Friday, October 26, 2012Sunday, October 28, 2012Overture Hall

Ball

AMasked

Verdi

Exploring the Opera Student Matinee Study Guide

1 • A Masked Ball guide

Contents2 | A Day at the Opera: What to Expect3 | A Masked Ball: Cast & Characters4 | A Masked Ball: Synopsis5 | The Composer: Giuseppe Verdi 7 | Historical Context 9 | Music10 | Verdi and the Censors: Getting the Opera to Stage11 | Character Assassination: The Life and Death of the Real King Gustav III13 | Verdi and Gustav III: Fact vs. Fiction14 | A Masked Ball: What To Listen For16 | Curtain Up! Putting on An Opera

Bonus: Click/Read/Watch/Listen — Educational links, video excerpts, recommended recordings, and POPera connections for A Masked Ball.

Photo courtesy of Lyric Opera of Kansas City, from their production of A Masked Ball (2010).

Acknowledgements for Resources and Assistance in creating this Guide:A Dictionary of the Drama by W. Davenport Adams (1904); Opera Themes and Plots by Rudolph Fellner (1958); The Metropolitan Opera; Operavore; The National Giuseppe Verdi Museum online; Gustav III of Sweden: The Forgotten Despot of the Age of Enlightenment by A.D. Harvey (History Today Vol: 53 Issue 12).

A Masked Ball guide • 2

A Day at the OperaWhat to ExpectOpera is an exciting theatrical form that combines music, drama, visual art, and movement to tell a story on stage. Originating in Renaissance Italy, opera is over 400 years old. Many people are unsure what to expect at an opera and avoid attending because they are afraid of doing something wrong. Let’s take a moment to bust some of the myths surrounding opera:

1 Opera is boring.

Not true! Opera is a multi-sensory experience, entertaining the eyes and ears as well as the brain and the heart. Opera uses powerful voices and spectacular costumes and scenery to tell stories of love, vengeance, murder, deception, triumph, and even magic.

2 Opera is not for young people.

Not true! Generation X and Generation Y, who are under 40, are the fastest growing audience for opera. Like their parents before them, they want to be entertained. Whatever your age, opera offers something for everyone.

3 Opera is sung in a language I won’t understand.

Most operas are performed in languages other than English, but never fear— you will know exactly what’s going on. We project English translations, called supertitles, above the stage. Like subtitles in a foreign film, supertitles let you know what the characters are saying. You don’t have to be fluent in a foreign language to know what’s happening in an opera.

4 Fancy clothes are required to attend the opera.

Not true! There is no dress code to attend an opera. Our patrons attend the opera in everything from jeans to ball gowns. You should wear whatever makes you comfortable (though you might want to wear something nicer than torn pants and a t-shirt).

Now that we’ve corrected those myths, here are a few tips to make your visit to the opera even more enjoyable:

Get some background! While there will be production notes in the opera playbill, you can always Google information about the opera beforehand, and check out Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to learn more. Reading this guide will also help prepare you for A Masked Ball, and you can visit www.madisonopera.org to learn more about opera.

Quiet, please! Refrain from talking or whispering during the opera. It is distracting to your fellow audience members, as well as the performers on stage.

Turn it off! If you have anything that can make a noise, turn it off. This includes cell phones, pagers, watch chimes, and other alarms. You don’t want your electronics to interrupt the show by making a racket.

For your eyes only! Cameras, video, or sound recording devices are not permitted. Not only are they distracting to everyone, recording the opera is prohibited.

Applaud! When the maestro, or conductor, steps onto the podium at the beginning of the show, it is customary to applaud. But that’s not the only time you get to clap— if you enjoy what’s happening, let it be known! Applaud at the end of songs, called arias, and at the end of scenes. You can also call out “bravo” (to the men on stage), “brava” (to the women) and “bravi” (for the ensemble) if you really like their performance.

3 • A Masked Ball guide

A Masked BallCast & CharactersThe Italian title for Verdi’s A Masked Ball is Un Ballo in Maschera (oon ball-oh in mass-care-uh). A Masked Ball is based on a real historical event, the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, but is heavily fictionalized. These are the main characters:

Gustav III (goo-stahv)The King of Sweden Voice type: tenor

Christiano (chris-tee-ah-no)A sailor whom the King uses to convince a crowd of Ulrica’s powers. Voice type: baritone

Ulrica (oohl-re-kah)A fortune-teller.Voice type: mezzo-soprano

Oscar (OH-skar)The King’s page. The role of Oscar is what is known as a ‘pants role’.Voice type: soprano

Amelia (ah-meel-yuh)Anckarström’s wife. Amelia and the King are in love.Voice type: soprano

Count RibbingA courtier involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the King.Voice type: bass

Count de HornA courtier involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the King.Voice type: bass

Opera voice typesThere are 5 basic voice types in the European classical system: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, and

bass. As training for singers changed over the centuries, so too did the basic voices. Here are some common

descriptions of operatic voice types:

Range Male FemaleHighest Countertenor Coloratua SopranoHigh Tenor SopranoMidrange Baritone Mezzo-sopranoLow Bass Contralto

Nearly all of these voice types have subcategories. For instance, a ‘soprano’ may be any one of the following:

Coloratura sopranoSpinto sopranoLyric soprano

Dramatic soprano

The subcategories do not refer to an actual voice type, but describe the repertoire at which the singer is most adept.

Every voice is unique, possessing its own quality and musical color, and every singer’s capabilities are different.

Some opera singers are able to sing across voice types and defy easy categorization.

