Who composed the opera Tancredi?
Tancredi Tancredi Tancredi is a "melodramma eroico" (opera seria or 'heroic' opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write "Semiramide" ten years later), based on Voltaire's play "Tancrède" (1760). The opera made its first appearance at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 6 February 1813, and because "Il signor Bruschino" premiered in late January, the composer must have completed "Tancredi" in less than a month. The overture, borrowed from "La pietra del paragone", is a popular example of Rossini's characteristic style and is regularly performed in concert and recorded. Considered by
Tancredi who quickly became strongly associated with that role, insisted on the tragic Ferrara ending, citing that it is more consistent with the overall tone of the opera and that she "did not find the happy ending convincing". Indeed, most of the recordings of this opera today use the Ferrara conclusion, while some include the Venice finale as an extra track. Horne's triumphant performances as Tancredi in Houston soon led to invitations from other opera houses to sing the role, and it is largely through her efforts that the opera enjoyed a surge of revivals during the latter half of the