Editing Historical fiction (section)

====Opera====
{{main|grand opera|opera}}
One of the first operas to use historical events and people is [[Claudio Monteverdi]]'s [[L'incoronazione di Poppea]], which was first performed in [[Venice]] during the 1643 carnival season. it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman [[emperor Nero]], is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. The opera was revived in Naples in 1651, but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s, the opera has been performed and recorded many times. [[George Frederick Handel]] also wrote several operas based on historical characters, including ''[[Giulio Cesare]]'' (1724), ''[[Tamerlano]]'' (1724) and ''[[Rodelinda (opera)|Rodelinda]]'' (1725).

Historical subjects for operas also developed during the 19th century. Usually with 4 or 5 acts, they are large-scale casts and orchestras, and spectacular staging. Several operas by [[Gaspare Spontini]], [[Luigi Cherubini]], and [[Gioachino Rossini]] can be regarded as precursors to French [[grand opera]]. These include Spontini's ''[[La vestale]]'' (1807) and ''[[Fernand Cortez]]'' (1809, revised 1817), Cherubini's ''[[Les Abencérages]]'' (1813), and Rossini's ''[[Le siège de Corinthe]]'' (1827) and ''[[Mosè in Egitto|Moïse et Pharaon]]'' (1828). All of these have some of the characteristics of size and spectacle that are normally associated with French grand opera. Another important forerunner was ''[[Il crociato in Egitto]]'' by [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]], who eventually became the acknowledged king of the grand opera genre. Amongst the most important opera composers on historical topics are [[Giuseppe Verdi]], and [[Richard Wagner]].

Russian composers also wrote operas based on historical figures, including ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' by [[Modest Mussorgsky]] (1839–1881), which was composed between 1868 and 1873, and is considered his masterpiece.<ref>Calvocoressi, Abraham (1974: pp. 98, 138){{full citation needed|date=October 2023}}</ref><ref>Brown (1986: p 31)</ref> Its subjects are the Russian ruler [[Boris Godunov]], who reigned as [[Tsar]] (1598 to 1605). Equally famous is [[Alexander Borodin]]'s ''[[Prince Igor]]'', the libretto for which the composer developed from the Ancient Russian [[epic (genre)|epic]] ''The Lay of Igor's Host'', which recounts the campaign of [[Rus' (people)|Rus]] prince [[Igor Svyatoslavich]] against the invading [[Cuman]] ("Polovtsian") tribes in 1185.<ref>Abraham, G. and Lloyd-Jones, D. (1986) "Alexander Borodin" in Brown, D. (ed.) The New Grove: Russian Masters 1, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., pp. 45–76.</ref>