Il corsaro (The Corsair or The Pirate) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Lord Byron's 1814 poem The Corsair. The first performance was given at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on October 25, 1848.
Lord Byron's poetry, divided into cantos (like Dante's Divine Comedy), narrates the story of the corsair or privateer Conrad, how he was in his youth rejected by society because of his actions and his later fight against humanity (excepting women). In this tale the figure of the Byronic hero emerges, "that man of loneliness and mystery", who perceives himself a "villain", an anti-hero.
The opera Il corsaro by Giuseppe Verdi, the overture Le Corsaire by Hector Berlioz, and the ballet Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam were based on this work.
Many Americans believed that Lord Byron's poem "The Corsair" was based on the life of the pirate Jean Lafitte.

Cast
Corrado - Jose Carreras
Medora - Jessye Norman
Gulnara - Montserrat Caballe
Seid - Gian-Piero Mastromei
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Ambrosian Singers
Lamberto Gardelli - conductor
DECCA - 1976