Opéra de Paris: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

Melodramma in three acts (1859) Screening direct from Paris, a new performance of Verdi’s lush and gripping drama. A masked ball may seem like the ultimate celebration, but its disguises can also foster intrigue. Both political and intimate, Verdi’s opera draws inspiration from the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden at a ball in 1792. Due to censorship, Verdi set the story in America, focusing on Riccardo (Matthew Polenzani), the governor of Boston, who is in love with Amelia (Anna Netrebko), the wife of his unforgiving best friend Renato (Ludovic Tézier). Blending lightness and seriousness, the opera was a huge success at its 1859 Rome premiere. Director Gilbert Deflo keeps the American setting but moves it to the time of Lincoln, all the better to confront the world of reason and morality with that of intuition and belief.