UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

Count Riccardo loves Amelia, the wife of his secretary and best friend Renato. Amelia returns this love, but tries to suppress her feelings with all her might. According to a prophecy Renato, of all people, will kill Riccardo – the count himself can only laugh about this at first. But when Renato learns of the secret love between his wife and his friend, the most bitter feelings of revenge are awakened in him. He joins a conspiracy to assassinate Riccardo during the forthcoming masquerade ball...

Once again in search of suitable material, Giuseppe Verdi came across a manuscript by Eugène Scribe dealing with a historical assassination attempt on the Swedish King Gustav III. Based on Scribe's original, Antonio Somma wrote the libretto at Verdi's request, which the composer set to music for Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1858. But the Neapolitan censorship authorities rejected the material – a similar historical assassination in Naples of King Ferdinand II had taken place only two years ago, and regicides on stage were not welcome. After a revision, "Un ballo in maschera" was finally performed in Rome in 1859.

In this work, Verdi's music once again reveals all its emotional and dramatic power, creating tragic and comic situations in equal measure, but often infused with a cruel irony. Verdi's characters are all subject to the conflict between the external façade imposed by society and their inner highly emotional feelings.

But what happens when the masks slip? Director Jan Philipp Gloger and his team question the social roleplays and go in search of what is hidden behind the masks. Milan-born Giuliano Carella is a proven Verdi specialist on the podium of the Gürzenich Orchester Köln.