Many opera composers had a favorite voice or voices for which they wrote most of their music. The composer Giuseppe Verdi is credited with codifying the distinction

between a ‘baritone’ and a ‘bass’; many of his pieces focused on the baritone voice type over the bass.

Anckarström (ahn-car-strewm)The King’s secretary, as well as best friend and confidant.Voice type: baritone

A pants role is a male character portrayed by a

female singer. Often these roles are those of adolescent

males, for which a higher vocal range is needed than

adult male singers can provide.

A Masked Ball guide • 4

A Masked BallSweden, 1792.

Synopsis

The assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden was an actual event. However, Verdi added elements to his opera that have no basis in King

Gustav III’s life. Read more about it on pg. 13.

ACT ICourtiers await an audience with King Gustav III, including a group of conspirators led by Counts de Horn and Ribbing. The King notices the name of Amelia, wife of his secretary and friend Anckarström, on the guest list for a masked ball, and thinks about his secret love for her. Left alone with Gustav, Anckarström warns the King of a conspiracy against him, but Gustav ignores the threat. The page Oscar tells the King about the fortuneteller Ulrica, who has been accused of witchcraft and is to be banished. Deciding to see for himself, the King arranges for his court to pay an incognito visit to Ulrica.

In a warehouse, Ulrica invokes prophetic spirits and tells the sailor Christiano that he will soon become wealthy and receive a promotion. The King, who has arrived in disguise, slips money and papers into Christiano’s pockets. When the sailor discovers his good fortune, everybody praises Ulrica’s abilities. Gustav hides as she sends her visitors away to admit Amelia, who is tormented by her love for the King and asks for help. Ulrica tells her that she must gather a magic herb at night by the gallows. When Amelia leaves, Gustav decides to follow her there. Oscar and members of the court enter, and the King asks Ulrica to read his palm. She tells him that he will die by the hand of a friend. Gustav laughs at the prophecy and demands to know the name of the assassin. Ulrica replies that it will be the first person that shakes his hand. When Anckarström rushes in, Gustav clasps his hand, saying that the oracle has been disproved since Anckarström is his most loyal friend. Recognizing their king, the crowd cheers him as the conspirators grumble their discontent.

ACT IIAmelia arrives at the gallows and prays that she will be freed of her love for the King. When Gustav appears, she asks him to leave, but ultimately they admit their love for each other. Amelia hides her face when Anckarström interrupts them, warning the King that assassins are nearby. Gustav makes Anckarström promise to escort the woman back to the city without lifting her veil, then escapes. Finding Anckarström instead of their intended victim, the conspirators make ironic remarks about his veiled companion. When Amelia realizes that her husband will fight rather than break his promise to

Gustav, she drops her veil to save him. The conspirators are amused and make fun of Anckarström for his embarrassing situation. Anckarström, shocked by the King’s betrayal, asks Horn and Ribbing to come to his house the next morning.

ACT IIIIn his study, Anckarström threatens to kill Amelia. She asks to see their young son before she dies. After she has left, Anckarström exclaims that is it the King on whom he should seek vengeance, not Amelia. Horn and Ribbing arrive, and Anckarström tells them that he will join the conspirators. The men decide to draw lots to determine who will kill the King, and Anckarström forces his wife to choose from the slips of paper. When his own name comes up, he is overjoyed. Oscar enters, bringing an invitation to the masked ball. As the assassins welcome this chance to execute their plan, Amelia decides to warn the King.

Gustav, alone in his study, resolves to renounce his love and send Amelia and Anckarström to Finland. Oscar brings an anonymous letter warning him of the murder plot, but the King refuses to be intimidated and leaves for the masquerade. In the ballroom, Anckarström tries to learn from Oscar what costume the King is wearing. The page answers evasively, but finally reveals Gustav’s disguise. Amelia and the King meet, and she repeats her warning. Refusing to leave, he declares his love one more time and tells her that he is sending her away with her husband. As the lovers say goodbye, Anckarström stabs the King. The dying Gustav forgives his murderer and admits that he loved Amelia but assures Anckarström that his wife is innocent. The crowd praises the King’s goodness and generosity.

5 • A Masked Ball guide

The ComposerGiuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born October 10, 1813 in the village of Le Roncole, which was then part of Napoleon’s Kingdom of Italy. It can be difficult to separate fact from fiction in the composer’s history, due in no small part to Verdi’s own penchant for romanticizing his life. For instance, Verdi enjoyed presenting himself as the son of illiterate peasants, a humble upbringing from which he dragged himself to glory. In truth, his father Carlo was a modest but literate innkeeper, and his mother Luigia a spinner in a textile factory. They were not wealthy, but both Carlo and Luigia came from families of landowners and traders. Carlo was able to invest heavily in Verdi’s education, including private instruction with local priests. On Verdi’s seventh birthday, Carlo gave him a spinet. Soon, Verdi was substituting as organist at the local church and became the permanent organist at the age of nine.

In 1823, the family moved to Busseto. The metropolitan area permitted Verdi access to a broader range of educational opportunities and he spent much of his time at the enormous Jesuit library. At age eleven, Verdi entered the ginnasio (secondary school) where he received training in Latin, Italian, rhetoric, and humanities. In 1825, Verdi began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, choirmaster at San Bartolomeo in Busseto and director of the municipal music school and the local Philharmonic Society. Over the next six years, Verdi produced hundreds of band marches, several symphonies, a half dozen concertos, and a number of variations for pianoforte, serenades, cantatas, and church music. His musical ambitions were enthusiastically supported by Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy local merchant and amateur musician. It was in Barezzi’s home in 1830 that Verdi gave the first public performance of one of his compositions. In May 1831, Verdi moved into the Barezzi house to act as musical tutor to Barezzi’s daughter Margherita. The two fell in love and became engaged.

