The last of six operas introduced by Julian Budden Axur, re d'Ormus
Dramma tragicomico in five acts
Music by Antonio Salieri (1788) Libretto by DA PONTE after BEAUMARCHAIS (sung in Italian)
(first UK broadcast)
Originally written for Paris, as Tarare, the opera's unorthodox music and form break the mould of contemporary opera and look forward to 19thcentury Romantic opera. The complex plot revolves around an Arab ruler's lust, anger and jealousy at the happiness of his popular army chief. Atar, a low-born heroic army