L'Alpino

a WW1 opera by

Carlo Diacono

Composed during the years 1916-1918,  L'Alpino is most probably the only opera written during World War 1 with the war itself as background to a passionate verismo tragic love story.

Carlo Diacono’s opera is set during the  World War 1, more specifically during the series of major historical battles fought by the Italian army against the Austro-Hungarians and Germans on the Carnic Prealps. During WW1,  Italy was allied to the United Kingdom, France and Russia against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

These battles that took the life of more than a million soldiers, three quarters of whom from the Italian side, were taking place during the years when L’Alpino was being written, rehearsed and eventually performed with a "successo colossale" at the Royal Opera House in Valletta in 1918.