Semiramide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini. The libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis (it in turn based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon). It was first performed in Teatro La Fenice, Venice on February 2, 1823.
Characters
Idreno, an Indian king (tenor)
Oroe, high priest of the Magi (bass)
Assur, a prince, descendant of Baal (bass)
Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, widow of King Nino (soprano)
Arsace, Commander of the Assyrian army (contralto)
Azema, a princess, descendant of Baal (soprano)
Mitrane, Captain of the Guard (tenor)
Synopsis
Semiramide, with Assur, has secured the murder of her husband, King Nino. Her son, however, has escaped death and is now, as Arsace, a successful commander, his identity unknown to his mother. He is called back to Babylon, is in love with Azema and unwilling to support Assur in the latter's bid for the throne. Semiramide falls in love with him and declares him king and her consort, while Azema will marry Idreno. King Nino's ghost warns of crimes to be expiated and the high priest Oroe tells Arsace of the crime committed by his mother and Assur. Arsace, in the tomb of his father, meets King Nino's murderers, and seeking to strike Assur, kills Semiramide. He is finally declared King.
Semiramide is Rossini's last opera seria. The extemely florid vocal style is often a vehicle for spectacular vocal display rather than an intrinsic part of the score. The ensemble-scenes (particularly the duos between Arsace and Semiramide) and choruses are also of a high order, as is the orchestral writing, which makes full use of a large pit.
Semiramide was Rossini's last opera for Italy; the title role was written for his wife, Isabella Colbran. The work starts with an well-known overture, and throughout it calls for outstanding singers in the leading soprano and contralto rôles.
Semiramide is occasionally performed but is not part of the standard operatic repertoire. There are several recordings of it, the most famous being the Joan Sutherland - Marilyn Horne recording.
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今天修改Pyramus and Thisbe的译稿,想到了罗西尼的Semiramide,
网上想多找一点她的资料,都被罗西尼的歌剧给淹盖了。
Pyramus and Thisbe是一个巴比伦的爱情故事,巴比伦相传是Semiramide
筑的。
- posted on 07/24/2006
SEMIRAMIS OF BABYLON
Semiramis , also known as Semiramide or Semiramida, was a famous Assyrian princess, round whose personality a mass of legend has accumulated. It was not until 1910 that the researches of Professor Lehmann-Haupt of Berlin restored her to her rightful place in Babylonian-Assyrian history.
The legends derived by Diodorus Siculus, Justin and others from Ctesias of Cnidus were completely disproved, and Semiramis had come to be treated as a purely legendary figure.
The legends ran as follows: Semiramis was the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis of Ascalon in Syria, and was miraculously preserved by doves, who fed her until she was found and brought up by Simmas, the royal shepherd. Afterwards she married Onnes, one of the generals of Ninus, who was so struck by her bravery at the capture of Bactra that he married her, after Onnes had committed suicide. The Jewish historian Josephus relates Ninus to the Biblical hunter-king Nimrod.
Ninus died, and Semiramis, succeeding to his power, traversed all parts of the empire, erecting great cities and stupendous monuments, or opening roads through savage mountains. She caused the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to be built. She was unsuccessful only in an attack on India. At length, after a reign of forty-two years, she delivered up the kingdom to her son Ninyas, and disappeared, or, according to what seems to be the original form of the story, was turned into a dove and was thenceforth worshipped as a deity.
The name of Semiramis came to be applied to various monuments in Western Asia, the origin of which was forgotten or unknown . Ultimately every stupendous work of antiquity by the Euphrates or in Iran seems to have been ascribed to her even the Behistun Inscription of Darius . Of this we already have evidence in Herodotus, who ascribes to her the banks that confined the Euphrates and knows her name as borne by a gate of Babylon . Various places in Media bore the name of Semiramis, but slightly changed, even in the middle ages, and the old name of Van was Shamiramagerd, Armenian tradition regarding her as its founder. These facts are partly to be explained by observing that, according to the legends, in her birth as well as in her disappearance from earth, Semiramis appears as a goddess, the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis, and herself connected with the doves of Ishtar or Astartë. The same association of the fish and dove is found at Hierapolis , the great temple at which, according to one legend, was founded by Semiramis , where her statue was shown with a golden dove on her head .
The irresistible charms of Semiramis, her sexual excesses , and other features of the legend, all bear out the view that she is primarily a form of Astartë, and so fittingly conceived as the great queen of Assyria.
Professor Lehmann-Haupt, by putting together the results of archaeological discoveries, has arrived at the following conclusions. Semiramis is the Greek form of Sammuramat. She was probably a Babylonian . A column discovered in 1909 describes her as "a woman of the palace of Samsi-Adad, King of the World, King of Assyria, King of the Four Quarters of the World". Ninus was her son.
The dedication of this column shows that Semiramis occupied a position of unique influence, lasting probably for more than one reign. She waged war against the Indo-Germanic Medes and the Chaldæans. The legends probably have a Median origin. A popular etymology, which connected the name with the Assyrian summat, "dove", seems to have first started the identification of the historical Semiramis with the goddess Ishtar and her doves.