In 1832, with Barezzi’s financial support and the promise of a scholarship Carlo secured from a charitable institution, Verdi went to Milan to complete his studies.

Verdi’s application to enroll at the Milan Conservatory was rejected, due in part to his being four years too old and not a Milan resident, but also because of his unorthodox piano technique. Though the young composer was discouraged, Barezzi sponsored Verdi’s private study with Vincenzo Lavigna who had for many years been choirmaster at La Scala. In 1834, Verdi assisted at the keyboard in performances of Haydn’s Creation given by a Milanese Philharmonic Society directed by Pietro Massini. A year later, Massini and Verdi

co-directed performances of Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola. In 1836, Verdi returned to Busetto and married Margherita. He directed and composed for the local Philharmonic Society and supplemented his income by giving private lessons. He and Margherita had two children during their marriage, Virginia and Icilio Romano. Both children died in infancy while Verdi was at work on his first opera, Oberto (1839). The opera opened to success at La Scala in Milan, and the manager Bartolomeo Merelli offered Verdi a contract for three more works. While Verdi was working on his second opera Un giorno di regno (A One Day Reign) in 1940, Margherita died of encephalitis at the age of 26. Verdi was devastated by the deaths of his young family in the span of only three years, and his sorrow was compounded by the failure of Un giorno di regno. In despair, Verdi vowed to give up musical composition, but Merelli persuaded him to write Nabucco. Verdi’s third opera opened to critical and popular acclaim in March 1842, and rocketed him to fame.

The fourteen years that followed (which Verdi called his “galley years”) saw the composer produce 14 new operas, including I Lombardi (1843) and Macbeth (1847). During this time he began an affair with Giuseppina Strepponi, a soprano nearing the end of her career who had starred in many of Verdi’s operas. Strepponi’s demanding performance scheduled eventually cost her voice. After being booed off stage in 1845, she semi-retired, confining her performances to roles in Verdi’s operas. They married in 1859, and their marriage was a happy one.

A Masked Ball guide • 6

Verdi’s prolific galley years came to an end around the time of his second marriage. While no longer as productive, the composer went on to compose some of his most well-known operas, including Rigoletto in 1851,and Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) and La traviata (The Fallen Woman) in 1853. Each of these operas was a magnificent success, and Verdi received a number of commissions from opera houses throughout Europe. Between 1855 and 1867, Verdi composed Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) in 1859, La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny) commissioned in 1861 but not performed until 1862, a revised version of Macbeth in 1865, Les vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) in 1855, Don Carlos in 1867, and Simon Boccanegra in 185.

The death of fellow Italian composer Rossini in 1868 spurred Verdi to compose a portion of a requiem to honor Rossini’s memory. Verdi’s Libera me (Deliver me) was one of thirteen compositions in a collaborative requiem entitled Messa per Rossini. Politics and personal conflict led to the project being abandoned, and the completed Messa per Rossini would not premiere until 1988. Verdi revised Libera me for use in the Messa da Requiem (1874), a memorial composition for Italian writer and humanist Alessandro Manzoni.

While working on the Requiem, Verdi composed and premiered Aida (1871). The opera was an enormous and instant success. Following Aida, Verdi had a relatively quiet period during which he composed for a string quartet and revised several of his prior operas. He composed two new operas during this time: Otello (1887) and his final opera, Falstaff (1893). Following the run of Falstaff, Verdi retired to a country home in Busseto with Giuseppina, who died four years later in 1897.

Verdi spent his last years in Milan, where he was visited regularly by friends and admirers. While staying at the Grand Hotel et de Milan, Verdi had a debilitating stroke. He grew steadily weaker and died six days later on January 27, 1901. Verdi was given a state funeral in which orchestras and choirs throughout Italy amassed to remember him in what remains the largest public assembly in Italy’s history.

Verdi’s final resting place is the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a rest home for retired musicians that Verdi established in 1896. The rest home is still in existence, and was the chief beneficiary of his will. Of the home, Verdi once wrote:

“Of all my works, that which pleases me the most is the Casa that I had built in Milan to shelter elderly singers who have not been favoured by fortune, or who when they were young did not have the virtue of saving their money. Poor and dear companions of my life!”

Antonio Barezzi

Margherita Barezzi

Giuseppina Strepponi

Casa di Riposo per Musicisti

7 • A Masked Ball guide

Historical context1813 Verdi is born.

Rubber is patented.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is published.

1814 Francis Scott Key publishes the poem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

1816 René Laennec invents the stethoscope.

1818 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is published.

The U.S. Congress adopts the stars and stripes as the official national flag.

1820 The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.

The Venus de Milo statue is discovered on the Greek island of Milos.

1821 Napoleaon Bonaparte dies in exile on Saint Helena of stomach cancer.

1822 Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion decipher hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone.

The ban on coffee in Sweden, of which King Gustav III was a staunch supporter, is finally lifted after seventy-six years.

1823 Eleven-year-old Franz Liszt gives a concert after which he is personally congratulated by Ludwig van Beethoven.

1824 The United States War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 premieres in Vienna.

1829 Cyrill Demian receives a patent for the accordion.

1830 Greece grants citizenship to Jews.

1831 Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is published.Verdi becomes a tutor in the Barezzi household.

1833 Anselme Payen discovers the enzyme diastase, heralding the dawn of biochemistry.

1836 The U.S. territory of Wisconsin is created.Verdi marries Margherita Barezzi.

1837 Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist begins serial publication.

