THIS OPERA CREATED A RIOT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 58, 2 August 1940, Page 14

THIS OPERA CREATED A RIOT

Stormy Passage Of "A Masked Ball,’

RDINARILY, you would not think that an opera could create a riot, but there is at least one which did-vVerdi’s "Un Ballo in Maschera" ("The Masked Ball’), which, in abridged form, will be presented at 9.15 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, from 3YA Christchurch, The opera was at first called "Gustave HI.", the story being based on the historical fact of the assassination of King Gustave III. of Sweden at a masked ball in Stockholm in 1792. As far back as 1830, Auber composed an opera on the same story. Verdi’s "Gustave III" was scheduled to be produced for the first time at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, in 1858, during the Carnival. But hardly had rehearsals been started when Orsini made his attempt on the life of Napoleon III. Europe was almost as nervy in those days as it is to-day, and the authorities immediately forbade the production of an opera dealing with the assassination of a sovereign, The composer was peremptorily told to put different words to his music, and he as curtly refused; whereupon the manager filed a_ suit against him, demanding a large sum as damages.

What both the authorities and the manager had forgotten, however, was the immense popularity of the composer with his countrymen, and the temper of the people. Here indeed was a golden opportunity for a demonstration, and soon crowds gathered in the streets of Naples shouting " Viva Verdi" (Long Live Verdi). But the words "Viva V.E.R.D.I." had a political significance, They also meant "Viva

Vittorio Emmanuelle Re Di _ Italia" (Long Live Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy). When the trouble had blown over, the authorities renewed their request for a change, and Verdi consented to the setting and plot being transferred to Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th Century. It was deemed a matter of little moment to have an Englishman murdered in far-off America, although actually

the story became an anachronism, since masked balls were unknown at that stage of New England’s history. To give a touch of local colour, the character of "Ulrica," the sorceress, was transformed into an Indian Squaw, and "Samuel" became an American coloured gentleman! Whether the plot fitted into a Puritanical Boston setting did not worry the Italians, however, when the revised opera was finally produced at the Teatro Apollo in Rome.