It is not certain when exactly Zingarelli wrote Ero, a Monologo for soprano, but the piece is likely to have emerged in the early years of the 19th century, when Zingarelli was back from Paris and, at least in terms of secular music, still keen to experiment with “advanced” musical modes, in particular taking account of the vogue for sentimental drama that had invaded Naples under French influences. The librettist, Gaspare Mollo, duca di Lusciano (1754–1823), was a Neapolitan magistrate and famous poetic improvvisatore, in this sense with a literary career clearly linked to the sentimental vogue. […] The vocal line and musical accompaniment, although mostly made up of conventional figures, are unusual in the rapidity of their changing textures; these are brought about as the music constantly attempts to respond to the copious stage directions which are such a prominent and original feature of Ero.

Vocal range: middle. Vocal extension: b♭ – g''