A story to tell history. Or, rather, to transform it. Un ballo in maschera, written by Giuseppe Verdi in 1857, narrates the murder of a king. And in the independence territories of what would end up being Italy, occupied at that time by Austria, the meaning of an opera with that theme was transparent.
The work, with a libretto by Antonio Somma based on the one that Eugène Scribe had written for another opera, Gustave III, by Daniel-François Auber (released in 1833), was also going to have the name of the king as its title. However, the censorship led not only to change plans in that regard but also to make the monarch Duke of Pomerania. An attempt was made to premiere the opera as Una vendetta in dominò, but an assassination attempt on Napoleon III caused the San Carlo theater in Naples to abandon the premiere. Verdi broke the contract, the theater sued him and he responded with a countersuit for damages
Finally, the opera was presented in Rome in 1859, but by then it was already called A Masquerade Ball and its protagonist was Riccardo, governor of distant Boston.
STAGE DIRECTION: Rita Cosentino
SCENOGRAPHY: Enrique Bordolini
COSTUMES: Stella Maris Müller
Main interpreters
RICARDO: To be determined / Gastón Oliveira
AMELIA: Alessandra di Giorgio / María Belén Rivarola
RENATO: Fabián Veloz / Leonardo López Linares
OSCAR: Oriana Favaro / Constanza Díaz Falú
ULRICA: Guadalupe Barrientos / María Luján MirabelliStable Orchestra of the Teatro Colón
Stable Choir of the Teatro ColónDIRECTOR — Miguel Martínez