Alzira

Alzira may refer to:

Alzira (opera)

Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, based on the play Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire.

The first performance was at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on 12 August 1845. The contemporary reviews were mixed, and the first run of the opera received only four further performances.

Composition history

Following his completion of Giovanna d'Arco, Verdi began on work on Alzira, having been invited by the impresario of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Vincenzo Flauto, to write an opera for that house, the invitation having followed the earlier success of Ernani. One of the attractions of the arrangement to Verdi was to have the services of the man who was now - following Felice Romani's virtual retirement - the principal librettist in Italy. This was Salvatore Cammarano, the Naples "house poet" who had been responsible for some of Donizetti's successes, which included Lucia di Lammermoor. Using the publisher Giovanni Ricordi as "a kind of agent" Verdi's terms were laid out. These included being able to receive one-third more than his fee for I Lombardi and, more importantly, having a finished libretto from Cammarano in his possession four months before the production.

Alzira, Valencia

Alzira (Valencian pronunciation: [aɫˈziɾa], Spanish: Alcira [alˈθiɾa]) is a town and municipality of 45,000 inhabitants in Valencia, eastern Spain. It is the capital of the comarca of Ribera Alta in the province of Valencia.

Geographic situation

Alzira is located in the province of Valencia, on the left bank of the Júcar river, and on the Valencia–Alicante railway.

Alzira's climate is typically Mediterranean: warm with no extremes of temperature either in summer or winter. Rainfall is scarce and irregular. Torrential rains usually follow periods of relative drought.

The town is situated on the shores of the Júcar river. The Murta and Casella valleys are well worth visiting as they are by far the most beautiful areas in the Alzira area. Alzira's borough extends over 111 square kilometres.

History

Alzira was founded by the Muslim Moors under the name Jazirat Shukr (Arabic: جزيرة شَقْر) which later became known as Júcar Island.

It was a prosperous trading station during the reign of the Muslim Moors which lasted over five hundred years. During that time the city had a local administrative government and was considered as a cultural hub for writers, philosophers, and law experts.