Il Corsaro

by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901).
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, after Byron's poem The Corsair.
First performance at the Teatro Grande, Trieste, on 25th October 1848.

Not among the best of Verdi's operas, the score nevertheless provides the tenor Corrado with Eccomi prigionero (Here I am, a prisoner) and the soprano Medora with a winning romanza in the first act. The overture has a place in concert repertoire.

The corsair captain Corrado is unhappy with his life. A message received, he rallies his men and in a second scene parts from Medora, who has premonitions of disaster. In the harem of Seid, Pasha of Coron, his beloved Gulnara is anxious to escape, and Corrado and his men seek to free her and her companions by force, but are taken prisoner. Corrado is condemned to death and Gulnara pleads for him. She visits Corrado in his dungeon and offers to kill Seid, but Corrado will not allow this, avowing his love for Medora. Gulnara kills Seid and escapes with Corrado to the pirate island. There Medora is near to death, and as she dies Corrado leaps from the cliffs to his own death.