loin" (2000, Salzburg) composed by Kaija Saariaho; libretto by Amin Maalouf, loosely based on the life of the troubador, Jaufre Rudel, who died during the Second Crusade [35] "Rinaldo ed Armida" 2005, Channel 4 television. Composed by Judith Weir; libretto by Judith Weir, loosely based on Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata [36] The Children's Crusade (2009, Toronto) composed by R. Murray Schafer; libretto by R. Murray Schafer, based on the 13th century Children's Crusade [37] [edit] Notes and references 1.^ The real Raoul de Coucy is believed to have died in the Siege of Acre 2.^ De Belloy's play derives in turn from a series of medieval legends, most notably the 13th century Roman du châtelan de Courcy et de la dame de Fayel by Jakemon Sakesep and has no basis in historical fact. 3.^ Siberry (2003) p. 288 4.^ The source for the character descriptions is Tasso (2000) 5.^ Jellinek (1994) p. 354 6.^ See for example, Boucher's Renaud et Armide, Bellucci's Rinaldo e Armida, Poussin's Renaud et Armide, Conca's Rinaldo e Armida, Fragonard's Rinaldo in the Garden of Armida, and multiple treatments of the subject by Tiepolo. 7.^ Note that this is not the same person as the title character in Rossini's 1813 opera Tancredi. Rossini's opera is based on Voltaire's 1759 play, Tancrède, which is set in Syracuse during the years leading up to the First Crusade. See Jellinek (1994) p. 61 8.^ For more on the parallels drawn between sexual jealousy and religious fanaticism in the play, see Weber (2004) 9.^ Pike (1936) pp. 436–439 10.^ Carlson (1998) p. 44 11.^ Stafford (1830) p. 330 12.^ Casaglia (2005) 13.^ Gutman (2001) p. 487 14.^ Hill (1997) pp. 258–260 15.^ Whenham pp. 135–136 16.^ Smither (1977) p. 158 17.^ Rolland (1915/1977) p. 67 18.^ The chief source for the 17th and early 18th century operas is the Nordisk Netværk For Tidlig Musikdramatik, supplemented by Selfridge-Field (2007) and Sonneck and Schatz (1914). Unless indicated otherwise, the source for the later operas is Casaglia. 19.^ Badolato (2007) pp. 29–30 (Note 60) 20.^ The work was later performed under variations of this title (1698, Treviso and Udine) as well under the title L'onor al cimento (1702/3, Venice). See Selfridge-Field (2007) p. 255 21.^ Selfridge-Field (2007) p. 390 22.^ Osborne (2007) pp. 271–272 23.^ London's distaste for staged biblical operas at the time, led to the change of plot. For more on the differences between Pietro l'eremita and Mosè in Egitto and its critical reception, see Siberry (2003) pp. 289–290 24.^ Le Tellier (2006) p. 88 25.^ Holden (2001) p. 227 26.^ Osborne (2007) pp. 106–107 27.^ Thicknesse (28 October 2003) 28.^ Budden (1992) p. 114 29.^ Grove (1900) p. 660 30.^ Hubbard and Krehbiel (2004) p. 414 31.^ Partly translated and adapted from Solera's libretto for Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata. See Budden (1992) p. 135 32.^ Aroldo was a reworking and expansion of Verdi and Piave's 1850 Stiffelio. Both share the plot of a man returning from a long journey to find that his wife has been unfaithful. The mid-19th century Protestant minister, Stiffelio, became Aroldo (Harold), an English knight returning from the Crusades. See Holden (2001) pp. 997–998 33.^ Charlton (2003) p. 381. 34.^ *Teasdale (1938) p. 221 35.^ Iitti (2002) pp. 9–14 36.^ Jeffries (1 December 2005) 37.^ The world premiere of The Children's Crusade took place on 5 June 2009 during Toronto's Luminato Festival. See Sound Streams, who co-commissioned the opera with the Luminato Festival. Sources Badolato, Nicola, I drammi musicali di Giovanni Faustini per Francesco Cavalli, Doctoral Thesis, University of Bologna, 2007. Accessed 18 September 2009 Bourne, Joyce and Kennedy, Michael, Who's Who in Opera: A Guide to Opera Characters, Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-280054-X. (Accessed online at www.answers.com 16 May 2009.) Budden, Julian, The Operas of Verdi: From Oberto to Rigoletto, Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-19-816261-8 Carlson, Marvin A., Voltaire and the Theatre of the Eighteenth Century, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998. ISBN 0-313-30302-9 Casaglia, Gherardo, "Zaïre", "Tasso", Almanacco Amadeus (in Italian). Accessed 