Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) - Tancredi Melodramma eroico in due atti - Libretto by Gaetano Rossi. Live recorded in Teatro Verdi - Trieste, January 2003 Tancredi, an exiled Syracusean soldier (mezzo) Daniela Barcellona - Argirio father of Amenaide, head of his family, at war with the family of Orbazzano (tenor) Charles Workman - Amenaide the daughter of a noble family, in love with Tancredi (soprano) Mariola Cntarero - Orbazzano the head of his noble family, at war with the family of Argirio (basso) Nicola Ulivieri - Isaura friend to Amenaide (contralto) Sonia Zaramella - Roggiero Tancredi's squire (mezzo) Daniela Pini - Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste - Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni - Director and costume designer Mssimo Gasparon - Chorus master Marcel Seminara - Light designer Claudio Schmid The city of Syracuse is tethered by conflict and war between the Byzantine empire, with which it has an unstable truce, and the Saracen armies headed by Solamir. Not only is Syracuse exhausted by external war, but internal war as well; the soldier Tancredi and his family have been stripped of their estates and inheritances, and he himself has been banished since his youth. Two more noble families — headed by Argirio and Orbazzano — have been warring for years. Argirio and his family — his wife and his daughter, Amenaide — have been residing as guests of the Byzantine court, where Tancredi presides in exile. Also present in the court is Solamir, the Moorish general, who wishes for the lovely Amenaide's hand in marriage in hopes that he can create a Saracen-Syracusean alliance. However, Amenaide is secretly in love with Tancredi. PLACE: the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse