Ciro in Babylonia, an opera con coro in two acts, was composed by Rossini the year following his first major success on the stage. L'Inganno Felice had proved, in Venice, a smashing success, and had earned for the young composer the reputation of a rising star. Ciro in Babylonia was written for the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara, and premiered there on March 14, 1812. Rossini took a libretto based on the Biblical story of the feast of Balshazzar in an attempt to get around the papal proscriptions against performing opera during Lent. The resulting work is part oratorio and part opera, with enough of a moral to satisfy the authorities that the piece was edifying and uplifting, and enough glitter and glitz to be entertaining. The libretto is by Francesco Aventi, and not particularly well written. There is little opportunity for the composer to show off his skills as a musician or dramatist. And Rossini was said to have noted later that even the cast left something to be desired. One of the seconda donnas of the company, Anna Savinelli, was said to have had, by Rossini's standards, an indecently bad voice. By his accounts, she only had one good note in her entire vocal range, that of middle B flat. So he composed her one aria all on that note, and gave the rest of the music of the piece to the orchestra.

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