Il Crociato in Egitto premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on March 7, 1824. It was Meyerbeer's swan song to Italy and was his finest triumph there. Meyerbeer grew up in Germany and then journeyed to Italy in 1816. He hoped to learn to compose Italian operas after the manner of Spontini and Rossini, but his success far surpassed either of them. The Italians were so enthusiastic at Il Crociato's premiere that they literally mobbed him after the performance, followed him to his home, and made him appear before them waving from his balcony like a dignitary. The opera became an international success and remained in the repertoire of Italian opera houses for years afterwards. Meyerbeer had learned how to combine the melodic flowing style of the Italians with the grander orchestrations and instrumentations of the German operatic school, and the result was an overwhelming operatic victory.

Il Crociato in Egitto is in many respects conservative for the time. It was the last opera written with a castrato in the lead male role. By Meyerbeer's time it was much more usual to have the male lead played by a female with a low voice, and soon the heroic tenor would supplant even the pants roles of Meyerbeer's day. Giovanni Battista Velluti created the role of Armando. He was one of the last of the great castrati, and a master of elaborate, improvised ornamentation. In the original score, the cadenzas and ornaments are not written out, but left up to the taste and discretion of the lead performers. Only later would Meyerbeer add cadenzas and ornamentation of his own. Il Crociato in Egitto was also one of the last operas to make extensive use of secco recitativo. After the first production, Meyerbeer wrote recitative with orchestral accompaniment, but his original intention was a conservative and even dated sound that had the recitatives accompanied only by the harpsichord in the pit.

As in most of Meyerbeer's very successful major operas, religion plays an important role in the plot of the libretto, which even contains a conversion scene. He uses different choral groups to signify the different groups of people in the opera, and wrote them contrasting music, with differing moods and instrumentation. Because there is a large cast of Arabians in the libretto, he composed music with an "oriental" sound, using high reed instruments such as the piccolo clarinetto and the quartino. At different times in the opera, he placed various instruments on stage, such as trumpets, snare drums, and entire wind bands. As many as four different groups on stage plus the instruments in the pit helped Meyerbeer create spatial sounds to dramatic effect.

The introduction to Il Crociato is very innovative and unusual. There is no overture. Rather, the opera opens with a sinfonia played while the curtain is raised. The music accompanies a pantomime on stage that represents the trials of the Christian slaves and their Arabian overseers. Interpolated into this introduction are two formally original cabalettas for Palmide and Aladino, which are woven around the arrival of the Cavaliers of Rhodes. The Cavaliers are heralded by trumpet fanfare on stage, massed choruses, and expectant soloists. Gaetano Rossi, the librettist for Il Crociato, termed this type of introduction an "Introduction alla Meyerbeer", both for its grandeur and incredibly expanded form.

Il Crociato in Egitto was Meyerbeer's introduction to the Paris stage, where he longed to triumph finally and unequivocally. It opened there in 1825 at the Theatre-Italien, and was also a resounding success with the French public.



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