Samuel Morse patents the telegraph.Louis Daguerre develops the daguerreotype.

1838 The people of the Cherokee Nation are forcibly relocated during the Trail of Tears.Proteins are discovered by Jöns Jakob Berzelius.Pitcairn Islands, a British colony in the Southern Pacific, gives women universal suffrage.

1839 Louis Daguerre takes the first photograph of Earth’s moon.Slaves aboard the Amistad rebel and capture the ship.

Verdi’s first opera, Oberto, opens in Milan.

Charles Goodyear vulcanizes rubber.

1840 Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La fille du régiment premieres in Paris.

1842 Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, premieres in Milan.Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation.

The Treaty of Nanking establishes Hong Kong as a British colony.

1843 Verdi’s I Lombardi premieres in Milan.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is published.

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart is published.

Ada Lovelace translates and expands Menabrea’s notes on Charles Babbage’s analytical engine, the precussor to computers.

1844 Verdi’s I due Foscari debuts in Rome.

1845 Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is published.

Ireland’s Great Famine begins.

Frederick Douglass’s autobiographical Narrative is published.

1847 Verdi’s Macbeth premieres in Florence.

Charlotte Brontë publishes Jane Eyre under the pen name of Currer Bell.

1848 Wisconsin becomes the 30th U.S. state.

1850 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is published.

Wagner’s opera Lohengrin premieres in Germany.

1851 The New York Times is founded.

1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.

A Masked Ball guide • 8

1876 Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call.

Richard Wagner inaugurates the Bayreuth Festival.

1858 Attempted assassination of Napoleon III in France.

1859 Verdi’s A Masked Ball premieres in Rome. Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities is published.Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.

1861 The American Civil War begins with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

The Kingdom of Italy is established.

1865 John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

The Thirteenth Amendment, which permanently abolishes slavery in the U.S., is approved and ratified by three quarters of the states.

1868 French geologist Louis Lartet discovers skeletons of the Cro-Magnon, the first early modern humans, in Dordogne, France

1869 Dmitri Mendeleev publishes the first version of the Period Table of the Elements.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.

The Suez Canal in Egypt is inaugurated. Verdi had been asked to compose an ode for its opening but declined, saying that he did not write “occasional pieces”.

1871 Rome becomes the capital of unified Italy. Verdi’s Aida premieres in Cairo.Thespis, the first Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, premieres in London.

1873 Levi Strauss & Co. begin manufacturing jeans.

1875 Bizet’s Carmen premieres in Paris.

1877 Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake debuts in Moscow.

1880 Wabash, Indiana becomes the first electrically lit city in the world.

1881 Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.Infamous gunfight at OK Corral occurs in Tombstone, AZ.

1883 Wagner dies of a heart attack in Venice. Verdi, his peer and rival, lamented: “Sad, sad, sad! ... a name that will leave a most powerful impression on the history of art.”

1885 The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor, a gift from France.

1886 Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.

Pharmacist Dr. John Stith Pemberton invents Coca-Cola.

1887 The construction of the Eiffel Tower’s foundations begins in Paris.

Verdi’s Otello premieres at La Scala in Milan.

1888 Handel’s Israel in Egypt is recorded onto wax cylinder at the Crystal Palace. It is the earliest known recording of classical music.Vincent van Gogh cuts off the lower part of his left ear.

1889 Vincent van Gogh paints Starry Night at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.Mahler’s First Symphony premieres.

1891 Carnegie Hall opens in New York, with its first public performance conducted by Tchaikovsky.

1892 Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States.Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet premieres in St. Petersburg.

1893 Verdi’s last opera, Falstaff, premieres in Rome.

1894 William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.

1896 Puccini’s La Bohème premieres in Italy.

1897 Teatro Massimo is inaugurated in Palermo. It is the largest opera theatre in Italy and the third largest in EuropeBram Stoker’s Dracula is published.

1898 Marie and Pierre Curie announce their discovery of radium.

1900 Puccini’s Tosca premieres in Rome.Gaetano Bresci assassinates King Umberto I of Italy.

1901 Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom dies.

Verdi dies.

9 • A Masked Ball guide

Verdi was a composer of the Romantic Era of classical music, dated roughly 1820 to 1900. In Italy, Romanticism in music was dominated by the bel canto style as established by Italian composers Gaetano Donizetti and Gioachino Rossini. Verdi’s early compositions were influenced by his predeccesors, particularly Donizetti. Over his career, Verdi’s compositional style became more refined, and he left the well-known conventions of Italian opera in favor of producing highly original and expressive works.

Verdi felt his compositional style was more uneducated than that of his peers, and relied on his natural melodic gift to inform his expression. He fully appreciated the value of the orchestra and used its powers to their full extent. Italian opera had long been dominated by traditional scenic elements, old-fashioned librettos, and emphasis on vocal displays; Verdi dedicated himself to unifying music and drama to tell engrossing stories. The composer was absorbed with plot and had a tendency to micromanage his librettists to ensure that the opera characters and story were brought fully to life.

Verdi’s operas have been criticized as overly melodramatic, but the composer freely admitted that his music was aimed at an audience composed of the general public rather than the musical elite. He was very picky about operatic topics, choosing only those tales he belived would engross the audience from first note to last. The composer once declared that his works should be “original, interesting...and passionate; passions above them all!”

