Composers: Rossini
Compositions: Zelmira
Performers: Silvia Dalla Benetta s, Joshua Stewart t, Mert Süngü t, Marina Comparato ms, Federico Sacchi b, Luca dall’Amico b-bar, Gianluigi Gelmetti cond, Górecki Chamber Choir, Virtuosi Brunensis
Catalogue Number: Naxos 8660468-70

The last opera Rossini ever created for Naples was written in the hope that it would boost the composer’s profile in Vienna, where he had been promised performances. This hope accounts for the marriage of “Italian” melody and “German” harmony in Zelmira, a thoroughly entertaining tragedy about a woman, the eponymous Zelmira, who endeavours to rescue her father, the king, and her son, from usurpers of the throne. This recording from...