Maometto Secondo, the eighth of Rossini’s towering series of nine serious operas for Naples, became one of his most enduring operas - but under an assumed name. He reworked it for Venice, then for Paris, and then the Parisian version came back to Italy as L’Assedio di Corinto - which made news at the Met a generation ago when it served for the debut of Beverly Sills. All the versions have their merits, but the purest distillation of Rossini’s dramatic genius is found in the original score, with its high-voltage virtuosity in all roles and its harrowing tragic finale. Read More.