The act 1 duet between Zenobia and Arsace, "Se tu m'ami, o mia regina" (If you love me, oh my queen), was greatly admired by Stendhal.

Rossini had originally written the role of Aureliano for Giovanni David, one of the most renowned tenors of the day.

[7] The opera's opening night proved disappointing to the Milanese critics who praised the production but considered the music inferior to that of Rossini's Tancredi which had premiered in Venice earlier that year.

20th century and beyond Its first modern performance was in September 1980 at the Teatro Politeama [it] in Genoa conducted by Giacomo Zani, with Paolo Barbacini as Aureliano, Helga Müller-Molinari as Arsace, and Luciana Serra as Zenobia.

There was another major revival in 1996 at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival conducted by Francesco Corti, with Donald George as Aureliano, Angelo Manzotti as Arsace, and Tatiana Korovina as Zenobia.

[9] Queen Zenobia, her lover Arsace, and the priests offer sacrifices in the Temple of Isis and pray for their deliverance from the approaching Roman army.

General Oraspe enters to the strains of martial music and announces that Aureliano's Roman army is at the gates of Palmyra.

Publia, the daughter of Roman general and secretly in love with Arsace, begs Aureliano to take pity on him.

Aureliano, has a change of heart and frees Zenobia and Arsace to reign together over Palmyra provided they both swear fealty to the Roman Empire.

The chorus sings joyfully, "Torni sereno a splendere all'Asia afflitta il dì" (May the day dawn serene and shining for suffering Asia).

Jessica Pratt, Lena Belkina, Dmitri Pkhaladze Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini & Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna Mario Martone (stage director) Notes Citations Sources