Il corsaro
also The Corsair
opera · melodramma tragico
Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist Francesco Maria Piave
Synopsis
Corrado, a nobleman driven to piracy and living in exile among the corsairs, learns of a chance to strike at Seid, the Turkish pasha of Coron, and prepares to sail against him. His beloved Medora, troubled by dark forebodings, begs him not to go.
Key facts
- Premiere
- 25 October 1848, Teatro Grande, Trieste
- Acts
- 3
- Language
- Italian (it)
- Setting
- An island in the Aegean and the city of Coron, early in the nineteenth century.
Dramatis personae
| Role | Voice | Created by |
|---|---|---|
| Corrado Captain of the pirates. | tenor | Gaetano Fraschini |
| Giovanni A pirate. | bass | Giovanni Volpini |
| Medora Corrado's beloved. | soprano | Carolina Rapazzini |
| Seid Pasha of Coron. | baritone | Achille De Bassini |
| Gulnara Seid's favourite slave. | soprano | Marianna Barbieri-Nini |
| Selimo An aga. | tenor | Giovanni Petrovich |
| Un eunuco A eunuch. | tenor | Francesco Cucchiari |
| Uno schiavo A slave. | tenor | Stefano Albanassich |
| Anselmo A corsair. | silent role | — |
Source
- The Corsair by Lord Byron (1814)
Written from
- Budden, J. (1978) The operas of Verdi. Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 361-386.
- Wikipedia (2026) Il corsaro. (Accessed: 28 September 2026). The English article.
- Piave, F. M. (1848) Il corsaro: melodramma tragico. Milan: Francesco Lucca. (Accessed: 28 September 2026).
- Wikipedia (2026) Il corsaro (Verdi). (Accessed: 28 September 2026). The Italian article.