Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, based on the 1736 play Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire.

[2] 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.

[2] However, from Voltaire's play the "intellectual content [was] reduced to a minimum [and] religion and politics, the two raisons d'être of the drama, are scarcely mentioned; and the confrontation of different creeds, different civilizations and different worlds becomes merely another variant of the eternal triangle.

[2] In the Spring of 1845 Verdi's health forced a postponement until at least the following August, although he was well enough to arrive in Naples by the end of July to oversee rehearsals.

[5] 19th century The opening performance received a complimentary note of approval in Naples' Gazzetta Musicale: "Beauties so delicately contrived that the ear can hardly take them in".

Otumbo tells Zamoro that Alzira, his beloved, along with her father Ataliba, are being held captive by the Spaniards, and he urges the Indian tribes to revolt: Risorto fra le tenebre / "I emerged into the darkness ...").

Scene 1: The main square of Lima Alvaro announces that, due to his age and infirmity, he is relinquishing the governorship and handing it over to his son, Gusmano who states that his first act will be to secure peace with the Incas.

There follows the sextet Nella polve genuflesso in which each of the characters expresses his/her feelings: "Alvaro begs his son to show mercy; Gusman remains obdurate but uneasy, Alzira. ...

Scene 2: A cave, some distance from Lima The defeated Incas are downcast, but they hear that Zamoro has escaped, dressed as a Spanish soldier.

When he hears from his followers that Alzira has agreed to marry Gusmano and that preparations are being made, vows to fight: Non di codarde lagrime / "This is not the time for cowardly tears, but for blood!".

As both Budden and Parker have observed,[16] Verdi's reference to this opera later in his life as "proprio brutta" ("downright ugly") was as much a reflection on the composer's reaction to the libretto as it was on the music.

In one example, Budden notes that Verdi's setting of the act 1 love duet, "he preferred to press swiftly ahead, sustaining a dramatic momentum which the text does not imply".

[16] The critic Arrivabene's general comment has been noted, but in regard to the overture, he stated that it: "preserves the two-fold character of the opera - savage and warlike on the one hand, tender and romantic on the other.