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Gustavo III

Music by Giuseppe Verdi · premiered 2002 · at Göteborgsoperan

Gustavo III is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto begun in early 1857 by the Italian playwright Antonio Somma. Never performed as written, the libretto was later revised (or proposed to be revised) several times under two additional names – Una vendetta in dominò and Adelia degli Adimari – during which the setting was changed to vastly different locations.

Eventually, it was agreed that it could be called Un ballo in maschera, the name by which it is known today, but Verdi was forced to accept that the location of the story would have to be Colonial Boston.

This setting became the "standard" one until the mid-20th Century. Most productions today locate the action in Sweden. However, a "hypothetical reconstruction" of Gustavo III under its original name was performed by the Gothenburg Opera in Sweden during the 2002/03 season.

Text from the Wikipedia article "Gustavo III (Verdi)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the Composer

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( VAIR-dee, Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi]; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the modern province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron named Antonio Barezzi. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti, whose works significantly influenced him. He was also strongly influenced by the French Grand opera style, particularly Giacomo Meyerbeer and Gaspare Spontini. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated sympathy with the…

Text from the Wikipedia article "Giuseppe Verdi", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Other Operas by Giuseppe Verdi