Alhambrismo y lírica. Moros y cristianos en el Romanticismo musical italiano

The present paper analyzes the image that emerges of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (1232-1492) in the Italian operas of the first half of the 19th century. Thus, it traces the relation of Floris' book Gonzalve de Cordoue ou Grenade reconquise with the libretti set to music by Nicolini, Cherubini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer and Balducci. It then offers a more detailed analysis of Donizetti's Zoraida di Granata and Alahor in Granata, Meyerbeer's L'esule di Granata, to finish with the Spanish composer Emilio Arrieta's La conquista di Granata.