Marino Faliero (opera)

Marino Faliero
Opera by Gaetano Donizetti
Set design for Act II in the original production, which takes place near the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo
Librettist	Giovanni Emanuele Bidera
Language	Italian
Based on	Casimir Delavigne's play Marino Faliero
Premiere	12 March 1835 (1835-03-12) Théâtre-Italien, Paris

Marino Faliero (or Marin Faliero) is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Giovanni Emanuele Bidera wrote the Italian libretto, with revisions by Agostino Ruffini [it], after Casimir Delavigne's play. It is inspired by Lord Byron's drama Marino Faliero (1820) and based on the life of Marino Faliero (c.1285-1355), the Venetian Doge.^[1]

Rossini, acting as the Théâtre Italien's music director, had commissioned works by the outstanding Italian composers of the day—Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Both wrote operas for that house in Paris, Bellini's contribution being the hugely successful I puritani. Donizetti's opera, which premiered on 12 March 1835 (a few months after I puritani) was not nearly as much of a success. However, it marked Donizetti's first opera to have its premiere in Paris.