Librettist: Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca
Dramma per musica in three acts
Date: 1757 (1768 rev.)
Language: Italian
Large-scale
Solimano: tenor
Selimo: alto
Persane: soprano
Barsina: soprano
Zanghire: soprano
Osmino: tenor
Chorus
Sultan Solimano sends his firstborn son, Selimo, and his younger half-brother, Zanghire, to command the Ottoman army against the Persian Shah Tamasse. After victory, Selimo is to marry Tamasse’s daughter, Persane, uniting the empires under his rule as Solimano’s heir. Meanwhile, behind the scenes of the action, Solimano’s wife Roxelane, mother of Zanghire, and the Grand Vizier Rustano conspire to sow doubts about Selimo’s loyalty, aiming to favour Zanghire in the succession to the throne.
With the war won, the engagement of Selimo and Persane is announced, which is to bring peace and prosperity. Solimano travels to Babylon accompanied by Osmino, commander of his personal guard, and his sister Barsina, Zanghire’s betrothed. The intrigue intensifies as Roxelane and Rustano spread rumours about Selimo’s ambition, testing the relationship between the brothers and the sultan’s trust.
In Babylon, Zanghire discovers the conspiracy and confronts Rustano, killing him. The truth frees Selimo from suspicion, leading to reconciliation with Solimano. The opera ends happily with the marriages of Selimo to Persane and of Zanghire to Barsina, celebrating loyalty over intrigue and ensuring a stable succession.
Ob | Bsn | Tpt | Hn | Vln | Vla | Vc | Cb | Cemb¹
Score: Bibl. del Cons. di Musica S. Pietro a Majella
The first version of the opera Solimano premiered in the Carnival of 1757 and the second version, which is today the most widely disseminated, was commissioned on the occasion of the 50th birthday celebrations of Mariana Vitória of Spain and presented on March 31, 1768, at the Teatro da Ajuda. Considered the composer’s dramatic masterpiece, this version incorporates more concerted scenes and a juxtaposition of comic and serious elements that results in greater formal flexibility, dramatic contrasts, and a more fluid and dynamic narrative.²
Date: 1757/1768
Venue: Teatro da Ajuda, Lisboa, or Teatro de Salvaterra de Magos³
Cast: Luigi Torriani, Giuseppe Jozzi, Gio. Battista Vasques, Giuseppe Orti, Lorenzo Maruzzi and Lorenzo Giorgetti
