Rare Rossini

As a complete contrast to the Lachenmann weekend at London's South Bank Centre, you can also visit the same venue this evening to hear a concert performance of Rossini's opera Aureliano in Palmira. Conducted by Maurizio Benini, a strong cast includes Catriona Smith, Kenneth Tarver, Silvia Trio Santafe and Andrew Foster Williams. The opera dates from 1813 and was premiered at La Scala, Milan. It comes between Tancredi, L'Italiana in Algeri and Il Turco in Italia. The role of Arsace was written for the castrato Velluti, the last of the great castrati. He also created the role of Armando in Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto. In 1826 he took over the management of the Kings Theatre in London and appeared there in Aureliano. But after this the opera seems to have fallen into obscurity until the first modern revival in 1980.
The concert is at 7.00pm at the Royal Festival Hall.