Summary: Why have some of Rossini's operas become central to the repertoire of opera houses, while others remain rarely performed? Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic Orchestra recently performed Rossini's Aureliano in Palmira at the Royal Festival Hall. In this pre-concert talk, Roger Parker (King's College, London) and Benjamin Walton (University of Cambridge) introduce the opera and the musical and political circumstances that led to the opera struggling to catch the imagination of European audiences in the 1800s.
