Alzira
opera · tragedia lirica, divisa in un prologo e due atti
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist Salvadore Cammarano
Synopsis
The Inca chief Zamoro, believed dead after torture at the hands of the Spaniards, returns to his people to find that his beloved Alzira and her father Ataliba are the Spaniards' prisoners. In Lima the old governor Alvaro hands power to his son Gusmano, who wants peace with the Incas and Alzira as his wife.
Key facts
- Premiere
- 12 August 1845, Teatro di San Carlo, Naples
- Acts
- 2
- Language
- Italian (it)
- Setting
- Lima and other parts of Peru, about the middle of the sixteenth century.
Dramatis personae
| Role | Voice | Created by |
|---|---|---|
| Alvaro Gusmano's father. | bass | Marco Arati |
| Gusmano Governor of Peru. | baritone | Filippo Coletti |
| Ovando A Spanish captain. | tenor | Ceci |
| Zamoro Head of a Peruvian tribe. | tenor | Gaetano Fraschini |
| Ataliba Head of a Peruvian tribe. | bass | Michele Benedetti |
| Alzira Ataliba's daughter. | soprano | Eugenia Tadolini |
| Zuma Alzira's sister. | mezzo-soprano | Maria Salvetti |
| Otumbo A South American warrior. | tenor | Teofilo Rossi |
Source
- Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire (1736)
Written from
- Budden, J. (1978) The operas of Verdi. Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 225-242.
- Wikipedia (2026) Alzira (opera). (Accessed: 28 September 2026). The English article.
- Cammarano, S. (1845) Alzira: tragedia lirica, divisa in un prologo e due atti. Naples. (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
- Il Pirata (1845) 'Napoli. Teatro S. Carlo', p. 419. (Accessed: 15 October 2026). Prints the company engaged at the San Carlo from 30 May 1845 to the end of carnival 1846, in which Teofilo Rossi is the only singer of the name. The libretto gives Otumbo's creator only as "signor Rossi", and Budden and other modern sources name Francesco Rossi, who is not in the company and whose engagements of 1845 and 1846 were with Alessandro Lanari's companies elsewhere. The credit follows the company list.
- Wikipedia (2026) Alzira (Verdi). (Accessed: 28 September 2026). The Italian article.