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 templario Il templario Il templario is an Italian-language opera by the German composer Otto Nicolai from a libretto written by Girolamo Maria Marini based on Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe". It has been noted that Nicolai's work for the opera stage, which followed the successful "Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor" ("The Merry Wives of Windsor)" (his only German opera), included three others, all of which were in Italian (two being "Gilippede ed Odoardo" and "Il proscritto") and all "are all firmly cast in the "bel canto" style, with gracefully flowing melodies in the manner of Bellini". Marini was a part-time poet when not