Verdi’s operas are characterized by quick pacing, emotional extremes, and music that underscores drama and turmoil. Verdi employs duets, trios, and quartets to give the singers the most expressive moments possible. As Verdi aged and experienced more of life, his operas became increasingly unconventional, without the harsh divisions of musical moments common in other works and great continuity in musical moments. In the comic Falstaff, his final work, Verdi concludes with a carefree finale: a fugue declaring ‘All the world’s a joke!’

VERDI’S MAJOR OPERATIC WORKSIn addition to songs and choral works, Verdi wrote 37 operas during his lifetime. Here is a list of his most important operas:Nabucco (1842)I Lombardi (1843)Macbeth (1847)Rigoletto (1851)Il Trovatore (The Troubadour, 1853)La Traviata (The Fallen Woman, 1853)Simon Boccanegra (1857)Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball, 1859)Don Carlos (1867)Aida (1871)Otello (1887)Falstaff (1893)

VERDI IN POPULAR CULTUREEven if you have never been to an opera, you have probably heard some of opera’s most famous musical pieces in advertising, TV shows and movies, and in department stores. Doritos’s 2012 Super Bowl XLVI commercial “Sling Baby” used the familiar aria “La Donna È Mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

ll Trovatore has become one of popular culture’s most often referenced Verdi works. Gilbert and Sullivan musically spoof the opera’s Anvil Chorus in The Pirates of Penzance. The Marx Brothers had a particular affinity for the opera, particularly the Anvil Chorus, and it appears in three of their films: as cash register music in The Cocoanuts (1929), a humorous piano scene in Animal Crackers (1930), and as the operatic scene trying to happen onstage during A Night at the Opera (1935).

Verdi’s Music

What’s In A Name?Verdi lived during the

Risorgimento, the Italian unification movement. Themes of Italian

Nationalism are present in his music. His name was used as a codeword for popular

support of the leader of the Unification movement: ‘Viva VERDI’. Verdi stands for Vittorio Emanuele, Re D’Italia. The

phrase means ‘Long live Victor Emanuele, king of Italy’.

A Masked Ball guide • 10

Verdi spent the majority of his career at war with the censors. He used his operas to express his political opinions, particularly his desire to see the expulsion of the Austrians who ruled Milan and Venice. The subtext of Italian liberation from foreign rule lies in nearly every Verdi opera, particularly his early works. Verdi’s allegories of independence, personal liberty, and freedom were much beloved by the Italian citizenry. Verdi and his works often served as a rallying point for the Italian people and the dream of a unified and sovereign Italy, and ultimately led to a lifelong battle between the composor and the censors.

Prior to the establishment of Italy as a nation in 1861, Austrian-imposed law required all ideas for a new opera to be submitted for approval before a libretto could even be written; the libretto would then have to pass scrutiny. Verdi’s early operas Nabucco (1842) and I Lombardi (1843) were approved with little comment by the Milanese censors, but they provoked riots that surprised and horrified city officials. Thereafter, the censors began scrutinizing Verdi’s works to the very last note. Occasionally, however, the censors would miss subversive elements. For instance, Ezio, the Roman general in Attila (1846) says “Avrai tu l’universo, resti l’Italia a me”. The translation—“You may keep the universe, let Italy be mine.”— was a direct statement that Italy should be ruled by, and for, Italians. When the censors did eventually catch on, it made Verdi even less popular with them.

In many cases, the only reason Verdi managed to get his work to stage was due to the support of an Austrian censor named Martello, who was an avid opera lover and an admirer of Verdi. Martello compromised with Verdi and negotiated with his fellow censors to maintain as much of Verdi’s original material as possible. Martello’s power and interference stirred up even more ill-will with the censors, and the powder keg was fully primed for explosion by the time Verdi submitted his idea for A Masked Ball.

Regicide was always a hot-button issue in monarchical countries, but raised particular alarm during an era when violent social revolution was poised to erupt. Dreams of democracy were sweeping Europe, threatening the autocracies and the status quo. Everywhere on the continent was rebellion, insurrection, war, and

conspiracy. While A Masked Ball was in rehearsal, both King Ferdinand of Naples and Napoleon III narrowly escaped assassination attempts. Antonio Somma, Verdi’s librettist, was suspected of involvement in uprisings against Austrians in Venice and was under government surveillance. He eventually penned the libretto for A Masked Ball under a pseudonym, either out of fear for his life or because he was furious about the changes to the opera. In this dangerous atmosphere, Verdi made the alterations requested of him by the Neapolitan censors: he made the king to a duke, and moved the action to an earlier historical period. The censors then demanded more changes: that Amelia must be a sister and not a wife, the conspirators could now draw lots, and the murder must occur offstage.

Furious, Verdi refused to obey and withdrew his opera from Naples. He hoped for more freedom from the Roman censors, but met with the same demands with the additional requirement that the plot be moved out of Europe. In danger of losing his opera completely, Verdi had no choice but to bow to the censors. The opera action was relocated to 17th-century Boston and the king demoted to a colonial governor for the English Crown. It escaped everyone’s notice that Boston did not become a city until 1822 and that the English Crown never had a governor there while it ruled. In addition to the new setting, firearms were not permitted onstage, and many of the male characters had their names changed.

At long last approved by the censors, A Masked Ball premiered on February 17, 1859 in Rome. It quickly became popular, and remained so through the turbulent decade of unification that followed.

By 1870, with the censors deposed and Italy under sovereign rule, Verdi could have returned the opera to its original setting but never did. It continued to be set in Boston until a 1935 staging in Copenhagen which restored the original Swedish elements. It is now more common to see it staged as Verdi originally intended it: in Sweden, with its King.

