Un ballo in maschera

Censored in the wake of the attempted assassination of Napoleon III and based on the story of Gustav III, the Swedish king who was murdered during a masked ball, Un ballo in maschera sets a tense love triangle against the background of a murderous conspiracy. Reason and superstition vie for supremacy as Amelia struggles to remain faithful to her husband in an opera that was dubbed ‘Verdi’s Tristan’. Vivid choral writing – the closing hymn perhaps Verdi’s finest – and glittering dance music provide counterpoint to an intimate portrait of three people whose conflicted loyalties are tested in public and private.