About the work
Adelaide di Borgogna, ossia Ottone, re d'Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, based on an episode of tenth-century Italian history. It premiered on 27 December 1817 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, with Elisabetta Pinotti in the trouser role of Ottone and Elisabetta Manfredini-Guarmani as Adelaide.
Plot
The widowed queen Adelaide refuses to marry the son of the usurper Berengario and instead appeals for help to the German king Ottone, promising him her hand and the crown of Italy in return. After a military conflict, Ottone defeats Berengario and is united with Adelaide.
Cultural significance
A rather unremarkable cast of singers and a libretto that did little to inspire Rossini meant the opera had only modest success at its premiere; it then fell largely into obscurity and has only been revived since the 2000s, including at the Rossini Opera Festival.