Home > A Masked Ball Verdi, G. (1813-1901) Un ballo in maschera A Masked Ball Composed 1857-1858. First performed February 17, 1859. Libretto by Antonio Somma (in Itarian), after Scribe. A Summary of “Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)” Act 1 At the end of the 17th century, in Boston, America under the rule of England, the governor of Boston, Riccardo’s life is threatened by a lot of traitors. Riccardo sees the name of Amelia in the list of guests who will attend an upcoming masked ball. He loves her. She is the wife of Riccardo’s friend, Renato, is also his secretary. Riccardo receives a request to banish Ulrica who is a fortune-teller. So, he visits her to check her identification. Surprisingly, Amelia is at Ulrica’s house. Amelia asks her how to escape her immorality. Ulrica advises her to gather herbs in a graveyard in the middle of the night. And, Amelia leaves. Next, Riccardo asks for Ulrica’s advice. She tells him that he will be killed by the first person who shakes his hand. Then, his friend, Renato, appears and shakes hands with Riccardo. Act 2 Amelia goes to gather herbs in a graveyard. Riccardo appears. They have a talk about their love. Then, Renato appears all of a sudden. Amelia immediately covers her face with her veil. Renato tells his boss that some traitors will attempt to attack him. Riccardo orders Renato to take Amelia to the city without seeing her face. And, Riccardo leaves. Renato takes her, and defends against traitors. But, when the traitors jump on them with their sword, Amelia drops her veil. Renato sees it is his wife’s face. Act 3 Renato vows to take revenge, and joins hands with traitors. On the other hand, Riccardo gives up his love, and decides to let Renato and Amelia go back to England. At the masked ball, Renato obtains information of Riccardo’s costume from Riccardo's page, Oscar. Amelia tells Riccardo about his danger. Then, Renato stabs Riccardo to death with a sword. When Riccardo breathes his last breath, he tells everyone that Amelia is innocent and Renato is not guilty. A Comment on “Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)” The original work of this opera is based on the incident about the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden at the masked ball. Giuseppe Verdi was requested to compose this opera by Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy. But, this opera which is based on the assassination of the King couldn’t pass censorship. So, Verdi changed the setting from Sweden to America. In addition, the world premiere of this opera was held in Rome because this had softer censorship than Naples at that time. People in Rome enthusiastically welcomed this outstanding opera. In the 18th century, a masked ball was becoming popular among the aristocracy. People concealed the identity by a mask at that time, so the ball often became the stage of an assassination. This opera has well-balanced characters, for example, the governor Riccardo and his lover, Amelia. In addition, Riccardo’s friend and secretary, Renato, add attraction to this opera. Ulrica who is a fortune-teller and leads the ending of this opera is also one of the most important characters. It would be easy for Verdi to compose this opera based on the script that had enough balanced characters. In act 3, after the love between Riccardo and Amelia is found out, there are three great arias. First, Amelia sings her aria as a mother. Second, her husband, Renato, sings his aria about a vow to take revenge and his lost love. Third, Riccardo sings his aria about giving up his love and his misfortunate future. These three arias express direct feelings of three respective roles. Gluck, C. W. (1714-1787) 　- Orpheus and Eurydice Mozart, W. A. (1756-1791) 　- The Marriage of Figaro 　- Don Giovanni 　- Cosi fan tutte 　- The Magic Flute Beethoven, L. v. (1770-1827) 　- Fidelio Weber, C. M. v. (1786-1826) 　- The Magic Bullets Rossini, G. (1792-1868) 　- The Barber of Seville Donizetti, G. (1797-1848) 　- The Elixir of Love Verdi, G. (1813-1901) 　- Macbeth 　- Rigoletto 　- Il trovatore 　- La Traviata 　- Un ballo in maschera 　- Don Carlo 　- Aida 　- Otello 　- Falstaff Wagner, R. (1813-1883) 　- The Flying Dutchman 　- Tannhauser 　- Lohengrin 　- Tristan und Isolde 　- Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg 　- The Rhinegold 　- Die Walkure 　- Siegfried 　- Twilight of the Gods 　- Parsifal Offenbach, J. (1819-1880) 　- The Tales of Hoffmann Strauss, J. (1825-1899) 　- Die Fledermaus (The Bat) Bizet, G. (1838-1875) 　- Carmen Tchaikovsky, P. J. (1840-1893) 　- Eugene Onegin Massenet, J. (1842-1912) 　- Werther Humperdinck, E. (1854-1921) 　- Hansel and Gretel Puccini, G. (1858-1924) 　- La Boheme 　- Tosca 　- Madama Butterfly 　- Turandot Leoncavallo, R. (1858-1919) 　- Pagliacci Mascagni, P. (1863-1945) 　- Cavalleria Rusticana Debussy, C. (1862-1918) 　- Pelleas et Melisande Strauss, R. (1864-1949) 　- Salome 　- The Cavalier of the Rose Copyright (C) 2005-2017 Yusuke Kamiki. All Rights Reserved.