Premiered in 1814, this rarely revived opera staged at the 2010 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro was hailed by the press as a "perfect symbiosis of music and stage work" that yields "truly brilliant" theater. Early Rossini has something buoyant and vibrant about it – even when it is a dramma per musica such as Sigismondo, a dark swirl of an opera about a mad king and his delusions, his wife who is allegedly dead but very much alive, and the fate of Poland. Mezzo-soprano Daniela Barcellona portrays the mad King Sigismondo with fierce intensity and effortlessly flowing coloraturas; restored to health in the second act, her Sigismondo dominates the stage as ruler of Poland, alongside a stellar soloist ensemble featuring Olga Peretyatko, Antonio Siragusa and Andrea Concetti.

Composer: Gioachino Rossini
Conductor: Michele Mariotti
Venue: Rossini Opera Festival
Orchestra: Orchestra and Chorus del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Cast/Soloist: Olga Peretyatko, Daniela Barcellona, Antonio Siragusa, Andrea Concetti
Genre: Opera