Getting the Opera to StageVerdi and the Censors

11 • A Masked Ball guide

Gustav III of Sweden (1746-1792) was one of a handful of 18th-century rulers known as the Enlightened Despots, monarchs who employed the principles of the Enlightenment—such as religious tolerance, freedom of speech and the press, and the right to private property— to rule their territories. Gustav’s reign is overshadowed by those of his relatives Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine II of Russia, and Joseph II of Austria, but his assassination has inspired a number of novels, films, and stage works.

When Gustav took the throne in 1771, Sweden’s government was awash in corruption. The Riksdag, the Swedish Parliament, held political power and took advantage of Sweden’s Age of Liberty to abuse both the monarchy and the common people. The two warring factions of the Riksdag refused Gustav’s attempts at reconciliation and partnership. Frustrated, Gustav deposed the Riksdag through a coup d’état in 1772 that returned power to the Swedish monarchy and saved Sweden from losing its independence to Russia. Although Gustav’s swift action was popular with the people, it rankled many of the powerful ruling nobility. Anger and vengeance followed Gustav throughout his reign.

Though Gustav was not a well-educated monarch by the standards of the era, he was thoughtful and intelligent. He took day-to-day charge of nearly every aspect of his government. During the strongest years of his reign, he re-wrote the Constitution, stabilized the country’s currency and grew its dilapidated finances, reformed the criminal justice system, and instituted a new economic policy that gave Swedish merchants better and greater opportunities for international trade. Gustav dealt with the ministers of his government as often as possible, but had a habit of going directly and often secretly to middle- and low-ranking subordinates in order to achieve his goals. This behavior rankled even his supporters and flamed the fires of resentment in his Court.

Gustav held a great admiration for the arts, and his particular love was the theatre. He wrote several plays, and is today regarded as one of the finest Swedish dramatists of his age. He also acted, and commissioned a number of works in which he placed native performers to help bolster their careers. Gustav founded the Royal Theatre in 1773, which included the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Swedish Ballet; the Royal Dramatic

Theatre followed in 1788. Gustav’s most vital legacies were his contributions to the arts in Sweden, and his dedication to supporting and promoting Swedish artists. His influence is vibrantly apparent in Swedish culture today.

Gustav also paraded his love of the theatrical at Court. He enjoyed the lengthy and complex rituals, parties, ceremonies, and grand attires that went with being King. He wasted a good deal of time and money on cards, and would often hold meetings while embroidering bodices for the ladies of his Court. The nickname given him by history, The Theatre King, refers to both his patronage of the arts and his flamboyant nature. Gustav’s costly and pompous indulgences earned him the derision of his enemies, and became a point of contention for those who fell out of his graces (Gustav is said to have cared little for loyalty).

The King’s quirks, coupled with his Enlightened philosophy on ruling, made him popular with the common people. The middle years of Gustav’s reign are considered the ‘golden years’, when the Swedish King enacted his most socially progressive legislation and rescued Sweden from becoming a subject of Russia. As his reign continued, Gustav’s frivolities at Court, finicky relationships with friends and foes alike, constant battles with the Riksdag, and Sweden’s mounting financial debt to France and Russia caused the tide of Gustav’s popularity to ebb and flow.

By 1786, Gustav launched efforts to abolish the Parliament and began making decisions without their sanction. In 1788, the King declared war against Russia without the consent of the Riksdag. Russia’s military resources were stretched thin by a violent conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and Gustav’s strategy was to exploit this weakness. However, the Swedish troops were poorly provisioned and bitterly opposed to the illegality of the war. When the soldiers crossed the Russian border in July 1788, they mutinied. The mutiny was led by aristocratic officers. Gustav managed to rally popular anti-aristocrat opinion and ultimately quash the rebellion.

The Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790) was largely a disaster for Gustav. It left Sweden nearly bankrupt and with little to show for itself other than an annual subsidy from Catherine the Great. Gustav took advantage of the

The Life and Death of the Real King Gustav IIICharacter Assassination

A Masked Ball guide • 12

King Gustav III in 1777 (above). The masquerade costume he wore to the Royal Opera House the night of his assassination (below).

situation to cast his nobles in a bad light, and presented the Riksdag with a new Constitution stripping them of noble privileges and giving himself an absolute monarchy. When the Riksdag rejected the new Constitution, Gustav ordered that their votes be recorded as “Yes”, an illegal and dictatorial move that cemented the decision of the nobles to depose the King.

The new Constitution gave Gustav the right to declare war without approval from the Riksdag, and he had barely finished with Russia before turning his sights on France. The French Revolution was in full swing, and Gustav positioned himself as the leader of the monarchist opposition to the uprising. Gustav was an impoverished monarch with no powerful European allies, and his attempt to put down the French rebellion was extremely unpopular. The conspiracy among his enemies grew into murderous intent, led by Captain Jakob Johan Anckarström, Count Claes Fredrik Horn, and Count Adolf Ludvig Ribbing.

On March 16, 1792, Gustav attended a masquerade ball at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. At dinner with friends, he received an anonymous death threat. It was one of many the King had received and he chose to ignore it. After dinner, he went to the masquerade, where half an hour later Anckarström placed a pistol against the King’s back and pulled the trigger. The pistol had been loaded with balls, nails, and scraps of lead and iron. Despite the terrible pain, Gustav did not fall, a fact that added to the romanticism surrounding his assassination.

Anckarström was arrested the following morning, and with Horn and Ribbing made a full confession. Horn and Ribbing would be stripped of their nobility and exiled from Sweden; Anckarström would be tortured, mutilated, and executed.

