About the work
Bianca e Falliero is a melodramma in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Felice Romani, based on Antoine-Vincent Arnault's play Les Vénitiens, ou Blanche et Montcassin (1798). It premiered on 26 December 1819 at La Scala in Milan, with Carolina Bassi in the trouser role of Falliero and Violante Camporesi as Bianca.
Plot
Senator Contareno wants to marry his daughter Bianca to the wealthy Capellio against her will, although she loves the general Falliero. When Falliero is caught at a forbidden meeting at the Spanish embassy and put on trial for it, Bianca publicly declares herself his accomplice; moved by her courage, the Senate pardons Falliero, and Contareno drops his opposition to their marriage.
Cultural significance
The opera was given thirty times in its first Milan season and then staged at further Italian and foreign houses, but fell largely into obscurity after 1846. Its performance material survived in the archive of the publisher Ricordi, enabling later rediscoveries.