16 May 2009. Charlton, David, The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 381. ISBN 0-521-64683-9 Grove, George (ed.), A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (A.D. 1450–1889) Vol. 3, Macmillan & Co., London, 1900. Gutman, Robert W., Mozart: A Cultural Biography, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001. ISBN 0-15-601171-9 Hill, John Walter, Roman monody, cantata, and opera from the circles around Cardinal Montalto, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-816613-3 Holden, Amanda, (ed.) The New Penguin Opera Guide, Penguin Putnam, 2001 ISBN 0-14-051475-9 Iitti, Sanna, "L'amour de loin: Kaija Saariaho's first opera", Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music, 8 , 2002, nos 1–2, pp. 9–14. Accessed 16 May 2009. Jeffries, Stuart, "Desert bloom", The Guardian, 1 December 2005. Accessed 18 May 2009. Jellinek, George, History through the opera glass: from the rise of Caesar to the fall of Napoleon, Pro/Am Music Resources, 1994. ISBN 0-912483-90-3 Le Tellier, Robert Ignatius, The operas of Giacomo Meyerbeer, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2006. ISBN 0-8386-4093-1 Nordisk Netværk For Tidlig Musikdramatik, "Early Operas 1590–1690" (sourced from Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy). Accessed 16 May 2009. Osborne, Richard, Rossini: his life and works, Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-19-518129-8 Pike, Robert E., "Fact and Fiction in Zaïre", Proceedings of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Jun., 1936), pp. 436–439 Pirrotta, Nino and Povoledo, Elena, Music and theatre from Poliziano to Monteverdi, Cambridge University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-521-23259-7 ******************* Polidoro, Federigo, Chapter V. "Il Tasso e le composizioni musicali ispirate dalle sue opere", Torquato Tasso (Bartolommeo Capasso (ed.), Francesco Giannini & Figli, 1895 Rolland, Romain, Some Musicians of Former Days (originally published 1915), Ayer Publishing, 1977. ISBN 0-8369-0831-7 Selfridge-Field, Eleanor, A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660–1760, Stanford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8047-4437-8 Siberry, Elizabeth, "Nineteenth century perspectives on the First Crusade" in Marcus Graham Bull and Norman Housley (eds.) The Experience of Crusading, Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-81168-6 Smither, Howard E., A history of the oratorio, UNC Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8078-1274-9 Sonneck, Oscar and Schatz, Albert, Catalogue of opera librettos printed before 1800, Library of Congress (Music Division), 1914. Accessed 16 May 2009. Stafford, William C., A History of Music, Constable & Co., 1830 Tasso, Torquato, Jerusalem delivered (La Gerusalemme liberata translated and annotated by Anthony M. Esolen), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8018-6323-6 Teasdale, May Silva, 20th Century Opera at Home & Abroad: 1900 through Season 1937–1938, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1938, p. 221. Thicknesse, Robert, "Emma d'Antiochia", The Times, 28 October 2003. Accessed 16 May 2009. Weber, Caroline, "Voltaire's Zaïre: Fantasies of Infidelity, Ideologies of Faith", South Central Review, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Summer, 2004), pp. 42–62 Whenham, John, "Aria in the Madrigals of Giovanni Rovetta" in Iain Fenlon and Tim Carter (eds.), Con che soavità: studies in Italian opera, song, and dance, 1580–1740, Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-19-816370-3 [edit] External links La Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso in the original Italian (full text) Jerusalem Delivered an English translation by Edward Fairfax (edited by Henry Morley) of Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata, The Colonial Press, 1901 (full text) Zaïre by Voltaire in the original French (full text) Zara: A Tragedy, an English translation and adaptation by Aaron Hill of Voltaire's Zaïre, John Bell, 1797 (full text) [show] v · t · e Opera lists · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · View page ratings Rate this page What's this? 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