Queen Zenobia, whom history has adorned with a legendary aura of feminine mystique, never enjoyed the popularity of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, nonetheless, over the centuries, she has inspired artists of all genres, from painting and music to literature. She is cited in Petrarch’s Triumph of Fame and Boccaccio’s De Claris Mulieribus, and Tiepolo included her in a number of his paintings that were commissioned in the early 1700s by the Zenobio noble family of Venice to augment their prestige in Venetian society of the day by vaunting their ancestry to her. In literature, around 1789, we have the play Zenobia in Palmira by Gaetano Sertor which was first set to music by Pasquale Anfossi, then by Giovanni Paisiello. In this opera, a number of the main characteristics of Paisiello’s compositional style emerge clearly. First of all, the elegance of the melodic line, the fruit not only of his innate musicality, but also his studies at the Sant’Onofio Conservatory in Naples where he had moved from his native Taranto. And, secondly, the clear delineation of the characters, a foretaste of the modern style already at the door. Paisiello was not only a prolific composer of opera buffa, in which his ironic verve was close to that of the common man, but also opera seria where his sense of pathos was never excessive, suspended within a noble and austere dramatic sense.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music