Il turco in Italia Il turco in Italia Il turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy) is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was a re-working of a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà set as an opera (with the same title) by the German composer in 1788. An opera buffa, it was influenced by Mozart's "Così fan tutte", which was performed at the same theatre shortly before Rossini's work. The strangely harmonized overture, though infrequently recorded, is one of the best examples of Rossini's characteristic style. An unusually long introduction displays an extended, melancholy
Il corsaro Il corsaro Il corsaro ("The Corsair") is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's poem "The Corsair". The first performance was given at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848. The composer expressed interest in Byron's poem "The Corsair" (along with "The Two Foscari" and others) as early as 1844 when he was planning an opera for Venice, but a suitable baritone was not available. In 1845, (before it was determined that "I masnadieri" was to be the opera presented in London), the composer had contracted