The Story

Despite the fiasco of I Lombardi at La Fenice in Venice in 1843, in the springtime of the same year Verdi signed a contract with the theatre’s director, Count Moncenigo, for a new opera. Felice Romani and Temistocle Solera were Verdi’s librettists in Milano, Salvatore Cammarano in Naples, and Francesco Maria Piave became his most trusted collaborator, and later friend, in Venice. The subject chosen was Hernani by Victor Hugo, and Piave started working rapidly under the constant surveillance of the Maestro, who insisted on closely following the progress of the librettist and poet. The opera was presented on March 9 ^th , 1844, a triumphal success, so much so that it was performed shortly thereafter in fourteen other Italian cities, and for the next decade and a half, was the most performed work of Verdi. Considering just the Scala in Milan and the Don Carlo Theatre in Naples, Ernani was presented for eight seasons for a total of 240 performances! In 1844 the city of Venice paid homage to Verdi presenting the same opera at the San Benedetto Theatre as well.

The opera arrived on the stage in Paris, where Victor Hugo had occasion to see his play given in the form of melodrama; he strongly disapproved at the transformation of his work.