Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868): Semiramide

Подробнее о видео

In order to view exclusive films with NO ADVERTS and HELP Altea Media restore in UHD resolution new productions, please join and subscribe :


View our subscription program introduction film:


Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868): Semiramide
Tragic melodrama in two acts with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi

Director: Nicola Raab
Sets: Madeleine Boyd
Costumes: Julia Müer
Lights: Bernd Purkrabek

Salome Jicia, Semiramide
Franco Fagioli, Arsace
Nahuel Di Pierro, Assur
Matthew Grills, Idreno
Fabrizio Beggi, Oroe / Nino’s Shadow
Inna Jeskova, Azema
Ju In Yoon, Mitrane

Choir of the Opéra national de Lorraine (choir director: Merion Powell)
Choir of the Metz Métropole Opera-Theater (choir director: Nathalie Marmeuse)

Orchestre symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy
Domingo Hindoyan, conductor

Synopsis

To reign alone, Semiramis had the king, her husband, assassinated, with the complicity of Prince Assur. When the time comes to choose a new husband, she announces her intention to marry the young hero Arsace, whom she calls to reign at her side. But her passion will come up against an obstacle as insurmountable as it is unforeseen: Arsace is in reality her son, Ninias, whom everyone believed to be dead. Semiramis will not be able to escape her punishment: she will die stabbed by mistake by her own son who thought he was killing Assur, the felonious prince.

Act 1
In Babylon, the high priest Oroe welcomes the crowd into the temple of Baal. Queen Semiramis must announce the name of the man she has chosen to marry after the mysterious death of her husband, King Ninus. Prince Assur seems certain to be chosen. But just as Semiramis is about to speak, The flame of the altar goes out. This bad omen frightens the assembly and the ceremony is postponed. Semiramis gathers the court and the people once again and finally declares that she will marry Arsaces, the young commander of the Assyrian army. At this moment the ghost of King Ninus emerges from his mausoleum and plunges the assembly into terror. . The ghost of Ninus declares that Arsaces will become king when he has sacrificed a victim in his memory. He leaves without having designated this victim, leaving the queen deeply upset.

Act 2
Prince Assur comes to remind Semiramis of what she owes him: they were accomplices in the poisoning of her husband, King Ninus. Assur wants the throne as a reward for his crime. Semiramis chases him away, suspecting him of having also murdered her son who has disappeared. Meanwhile, the high priest Oroe tells Arsace that he is Ninias, the only son of Ninus and Semiramis. The young man also discovers the heinous crime committed by his mother, but he cannot bring himself to take her life to avenge his father's death. Arsace ends up showing Semiramis the letter in which Ninus accused her before dying. She is torn between fear and joy at having found her son. Assur decides to murder Arsace, who goes to the mausoleum of Ninus to make a sacrifice. Descending into the tomb, Assur is prey to hallucinations: he believes he sees the ghost of the deceased king. To protect her son whom she feels threatened, Semiramis also enters the mausoleum. Deceived by the darkness that reigns in this tomb, Arsace kills his mother, believing he is striking Assur. Seized with horror in front of his dying mother, he wants to commit suicide but the high priest dissuades him and takes him to the palace where the people acclaim him as their new king. The traitor Assur is arrested. The vengeance of King Ninus is accomplished.