»Bianca e Falliero« von Gioachino Rossini

The Republic of Venice strives to become a world power and isolates itself for fear of being threatened. The system suppresses all forms of individuality and love. This oppressive atmosphere is the setting for the family drama Bianca e Falliero, Rossini's last opera written for La Scala in Milan and one of his most appealing yet rarely performed works. The librettist Felice Romani combines an espionage story with a variation on the story of Romeo and Juliet , this time with the feuding families involved in a long-standing inheritance dispute. Bianca, the daughter of Senator Contareno, secretly loves General Falliero, but her father's political and financial interests threaten her love. Bianca is mercilessly abused as a hostage of the family feud. Falliero, the defender of the state, returns from the war just as Bianca is about to enter into a forced marriage with Capellio. The conflicts are pre-programmed; Bianca's ordeal between her fatherly love as an original bond and the promised devotion to her lover gave Rossini the opportunity to expand his dramatic means of expression.