Un ballo in maschera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article has a list of references or other websites, but its sources are not clear because it does not have inline citations. (March 2012) |
Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) is an Italian opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, on a libretto by Antonio Somma, based on Eugène Scribe's Gustave III ou Le Bal Masqué. It was first performed at the Teatro Appollo in Rome, on February 17, 1859. One of Verdi's richest middle-period works, it relates the events surrounding the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, but because of censorship, the story was transposed to 17th century Boston, with Gustav becoming an English governor, Richard of Warwick. Nowadays, most productions present the opera in its original Swedish setting.
Principal characters[change]
- Gustavo/Riccardo - tenor
- Amelia - soprano
- Renato - baritone
- Ulrica - mezzo-soprano
- Oscar - soprano
- Samuel - bass
- Tom - bass
- Silvano - baritone
Sources[change]
- The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta, James Anderson, Wings Books, 1993.
