A rarely performed bel canto masterpiece, Gioachino Rossini's Semiramide will be presented in Bulgaria for the very first time in a production by the prestigious Tiroler Festspiele Erl.
Based on Voltaire's 1748 tragedy of the same name, the opera tells the legendary story of Semiramide, the Queen of Babylon, who ascends the throne following the death of her husband. Composed for Venice in 1823, Semiramide was the last opera Rossini wrote in Italy before moving permanently to Paris. Although his name is now most closely associated with brilliant comic masterpieces such as The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola, his serious operas were equally admired by his contemporaries. Semiramide is widely regarded as the culmination of Rossini's achievement in the opera seria genre—a monumental work that combines dramatic grandeur, dazzling vocal virtuosity, and a richly coloured orchestral score.
In Gustav Kuhn's production, audiences are immersed in a world of striking visual symbolism. Each principal character is accompanied by a marble animal representing their personality and destiny. Semiramide is symbolised by a lioness, the military commander Assur by an elephant, while Arsace—who is ultimately revealed to be Ninia, the long-presumed dead heir to the Babylonian throne—is represented by a giraffe.
