1822 was a landmark year for Gioacchino Rossini. In the month of February, Zelmira, his last opera for the Neapolitan stage, was premiered to great critical and public acclaim. The opera created quite a stir in Naples because of its highly Germanic compositional style. In March of the same year, Rossini married the soprano coloratura star for whom he had composed many of his leading roles. He and Isabella Colbran tied the knot shortly before they left Naples for Vienna. The famous Impresario Domenico Barbaja had formed an Italian opera company which he took to Vienna to perform Italian opera for the German speaking public there. Rossini and Colbran went with the company, and Rossini provided them with new operas. In April of 1822, Zelmira opened the Viennese operatic season, and won for Rossini international acclaim. The Germanic compositional style won over the Viennese public immediately. Zelmira was produced in Vienna at the same time as Carl Maria von Weber's der Freischütz was produced in Berlin, and the Italian opera composer's work was every bit as popular as the German's. In 1824, it was produced at the King's Theater in London, and in 1826, Zelmira opened in Paris. Each performance had its own cast and the opera was rewritten and adjusted accordingly.

The libretto for Zelmira is taken from an old French play by Dormont de Belloy, and written into an opera text by Andrea Leone Tottola. The libretto is mediocre at best. The opera's music, which is not as adventuresome as Rossini's other Neapolitan operas, is still very richly orchestrated and contains many fine moments. The Finale primo is one of the grandest ever written by Rossini. The original Zelmira was played by Colbran, and as a consequence the vocal writing is richly embellished with coloratura passages. Florid vocal writing suited Colbran's singing style and showed her vocal skills to their finest advantage. Giuditta Pasta took the lead role in Paris. Her voice was one of many timbres. She had a rich bottom range, and could sing dramatically and expressively. Rossini added an aria specifically for Pasta during the prison scene in the opera, just to showcase her dramatic talents. Much of the recitative of the opera was cut for Paris, and the finale was turned into an ensemble. An elaborate cadenza for the tenor voice of Rubini is one of the highlights of the new finale. The two stars were given equal time and appropriate vehicles with which to show off their voices to the Parisian public.

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