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Food for Thought
Giuseppe Verdi's 'Un ballo in maschera',
considered by MARIA NOCKIN
In 1856, an executive from the Teatro San Carlo in Naples offered Giuseppe Verdi a contract for an opera in February of the following year on the subject of Shakespeare's King Lear. Verdi and librettist Antonio Somma had worked on it for some time, so the composer accepted the contract, but he was concerned about the quality of singers at the San Carlo. As time grew short, he realized that the company's singers would not be acceptable for his project. In September of 1857, he suggested using the story of Daniel Auber's very successful 1833 opera, Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué for the unfulfilled contract...
Copyright © 31 December 2012
Maria Nockin,
Arizona USA
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