Censorship Operas in Rome

Social Control and the Censorship of Giuseppe Verdi's Operas in Rome (1844-1859)
Author(s): Andreas Giger

Source: Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Nov., 1999), pp. 233-265
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Cambridge
OperaJournal,11, 3, 233-266
? 1999 CambridgeUniversity Press
Social control and the censorship of Giuseppe

Verdi's operas in Rome (1844-1859)1
ANDREAS
GIGER
In the 1840s and 1850s, four operas by Giuseppe Verdi (I dueFoscari,La battagliadi
Legnano,II trovatore,and Un balloin maschera)premiered at the theaters Argentina and
Apollo in Rome. Two of these works (I dueFoscariand Un balloin maschera)had been
rejected at other theaters because the authorities did not consider them concordant
with the censorial requirements, and none of the four would have been permitted
in Rome had the authorities applied the usual criteria. That they accepted them
anyway suggests the process of censorship did not follow strict rules but was
handled arbitrarily. These premieres are even more astonishing when we take into
account that Rome, in contrast to most other cities on the peninsula, had very
rigorous standards of censorship.2
The Vatican's concern with censorship is evident in an 1853 article published in
the Jesuit semimonthly journal Civilta Cattolica,which strongly denounced contemporary operatic compositions and consistently referred to works by Verdi as bad
examples of taste in matters of politics, religion, or morality:3
Where do we find, for example, a pair of brothers like Carlo and Francesco in I masnadieri?
Where a humor so festive, so cruel, so amorous, and so wicked as depicted in [the character
of] Rigoletto, on some stages renamed Viscardello? Where do we find a woman's
dissimulation continuing for such a long time, such deep hate, and burning desire for
The one who invents types such as ...
vengeance as appearsin Azucena from I trovatore?
de Silva [in Ernani][and] the Loredani [in I dueFoscan]certainlydid not intend to take his
models from Nature, in orderto present them in an embellishedand perfectedway to public
contemplation. [Rather]he narrateddreams of sickness or the deliriums of a wounded
mind.4
I wouldlike to thankPhilipGossettfor his helpfulsuggestionson an earlierversionof this
article.I wouldalso liketo thankthe IndianaUniversityMusicologyDepartmentfor a travel
grantallowingme to conductresearchin the Archiviodi Statoand the ArchivioCapitolino
in Rome.
2 The only othercitywith standards
comparableto those of Romewas Naples.See David
R. B. Kimbell,Verdiin theAgeofItalianRomanticism
(Cambridge,1981),23 and 26. According
to the Eniclopedia
dellospettacolo,
ed. Silviod'Amicoet al., 9 vols. (Rome,1954-68), s.v.
'Censura',censorshipwas particularly
rigorousduringthe reignof Pius IX (1846-78).
was not the officialpapalnewspaper,it usuallytook the role of
3 Althoughthe CiviltaCattolica
di
defendingthe stateagainstpoliticaland religiousaccusations.Onlyone paper,the Giornale
See RaffaeleDe Cesare,Romae
Roma,appeareddaily,but it containedonly announcements.
diPio IX alXX settembre,
lostatodelPapadalritorno
2 vols. (Rome,1907), I: 311-13.
4 'Dove trovare,per esempio,una coppiadi fratellicome Carloe Francesconei Masnadieri?
Dove un umoresi festoso,si crudele,si amorosoe si scelleratocome e depintoRigoletto
che fu poi ribattezzatosu qualchescenaper Viscardello?
Dove dissimulazione
di donna
tantoa lungoprotratta,odio tantoprofondo,desideriotantopungentedi vendettaquanto
apparenell'Azucenadel Trovatore?Chi imaginoi tipi ... dei de Silva,dei Loredani,non
intendevacertodi prenderei suoi modellidallanatura,ed abbellitie perfezionatiporgerlialia
comunecontemplazione.
Narrosogni d'infermo,o deliriidi menteoffesa.''Del teatro
5 (1853), 261.
italiano',CiviltdCattolica,

