The corsair Corrado, having taken refuge on an island in the Aegean Sea, decides to launch an expedition against the Muslims, during which he is taken prisoner. Gulnara, the favorite of Pasha Seïd, falls in love with Corrado and helps him escape after murdering Seïd herself. Meanwhile, Medora, Corrado’s beloved, has poisoned herself upon hearing the false news of her lover’s death. She dies in the arms of her lover, who has returned too late. Corrado, in despair, throws himself into the sea, while Gulnara collapses, overcome by grief. “Il corsaro” is a lyric drama (“melodramma tragico”) in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron’s poem “The Corsair.” It premiered on October 25, 1848, at the Grand Theatre in Trieste. The opera was taken off the bill after three performances and replaced by “Macbeth.” From the “Tutto Verdi” box set of 27 Verdi operas. Recorded live at the Teatro Regio in Parma on October 19 and 21, 2008.

This new Dynamic opera was performed in Donizetti's native city of Bergamo, during the most important world festival dedicated to the Italian composer. The opera is set in a rural environment and the action takes place in a country farm. It is a brilliant comedy with many points of contact with semi-serious operas. The choice of this subject must have been strongly influenced by the successes of Vincenzo Bellini's La Sonnambula. The music is folksy and the melodic writing frank and straightforward with a broad variety of passages of high technical content and more elegiac in character; such is the case of the most famous piece in the whole opera, the aria "Una furtiva lagrima", which is also the leitmotiv of the soundtrack of the 2005 film Match Point, directed by Woody Allen.

Opera with music and libretto by Franco Alfano based on the play by Kalidasa. Recorded live at the Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania 11/2016.