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'Un Ballo' Returns Home
GIUSEPPE PENNISI reviews
Verdi in Rome
Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera on a libretto by Antonio Somma based on a drama by Eugène Scribe had a long and complicated history before being staged at Rome's Teatro Apollo in 1859: its plot is based on the actual stabbing of the King of Sweden, Gustav III, during a masked ball in 1792. This was a difficult and tricky topic in a country like Italy divided into many different kingdoms, especially after an Italian conspirator had tried to throw a bomb on the carriage of the Emperor of France, Napoleon III, in Paris in 1856. As a matter of fact, before then, Scribe's drama had been set to music by Auber, Mercadante and others without too many problems.
After trying several theatres, Rome accepted the opera but requested that the plot be set on a different continent (in Boston, America) and that the King be downgraded to a Governor...
Copyright © 20 October 2016
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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