This production from La Fenice in Venice, staged there in 2005, is  by Roberto Abbado and directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi. The cast includes Dmitry Korchak, Marina Rebeka, Alisa Kolosova and Alex Esposito. This two-act opera which was commissioned for the S. Carlo opera theatre in Naples in 1820 is considered one of Rossini’s most ambitious but least successful works. It was never popular in Naples and Rossini made many changes for the versions in Venice and Paris. After performances in Vienna, Milan and Madrid in 1826 is was then rarely performed until the second half of the 20^th century.