Rossini's third opera seria for Naples, Armida, first performed November 9, 1817 and among his most unusual and beautiful stage works, is based on Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata. From the performer playing Armida, Rossini demands singing of both spectacular virtuosity and great dramatic power. Some of his most sensual music occurs in Armida's duets, two of which feature prominent introductions for solo violin and solo violoncello. Included in the large cast are six tenor roles (although they can be taken by four tenors, as they were at Naples). A highlight of Act III is the stirring trio for three tenors. Armida also requires two basses and gives conspicuous parts to men's and women's choruses. Unique among Rossini's Italian operas is a large ballet, which occupies much of Act II, and the magical scenic effects called for in the staging.

The critical edition presents Armida in its original form, reintegrating passages missing from the autograph score and restoring cuts made in printed editions.

Ermione is one of the extraordinary serious operas that Rossini composed while artistic director of the royal theaters of Naples. Although it was not originally successful, Rossini treasured Ermione as his "little William Tell." Its revival at the Rossini Opera Festival's production in 1987—the first since the original staging in 1819—revealed its beauty to modern audiences and has spurred many additional performances.

This critical edition is the first publication of Ermione in full score.

The originality and power of Rossini's score lie in the musical realization of the four principal characters in Tottola's libretto—four survivors of the Trojan war—based on Racine's tragedy Andromaque. Rossini's Ermione was one of the most fully developed characters in nineteenth-century opera. The work's musical structure also was unconventional for its day. All the solo numbers involve other characters, and there is only one scene for a single protagonist.

Rossini's Otello, first performed in 1816, remained an immensely popular opera throughout the nineteenth century and was only eclipsed by Verdi's more Shakespearean version. The critical edition by Michael Collins allows us to rediscover Rossini's Otello as one of the composer's early masterpieces in the tragic genre.

The first of eight serious operas newly-written for the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Otello reveals Rossini as a composer deeply concerned with both character development and large-scale musical forms. Desdemona's "Willow Song" is a fine example: here not only is variation technique used for dramatic ends, but the song itself forms part of a larger scheme that encompasses the entire third act as a single, unified piece.
Far more than a mere forerunner to Verdi, Rossini's Otello deserves to be known for its own innovative qualities.