Harem of European women forcibly taken into Oriental harems—evident for example in the Mozart opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") concerning the attempt of the hero Belmonte to rescue his beloved Konstanze from the "seraglio"/harem of the Pasha Selim; or in Voltaire's "Candide", in chapter 12 of which the old woman relates her experiences of being sold into harems across the Ottoman Empire. Much of Verdi's opera "Il corsaro" takes place in the harem of the Pasha Seid—where Gulnara, the Pasha's favorite, chafes at life in the harem, and longs for freedom and true love. Eventually
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