Semiramis appears in a number of plays and operas, most notably Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, Domenico Cimarosa's opera Semiramide and Gioacchino Rossini's opera, also called Semiramide.
http://www.yotor.org/wiki/en/se/Semiramis%20of%20Babylon.htm
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但我还是记得这一幅Semiramis的图的:
Semiramis Building Babylon. Edgar Degas, c.1860-62, Paris, Musée d'Orsay.
&&
这里还有一个关于她的美貌的传奇,够风云的!
The Queen's beauty was also legendary. Indeed, and anecdote claims that
when an insurrection erupted in the capital while Semiramis was bathing.
she calmed the rebels simply by appearing before them half-naked and
with her hair unbound.
今天晚上听罗西尼! - posted on 07/24/2006
Semiramis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Semiramis (c. 800 BC) was a legendary Assyrian queen, also known as Semiramide, Semiramida, or Shamiram in Aramaic. A mass of legend has accumulated around her personality. The legends derived by Diodorus Siculus, Justin and others from Ctesias of Cnidus make a picture of her and her relationship to king Ninus. Various efforts have been made to identify her with real persons.
The name Semiramis is a later, Hellenized form of the Akkadian name "Sammur-amat", or "gift of the sea." The initial element "sammur" when translated into Hebrew becomes "Shinar" (the Biblical name for lower Mesopotamia), and has been claimed to be the word from which we derive "Sumer" [citation needed].
Contents
1 Her traditional biography
2 Semiramis in Armenian legend
3 The Historical Semiramis?
4 In later literature
5 References
6 External links
Her traditional biography
The legends ran as follows: Semiramis was the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis of Ascalon in Syria, and was miraculously preserved by doves, who fed her until she was found and brought up by Simmas, the royal shepherd. Afterwards she married Onnes or Menones, one of the generals of Ninus, who was so struck by her bravery at the capture of Bactra that he married her, after Onnes had committed suicide. The Jewish historian Josephus relates Ninus to the Biblical hunter-king Nimrod. After Ninus's death she reigned as Queen in her own right, and conquered much of Asia.
The name of Semiramis came to be applied to various monuments in Western Asia, the origin of which was forgotten or unknown (see Strabo xvi. I. 2). Ultimately every stupendous work of antiquity by the Euphrates or in Iran seems to have been ascribed to her even the Behistun Inscription of Darius (Diod. Sic. ii. 3). Of this we already have evidence in Herodotus, who ascribes to her the banks that confined the Euphrates (i. 184) and knows her name as borne by a gate of Babylon (iii. 155). Various places in Media bore the name of Semiramis, but slightly changed, even in the middle ages, and the old name of Van Province was Shamiramagerd, Armenian tradition regarding her as its founder. These facts are partly to be explained by observing that, according to the legends, in her birth as well as in her disappearance from earth, Semiramis appears as a goddess, the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis, and herself connected with the doves of Ishtar or Astartë. The same association of the fish and dove is found at Hierapolis (Bambyce, Mabbog), the great temple at which, according to one legend, was founded by Semiramis (Lucian, De dea Syria, 14), where her statue was shown with a golden dove on her head (33, 39).
The irresistible charms of Semiramis, her sexual excesses, and other features of the legend, all bear out the view that she is primarily a form of Astartë, and so fittingly conceived as the great queen of Assyria.
Semiramis in Armenian legend
Semiramis staring at the corpse of Ara the Beautiful
One of the most popular legends in Armenian tradition involves Semiramis and an Armenian king, Ara the Beautiful. In the 20th century, the poet Nairi Zarian retold the story of Ara the Beautiful and Shamiram, considered a masterpiece of Armenian literary drama.
According to the legend, Semiramis had heard about the fame of the handsome Armenian king Ara, and lusted after his image. She asked Ara to marry her, but he refused; upon hearing this, she gathered the armies of Assyria and marched against Armenia. The battle was supposed to have taken place in the Ararat valley, during which Ara was slain. In order to avoid continuous warfare with the Armenians, Semiramis prayed to the gods to revive Ara from the dead. Dog-like creatures called Aralez ("lickers of Ara") descended from the skies and licked his wounds, after which he came back to life.
The Historical Semiramis?
Although the legendary Semiramis is often considered a purely mythical figure, evidence in Assyrian records suggests that she may, in fact, be a dim reflection of Sammur-amat, the Babylonian wife of Shamshi-Adad V. After her husband's death, she appears to have served as regent for at least five years for her son, Adad-nirari III. But this identification is disputed.
In later literature
In the Divine Comedy Dante sees Semiramis among the souls of the lustful in the second circle of Hell.
The Protestant mythographer Alexander Hislop elevated Semiramis to a cosmic feature; in his book The Two Babylons, Hislop attempts to demonstrate that Semiramis and Nimrod, briefly mentioned in the Book of Genesis as a "mighty hunter before the LORD," are identical to Isis and Osiris, or Astarte and Tammuz. Semiramis goes on to become the Blessed Virgin Mary according to Hislop's version of the tale; most of the world's mythical figures are retellings of the tale of Semiramis and Nimrod. This mythography is supposed to demonstrate that Roman Catholicism is in fact paganism. Few accept Hislop's fanciful mythography today, but his version of the story continues to be recirculated in Jack Chick's tracts and comic books.
Semiramis appears in a number of plays and operas, most notably Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, Domenico Cimarosa's opera Semiramide and Gioacchino Rossini's opera, also called Semiramide. She has also appeared in several sword and sandal films.
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