LibrettoArchive Opera Libretti • Translations • History
Giuseppe Verdi operas
• Macbeth (1847)
• Rigoletto (1851)
• Il trovatore (1853)
• La traviata (1853)
• Les vêpres siciliennes (1855)
• Un ballo in maschera (1859)
• La forza del destino (1862)
• Aida (1871)
• Otello (1887)
• Falstaff (1893)

“Les vêpres siciliennes” by Giuseppe Verdi

♡
The Sicilian Vespers, I vespri siciliani

Premiere / date of written: 13 June 1855

Les Vêpres was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 13 June 1855.

Libretti

# Language Authors
1 Italian

original libretto
side-by-side of the original libretto

History

April 14, 1855 The premiere of Verdi's "Les vêpres siciliennes" took place at the Paris Opéra.
June 13, 1855 Verdi’s grand opera "Les vêpres siciliennes" received its world premiere at the Paris Opéra.

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Similar Theme

  • Guillaume Tell (1829) — Gioachino Rossini Both are grand operas about a people resisting foreign rule. Public rebellion and private relationships keep interfering with each other.
  • Rienzi (1842) — Richard Wagner Rienzi also puts rebellion and mass politics onstage. Wagner focuses more on the rise and fall of one political leader.
  • Un ballo in maschera (1859) — Giuseppe Verdi Both Verdi operas place love inside a political conspiracy. Un ballo in maschera keeps the conflict much closer to a small group of people.

Good Next Choice

  • Aida (1871) — Giuseppe Verdi Aida is a more familiar way to continue with Verdi on a large scale: public ceremony, political conflict, chorus, and a private tragedy at the center.
  • La forza del destino (1862) — Giuseppe Verdi La forza del destino is another large Verdi work where politics and history keep pushing private lives off course. It is less formally a grand opera.

Beginner-Friendly Alternative

  • La traviata (1853) — Giuseppe Verdi For a shorter and more personal Verdi tragedy, La traviata is an easier alternative. The political world disappears and the drama stays with the central relationship.

Tags

Genre: Grand opéra
Style / Movement: Late Romantic
Structure: Full-length Number opera
Source: Historical source
Theme: Political
Discovery: Deep cut
Place: Italy

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