Antonio e Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra
Opera by Samuel Barber
The Metropolitan Opera House, opened with this opera
Librettist	Franco Zeffirelli
Based on	Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
Premiere	September 16, 1966 (1966-09-16) Metropolitan Opera, New York

Antony and Cleopatra, Op. 40, is an opera in three acts by American composer Samuel Barber. The libretto was prepared by Franco Zeffirelli. It was based on the play Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare and made use of Shakespeare's language exclusively.

The opera was first performed on September 16, 1966, commissioned for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. After an unsuccessful premiere, the opera was extensively revised by Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti in an edition first performed in 1975.

For the world premiere—also the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House—no expense was spared, with the creative team including Zeffirelli himself directing and designing the production. The team included revolutionary choreographer Alvin Ailey, conductor Thomas Schippers and a top rate cast headed by Leontyne Price as Cleopatra. Condensing Shakespeare's text from five acts in over forty scenes to three acts over three hours, Zeffirelli preserved much of the speaking style of the original tragedy. The stage design and costumes were elaborate; the cast was enormous including 22 principal singers, a full chorus, dozens of extras and a troupe of ballet dancers- a company of 400 performers on stage (Fiedler 2003, 56–69). Quickly utilizing the limits of the cutting-edge technology of the new opera house, the mammoth production was not without problems. A technical error during early rehearsals broke the house's new turntable, causing the entire production to be restaged with movable scenery units. A large hydraulic pyramid of steel, brass and aluminium dominated the stage with fold up sides that famously trapped Price during the dress rehearsal.