Act One

The story takes place in Babylon, eighth century B.C. Outside the Temple of Baal, a crowd has assembled to await announcement by Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, of her choice for successor to King Nino, who, unknown to the public, was murdered by her and Prince Assur. The pair also attempted to kill her son Arsace 15 years earlier, and he is now commander of the Assyrian army. They are unaware that the popular Arsace is Semiramide's son. Assur waits inside the temple, with hopes he will ascend to the throne. He fears the high priest Oroe, however, who stands at the altar, for the secrets he may know. The Indian Prince Idreno also waits inside to receive the gods' countenancing of his love for Princess Azema.



As Semiramide arrives, the huge sacred flame on the altar glitters, but suddenly explodes before extinguishing. Arsace soon appears and presents a casket of belongings from King Nino (whom he does not know was his father) to high priest Oroe. The young commander, who is also in love with Princess Azema, confronts Assur, telling him he will not acknowledge him as King if he is chosen.



Semiramide happily greets Arsace in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. She talks of Assur's untrustworthy character but erroneously concludes Arsace is in love with her, not Azema.



At the palace Semiramide at last proclaims the King—Arsace, who will also become her husband. Assur becomes enraged at the news, while Arsace is dismayed. Later, as Idreno is about to marry Azema, the ghost of King Nino appears and announces that Arsace will indeed take the throne, but that atonement for past crimes must be made. Further, Arsace must make a sacrifice to the King's ashes.



Act Two

Semiramide and Assur quarrel in the palace, the former threatening to reveal the latter's misdeeds.



Oroe, about to lead Arsace to his father's tomb, informs him that he is the son of King Nino and Semiramide and that the King was slain by Semiramide and Assur. Arsace can accept the execution of Assur, but hopes for mercy for his mother.



In her private chambers Arsace tells Semiramide he is aware of her crimes. She is repentant and offers to give her life for her actions, but Arsace declares that he loves her as his mother.



By King Nino's tomb, Assur learns that Oroe has exposed his misdeeds. Determined to murder Arsace, he turns mad for a time, but gradually grows almost repentant for his crimes. Arsace enters King Nino's monument, followed by Semiramide and Assur. The latter attacks Arsace, who misdirects a fatal blow and strikes Semiramide, who dies as the people celebrate Arsace's ascension to the throne.

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Act 1 - 1.Sinfonia

Composed in 1823, Semiramide was Rossini's last opera written for the Italian stage; henceforth he would work in Paris. Its sizable overture is one of his two or three most popular and has maintained its place in the orchestral repertoire even as the opera fell into temporary disuse. The piece is one of the most Beethovenian of the Rossini overtures, from the weighty block of D major with which it opens, to the idyllic horn passage that follows, to the dramatic minor episode subtly derived from the horn passage, to the extended architecture of the main Allegro section and the momentum it generates through judiciously placed syncopations. The opening of the piece is really just one of the typical crescendo passages that occur in almost every Rossini overture, but it is exceptional in being placed at the beginning. The slow section of the Semiramide overture, with its well-made shift from major to minor, is linked musically with one of the opera's dramatic high points—an unusual procedure for Rossini. In general the heft of the overture matches the seriousness of the opera as a whole, adapted from a 1748 tragedy by Voltaire that also furnished the story of the English opera from which the song "Home, Sweet Home" is taken.

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