Verdi's Alzira: It's not Peru, but it looks like it

It is surely the shortest act in all lyrical history!

Barely ten minutes… Hardly more than the

which precedes it and opens the opera.

However, with its lively choirs, present from start to finish, its infectious energy, and its famous tenor aria

, the first act of Verdi's

immediately stands out as a singular work.

Which bears no resemblance to the great titles of the “Swan of Busseto”.

Sharp by its brevity (less than 90 minutes), or the simplicity of its plot.

But it does not contain less real nuggets, among other things in its orchestral colors.

The unreal climate that introduces Alzira's cavatina - its first appearance on the stage, in the second act, is worth the detour in itself.

Read alsoWinning canopy shot for “David and Jonathan”

Perhaps the weakness of the libretto, taken from Voltaire's "American tragedy",

, a piece with philosophical springs clumsily transformed into a simple love knot by the librettist Salvadore Cammarano, was the reason...

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