La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito (as Tobia Gorrio), based on Angelo, Tyrant of Padua, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835. (This is the same source as Gaetano Rossi had used for his libretto for Mercadante's Il giuramento in 1837).

First performed in 1876, La Gioconda was a major success for Ponchielli, as well as the most successful new Italian opera between Verdi's Aida (1871) and Otello (1887). It is also a famous example of the Italian genre of Grande opera, the equivalent of French Grand-Opéra.

Ponchielli revised the work several times; the version that is played today was first given in 1880. There are several complete recordings of the opera, and it is regularly performed, especially in Italy. It is one of only a few operas that features a principal role for each of the six major voice types.

Cast:

La gioconda - Zinka Milanov

Laura Adorno - Rosalind Elias

Alvise Badoero - Plinio Clabassi

La cieca - Belén Amparán

Enzo Grimaldo - Giuseppe di Stefano

Barnaba - Leonard Warren

Zuàne - Fernando Valentini

Un cantore - Virgilio Carbonari

Isèpo - Giacomo Cottino

Un pilota - Fernando Valentini

Un barnabotto - Virgilio Carbonari

Coro e Orchestra de l'Accademia di Santa Cecilia,

Fernando Previtali – condcutor

Recorded by DECCA for RCA in Italy

Recorded in 1957