Gustav lingered in agony in his quarters, giving orders about his country and showing little interest in the plotters who had confessed to attempted regicide. The King, told of their confessions, said:

“I don’t want to know the names ... It is only their political plan I should like to know about, some time or other. I am curious to see whether there was anything sensible in it.”

Gustav’s wound became severely infected, and on March 29, 1792, he died. His final words were:

“I feel sleepy, a few moments’ rest would do me good.”

13 • A Masked Ball guide

Verdi and Gustav IIIFact vs. FictionThe censors demanded so many changes to A Masked Ball that by the time it made it to stage, it was no longer recognizable as an opera about the Swedish King Gustav III. Of course, Verdi took liberties of his own with the life of the king.

Amelia | Fictional CharacterThe real Gustav III married Sophia Magdalena of Denmark. The marriage was an unhappy one, mainly because Gustav’s mother was jealous of Sophia and made life disagreeable for the couple. Gustav later endured rumors spread by his mother that he was not the father of Sophia’s first son. These rumors took root because Gustav and Sophia married in 1766, but did not produce their first child until 1778. Whether Gustav’s mother was right or just malicious has never been established.

Count Anckarström | (1762-1792)The real Anckarström was a minor noble and Captain in the Swedish army who, early in his career, was imprisoned on charges of slandering Gustav III. He was acquitted after a trial and cruel imprisonment. He maintained that the experience sparked his hatred of the king. They did not have a friendship; it is probable they never even met before the night Anckarström shot Gustav.

Ulrica the Fortune-Teller | (1734-1801)Anna Ulrica Arfvidsson was a professional Swedish fortune-teller, commonly known as Mamsell Arfvidsson. She was the daughter of high-ranking royal palace servants. Her natural intelligence and wide net of informers enabled her to give accurate predictions, and Ulrica became popular with the aristocracy. In 1786, Gustav III came to her in disguise for a reading in the company of Count Jacob De la Gardie. Ulrica warned: Beware of the man with a sword you will meet this evening, for he aspires to take your life. It is not known whether Gustav encountered such a man, but when he was assassinated four years later, the authorities interrogated Ulrica. She was never charged with involvement, but it frightened away her clients and she died in poverty.

The King’s CostumeIn the opera, Anckarström has to find out from Oscar what costume the king is wearing. Gustav III was easily identifiable to his assassin due to the large silver Royal Order of the Seraphim star worn on his chest.

The Murder WeaponIn the opera, the assassin uses a knife to stab the king to death. Gustav III was shot. Verdi’s original work was true to this historical fact, but the censors would not permit firearms on stage and he changed the weapon to a knife.

Jacob Johan Anckarström

Marian Anderson in the role of Ulrica (1955)

Mamsell Arfvidsson read coffee leaves to tell fortunes. Gustav III believed coffee consumption was dangerous to public health, and ordered a scientific experiment be conducted on a set of imprisoned identical twins. Their exeuctions were commuted to life imprisonment on the condition that one twin drank three pots of tea a day for life, and the other drank three pots of coffee. Gustav III was assassinated before the experiment concluded; the tea-drinking twin died first, at the age of 83.

A Masked Ball guide • 14

Verdi’s A Masked Ball is dominated by recurring musical themes that underscore the hidden passions and intentions of the characters. There are two major themes in A Masked Ball. They appear first in the prelude, and reappear throughout the opera.Themes

Key moments

Act ICourtiers await the arrival of the King for a morning audience. The loyal subjects hope the King has slept well and is feeling strong and in good spirits, but the conspirators plot his assassination.

Act IIGustav has made Anckarström promise to escort the disguised Amelia back to the city without lifting her veil. The conspirators, who have been hunting for Gustav, come upon Anckarström and begin taunting him and his veiled companion.

Act IIIThe conspirators arrive at Anckarström’s home, and are told that Anckarström wishes to join in their conspiracy. They all swear vengeance together.

A Masked BallWhat to Listen For

The ConspiratorsThe staccato motif of the conspirators suggests sneaky plotters walking around on tip-toe and whispering furtively in shadows, and is in direct opposition to the lighter melodies of the rest of the royal court and loyal subjects, who wish the King good health and happiness.

Key moments

Act IThe King sees Amelia’s name on the masquerade ball guest list.

Act IIIThe King wonders if Amelia has returned home safely. In order to remove temptation, he signs an order that will send Amelia and Anckarström away from Sweden. As he prepares for the masquerade ball, he rejoices in the thought of seeing his beloved Amelia one last time.

Gustav’s Love ThemeThe King is a stately, dignified, and commanding character, but when he thinks of Amelia, his demeanor is softened by love.

15 • A Masked Ball guide

In 17th and 18th century Italian opera, the characters of adolescent boys and young men were often played by castrati. Social acceptance of castrati began to decline as social acceptance of women appearing onstage grew. By the mid-1800s, most of the roles the castrati once performed were filled by women dressed as men, and it became common for composers to write ‘pants roles’ for a woman’s voice. Today, there are three options for dealing with a role originally written for castrai: employ a countertenor, cast a woman dressed in male costume, or drop the pitch of the role by an octave and cast a male tenor. Countertenors are comparatively rare, and using a female singer offers the most authentic sound that is closest to the castrati of the time.

The character of Oscar in A Masked Ball was written for a soprano’s voice. The character of Oscar is meant to bring a sense of levity and innocence to an opera rife with conpspiracy, jealousy, anger, and vengeance. Just as the conspirator’s theme draws attention to the shadows and darkness closing in on the King, Oscar highlights the joy and excitement that the King experiences in his love for Amelia.

