Fernand Cortez (Blu-ray)

After his Neapolitan training Gaspare Spontini settled in Paris for a few years, where he was nominated "compositeur particulier de la chambre" of Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife. It was indeed Napoleon who, in 1808, commissioned him the opera, Fernand Cortez, ou La conquete du Mexique, of which he attended the 28th November 1809 premiere. The strongly idealized figure of Cortez, presented as...