| La morte di Cesare | |
|---|---|
| Opera seria by Francesco Bianchi | |
.jpg) The composer in 1805 | |
| Librettist | Gaetano Sertor |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Shakespeare's Julius Caesar |
| Premiere | 27 December 1788 Teatro San Samuele, Venice |
La morte di Cesare (The Death of Caesar) is an opera seria in three acts by Francesco Bianchi. The libretto was by Gaetano Sertor, after Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.
La morte di Cesare was one of six texts that Sertor wrote for Bianchi, influencing a popular series of Venetian 'morte' operas in the 1790s. While the murder itself was not shown on the stage, the audience were left with the body of Caesar conspicuously in view during the closing scenes.
As with other Bianchi operas, there were innovations: the chorus participated actively in the drama, there was a ballet and a pantomime, a duet for two men, and a final oath scene (giuramento), besides the basically unconventional tragic ending.[1]
- ^ McClymonds, Marita P (1992), 'Sertor, Gaetano' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera vol 4 p 328