About the work
Annibale in Capua is an opera seria in three acts by Antonio Salieri to a libretto by Antonio Simeone Sografi. It was first performed on 20 April 1801 for the opening of the newly built Teatro Nuovo in Trieste, today's Teatro Verdi.
Plot
During the Second Punic War, the Roman dictator Cornelio Scipione and his son Publio — the future Scipio Africanus — are drawn into military and personal conflict with the Carthaginian general Hannibal, who has taken winter quarters near Capua.
Cultural significance
For the opening of the city's newly built opera house, two of the era's most sought-after singers, Luigi Marchesi as Annibale and Giacomo David as Cornelio Scipione, took the stage; the theatre remains, as the Teatro Verdi, one of Italy's important opera houses today.