“I complain bitterly of the editions of my last operas, made with such little care, and filled with an infinite number of errors.”—Giuseppe Verdi The University of Chicago Press, in
Opera often seems to arouse either irrational enthusiasm or visceral dislike. Such madness, as Goethe wrote, is indispensable in all theater, and yet in practice, sentiment and passion must be balance
Now one of Verdi's most beloved works, La traviata was initially far from a success. Verdi declared its 1853 premiere a "fiasco," and later reworked parts of five pieces in the first two acts, retaini
(Vocal Score). Composed in 1818 on commission from an unknown individual in Lisbon, Adina was left to languish some years until its premiere in 1826, with a single performance in that city remaining v
