Mosè in Egitto (known in the French version as Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la Mer Rouge) (Moses and Pharaoh, or The Passage to the Red Sea) is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini which premiered 5 March 1818 at the recently reconstructed Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
It was loosely based on the Exodus from Egypt of the Israelites, led by Moses, rendered agreeable to the opera stage by introducing a love theme, in which the Pharaoh's...
more
Mosè in Egitto (known in the French version as Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la Mer Rouge) (Moses and Pharaoh, or The Passage to the Red Sea) is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini which premiered 5 March 1818 at the recently reconstructed Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
It was loosely based on the Exodus from Egypt of the Israelites, led by Moses, rendered agreeable to the opera stage by introducing a love theme, in which the Pharaoh's son Amenophis (tenor) plans to prevent their departure, since he loves the Israelite Anaïs (soprano). The opera opens with a darkened stage, as the plague of darkness is dispelled by Moses' prayer, and it ends with the spectacle of the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh's host, which produced laughter at the clumsy machinery of its staging at the premiere, though the opera surmounted its technical failings and was a hit.
The libretto, by Andrea Leone Tottola, was based on a play by Francesco Ringhieri, L'Osiride, of 1760....
less
