On This Day

Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il trovatore" (The Troubadour) premieres in Rome

Il trovatore ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio...

Il trovatore ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's most successful play, one which Verdi scholar Julian Budden describes as "a high flown, sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotelian unities, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident."

The premiere took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853, where it "began a victorious march throughout the operatic world", a success due to Verdi's work over the previous three years. It began with his January 1850 approach to Cammarano with the idea of Il trovatore.

Historical Significance

Il trovatore ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez.

Key People

Giuseppe Verdi

opera composer

Italian opera composer

Events Before

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  3. Future US President Rutherford B. Hayes (30) weds teetotaler and abolitionist Lucy Webb (21)

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  4. First Chinese immigrants arrive in Hawaii

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  5. British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)

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Events After

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  2. Presbyterian minister John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson, found Ashmun Institute, a historically Black

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  4. Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War

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  5. Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (23) weds Elisabeth, Duchess of Bavaria (16) at the Augustinerkirche, Vienna

    Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (23) weds Elisabeth, Duchess of Bavaria (16) at the Augustinerkirche, Vienna

More from the 1850s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on January 19, 1853?
Il trovatore ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's most successful play, one which Verdi scholar Julian Budden describes as "a high flown, sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotelian unities, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident." The premiere took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853, where it "began a victorious march throughout the operatic world", a success due to Verdi's work over the previous three years. It began with his January 1850 approach to Cammarano with the idea of Il trovatore.
Why is Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il trovatore" (The Troubadour) premieres in Rome significant?
Il trovatore ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the Spanish play El trovador (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez.
Who was involved in Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Il trovatore" (The Troubadour) premieres in Rome?
Key figures include Giuseppe Verdi (opera composer).

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