Pants Role

Key moments

Act IVolta la terreaGustav asks about the banishment of Ulrica. Oscar defends her, telling of her marvelous magic and her uncanny prophecies. Ulrica’s witchcraft has caught his youthful imagination, and Gustav decides to visit her and judge for himself.

Act IIIDi che fulgorOscar has brought the masquerade invitations to Anckarström and Amelia. As the conspirators plot murder and Amelia tries desperately to think of how to warn the King, Oscar, oblivious to the tension in the air, sings dreamily of the planned festivities at the ball.

Act IIISaper vorresteAnckarström has arrived at the ball and asks Oscar what costume the King is wearing. Oscar laughingly refuses to tell; it is not in the spirit of a masquerade ball to reveal someone’s costume. Anckarström convinces the innocent Oscar that it is a matter of urgency, and Oscar describes the Gustav’s costume, thus unwittingly aiding in the King’s assassination.

A Masked Ball guide • 16

Curtain Up!Putting on An Opera

Although the singers get the spotlight, it takes a lot of people to get an opera to the stage. From selecting the opera to designing the production to publicizing the event and selling tickets, mounting an opera is a complex undertaking. Every opera production and every opera company is unique, but the diagram to the right shows the most common roles that must be filled to get an opera produced.

How Opera HappensA composer, who writes the music, and a librettist, who writes the words that go with the music, team up to create the opera. The opera is then entrusted to a conductor and stage director who collaborate with designers, singers, and musicians to give the opera physical life. Those are the basics. In reality, there are quite a few steps in between. Here are the basics:

Administrative & Production Staff

General DirectorArtistic Director Development Director Marketing DirectorPatron Services ManagerArtistic ManagerStage Manager

Wig & Make-Up DesignerCostume DesignerScenic DesignerLighting DesignerProps MasterTheatre TechniciansStage CrewHouse ManagerUshers

Opera!Artists

ComposerStage Director

Principal SingersChorus MembersSupernumeraries

Dancers

ConductorOrchestra

ChoreographerChorus Master

Rehearsal Pianist At the end of an opera, the singers return

to the stage to take a bow. In many opera houses, the

singers will “share” their bows with the orchestra and the

production crew by indicating them with a sweep of their

arms. Opera truly is a collaborative art.

1The opera is chosen by the General Director and/or Artistic Director.

2Singers, supernumeraries, and chorus members are hired. Many companies, like Madison Opera, have their own chorus and simply add or subtract members based on the needs of the opera.The stage director is hired.

Production designers are hired. Many opera companies often rent scenery and/or costumes from other companies instead of building entirely new scenery and costumes for every show.

3The scenic designer develops blueprints for the sets. These designs are given to the scene shop, where carpenters and artists build and paint the set.

The costume designer creates drawings and swatch books for the costumes. Cutters, stitchers, and sewers make the costumes. Wig designers and make-up artists create designs to match the costumes.

The lighting designer develops light plots, which detail where the lighting instruments are hung and where onstage the light beams are focused. The light plots also tell what gels (color filters), gobos (cut-out patterns), and other special equipment each instrument receives.

4Singers learn their music before rehearsals begin. The rehearsal period lasts less than a month. During this time, the stage director teaches the singers where to move during their scenes and what stage business they have to do with

props. The conductor works with the singers on the music, establishing the relationship between the music and the stage movement. The singers also use this rehearsal time to get to know their co-stars and the overall vision for the production. The stage manager runs rehearsals, and makes notes about scenic changes, lighting cues, and other technical aspects of the production.

5The scenery is loaded onto the stage. Scenic dressers add the curtains, furniture, and foliage to the set.The costumes, wigs, and props are brought into the theatre. The wardrobe crew and prop crew must get everything situated backstage for easy access during the performance.

The lighting designer and a team of electricians get all of the lighting instruments prepared. Using specialized lighting instruments, colored gels, and computers the designer writes the script for the lights. These lighting “cues” are used during the production by the light board operator.

6Tech week is when the entire production comes together. The singers, the orchestra, the conductor, and the stage manager get their chance to perform with the scenery, costumes, and lighting, and work out any technical difficulties.

7The show opens! The administrative staff has spent months advertising the show and selling tickets. During the production, the house manager and ushers assist patrons in getting seated.

A Masked Ball (Un Ballo in Maschera)

Click / Read / Watch / Listen

Educational Links

The Composer

The National Giuseppe Verdi Museum

The Opera

Vocal Score (PDF, 14.58MB)

English libretto

Characters

Synopsis

Online Video Excerpts

"Volta la terrea" and ensemble (Oscar; Gustav, Anackrström, and Court)

“Re dell’abbisso” (Ulrica)

“Teco io sto!” (Riccardo, Amelia)

"Morrò, ma prima in grazia" (Amelia)

A video slide show of King Gustav III’s life

Recommended Recordings & DVDs

CD: Domingo, Riciarelli, Bruson, Obraztsova, Grubovera, Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

CD: Bergonzi, Price, Merrill, Verrett, Frist, Leinsdorf (RCA)

CD: Callas, Di Stefano, Gobbi, Barbieri, Ratti, Votto (EMI)

DVD: Pavarotti, Millo, Nucci, Levine (Deutsche Grammophon)

POPera Connections: Verdi in popular culture

Video: Doritos “Sling Baby” Super Bowl Commercial (music is “La Donna è Mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto)

Video: Marx Bros. A Night at the Opera (opera on stage is Verdi’s Il Trovatore)

Video: Tiny Toon Adventures (“The Anvil Chorus” from Verdi’s Il Trovatore)

Production photos of A Masked Ball from Lyric Opera of Kansas City