Editing Semiramide (section)

{{Short description|1823 opera by Gioachino Rossini}}
{{for multi|the opera by Josef Mysliveček|Semiramide (Mysliveček)|the opera by Antonio Vivaldi|Semiramide (Vivaldi)}}
{{distinguish|Semiramis}}
{{Infobox opera 
| name              = Semiramide
| genre             = [[Opera]]
| composer          = [[Gioachino Rossini]]
| image             = Rossini - Semiramide - Paris 1825 - Hippolyte Lecomte - Semiramis 1er Costume (Mdme Fodor) (cropped).jpg
| image_upright     = 
| caption           = [[Joséphine Fodor]] as Semiramide for the Paris performance in 1825
| other_name        = 
| librettist        = [[Gaetano Rossi]]
| language          = Italian
| based_on          = {{based on|''[[Sémiramis (tragedy)|Semiramis]]''|[[Voltaire]]}}
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1823|02|03|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[La Fenice]], Venice
}}
'''''Semiramide''''' ({{IPA|it|semiˈraːmide}}) is an [[opera]] in two acts by [[Gioachino Rossini]].
The [[libretto]] by [[Gaetano Rossi]] is based on [[Voltaire]]'s tragedy ''[[Sémiramis (tragedy)|Semiramis]]'', which in turn was based on the legend of [[Semiramis]] of [[Assyria]].<ref>Raymond Monelle 1992, ''Semiramide redenta: archetipi, fonti classiche, censure antropologiche nel melodramma'', ''[[Music & Letters]]'', '''73(3)''', pp. 448–450</ref><ref>Marita P. McClymonds 1993, ''Semiramide redenta: archetipi, fonti classiche, censure antropologiche nel melodramma''. ''[[Notes (journal)|Notes]]'' (2nd series), '''50(1)''', pp. 139–141.</ref> The opera was first performed at [[La Fenice]] in Venice on 3 February 1823.

''Semiramide'' was Rossini's final Italian opera and according to Richard Osborne, "could well be dubbed ''Tancredi Revisited''".{{sfn|Osborne|1990|loc="Farewell to Italy: ''Semiramide''", p. 302}} As in ''[[Tancredi]]'', Rossi's libretto was based on a Voltaire tragedy. The music took the form of a return to vocal traditions of Rossini's youth, and was a melodrama in which he "recreated the baroque tradition of decorative singing with unparalleled skill".<ref>Guido Johannes Joerg 1991, Booklet accompanying ArtHaus DVD, p. 27</ref> The ensemble-scenes (particularly the duos between Arsace and Semiramide) and choruses are of a high order, as is the orchestral writing, which makes full use of a large pit.

After this splendid work, one of his finest in the genre, Rossini turned his back on Italy and moved to Paris. Apart from ''[[Il viaggio a Reims]]'', which is still in Italian, his last operas were either original compositions in French or extensively reworked adaptations into French of earlier Italian operas.

Musicologist [[Rodolfo Celletti]] sums up the importance of ''Semiramide'' by stating that it "was the last opera of the great Baroque tradition: the most beautiful, the most imaginative, possibly the most complete; but also, irremediably, the last."<ref>Celletti, quoted in {{harvnb|Migliavacca|1998|p=92}}</ref>