234
Andreas Giger
The Civilta Cattolicacomplains about the consistent portrayal of rulers as wicked

(citing Rigoletto,Macbeth,II trovatore,I masnadieri,Al/ira, and I lombardi)and the fact
that the operas instruct listeners how to commit crimes cleverly, even placing the
criminals in a good light (citing I masnadieriand Rigoletto).5The journal draws three
conclusions from the character of such operas: (1) society needs censorship in order
to prevent moral, political, and religious decadence; (2) the promoters of evil, i.e.,
the authors (not necessarily the theaters themselves), have to be banned; and (3)
audiences should stay away from such pernicious works.6
Even Verdi, who since the 1840s had enjoyed a reputation as the greatest Italian
opera composer, faced the rigors of censorship. The effect of his operas on
audiences of the time was generally not diminished, however, because Verdi usually
managed to maintain his essential dramatic concept, even with the numerous
changes required by the censors. Nevertheless, it was exactly these fundamental
dramatic concepts to which the Civilta Cattolica objected because they were
incompatible with the ideology defended by the censorial system.7 Why, then, did
Rome premiere several of the most important Verdi operas? And how could the
Teatro Apollo stage the first performance of Un ballo in maschera,which had been
completely rejected by the Neapolitan authorities? This article will place the reasons
in a broad context, introducing new sources concerning the censorship of Verdi's
operas.
We can advance several possible explanations for the inconsistencies of Roman
censorship. First, opera was an essential element of Italian culture, and its outright
suppression would have caused protests or riots. Second, Verdi was the most
famous Italian composer and opera houses eagerly sought to premiere his works.
Third, most government officials themselves loved to attend operatic performances
and did not want to be deprived of their most important cultural pleasure. In
addition, censorship itself was inconsistently regulated: on the one hand, the censors
enjoyed considerable freedom; on the other, their arbitrary decisions were influenced by higher officials. Finally, the opera house served as a meeting place where
the authorities could observe intellectual circles in a carefully controlled environment: the seating arrangement, which reflected the hierarchical social order from
aristocracy to middle class, effectively worked toward a mental consolidation of the
status quo, thus serving as a powerful political tool in the hands of any government.
John Rosselli first suggested such a function, but without analyzing this process and
without explaining how a famous composer such as Verdi contributed to this
5 Ibid.,266-9.
6
7
Ibid.,276-7.
For a document with guidelines for the censorial system, see, for example, Luigi Vannicelli,
'Osservazioni sulla revisione delle produzioni teatrali (1842)', published in Elvira
Grantaliano, 'La censura nella Roma pontificia dell'ottocento: Tipologie ed esempi', in La
musica a Roma attraversolefonti d'archivio:Atti del convegnointernationaleRoma 4-7 giugno 1992, ed.
Bianca Maria Antolini, Arnaldo Morelli, and Vera Vita Spagnuolo (Lucca, 1994), 287-97,
331-3. Alessandra Campana will publish a study of this document in a forthcoming issue of
the Verdi Newsletter.

Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome
235
system.8 I will show that in nineteenth-century Italy, the opera house emerged as the
link between famous composers such as Verdi, who guaranteed that citizens
attended operas, and the government, which used the institution of opera as an
effective tool to consolidate the social hierarchy. Of particular relevance here are (1)
the different kinds of pressure put on the government and its censorial system by
Roman opera audiences, who demanded frequent performances of high quality, and
by the reputation of a composer such as Verdi, whose works were needed to satisfy
that audience; (2) the flexibility of the censorship system in general; and (3)
censorial leniency with respect to Verdi's operas.
Roman society, opera audiences,
and Verdi's popularity
Roman history between the liberation of Pope Pius VII (1800-23) from
Napoleonic captivity in 1814 and the Italian unification in 1859 can be characterized
as tending toward greater control of the government over all aspects of life.9
Towards the end of this period Pope Pius IX (1846-78) finally seemed to give in
to some liberal tendencies. The Statutofondamentale,the new constitution of 1848,
promised some power to the rich laity, but in reality it secured full ecclesiastic
control.10 Nevertheless, during the 1848 revolution, Pius lost political control and
fled to Gaeta on 24 November. On 9 February 1849, the revolutionaries proclaimed
the Roman Republic, but it lasted only until 4 July when the French helped the
Pope reconquer the city. Pius did not immediately return to Rome but left
the restoration of order to three conservative cardinals, who proceeded so
rigorously that the population nicknamed them 'triumvirato rosso'. Upon his return
on 12 April 1850, the Pope embarked on a very conservative course, abolishing the
Statutofondamentaleand extending artistic censorship, which hitherto had concentrated on religious and moral issues, to political matters. Thus, the Papal States
entered a state of 'pre-agony' in which the population was interested mainly in
entertainment. 1
Roman society of the time can be described as consisting of ecclesiastic and lay
pillars, each comprised of three levels. At the top were the College of Cardinals and
John Rosselli, TheOperaIndustryin Italyfrom Cimarosato Verdi:TheRole of theImpresario

(Cambridge, 1984), 40.
The following sources provide a historical backgroundof Roman history for the period
under consideration:Luigi Pompili Olivieri, II senatoromanonellesetteepochedi svariato
governo
da Romolofino a noi collaseriecronologica-ragionata
deisenatoridell'anno 1143 fino al 1870, 3 vols.
derStadtRom,vol. 3, part 2 (Berlin, 1870);
(Rome, 1886); Alfred von Reumont, Geschichte
Giuliano Friz, Consumi,tenoredi vita eprezi a Romadal 1770 al 1900 (Rome, 1980); Raffaele
De Cesare, TheLast Days of PapalRome,1850-1870, abridgedwith the assistance of the
author and translatedby Helen Zimmern (London, 1909); and Mario Caravale,Lo Stato
pontificioda MartinoV a Pio IX (Turin, 1978).
See Pius IX, Lo Statutofondamentale
pelgovernodeglistati di S. Chiesa(Rome, 1848).
11 Friz, Consumi(see n. 9), 211 and 216.
8

236
Andreas Giger
the aristocracy respectively, followed by the prelacy and the citizens (la borghesia),
with the third social stratum for the inferior clergy and 'the people'. The ecclesiastic
pillar was considered superior to the lay at all levels.l2 Although the two sides as
wholes had little interaction, the corresponding levels on each side remained in close
contact. Cardinals frequently honored noble families with their presence at social
events, whereas they would have no direct contact with the rich bourgeoisie.13
Where the aristocracy was concerned, the church tried to maintain ideological
control. Private tutors, usually descendants of Popes and cardinals, often instructed
noble youths, who accordingly had little interest in the liberal movement that led to
the 1848 revolution.14 Dependent on a politically apathetic nobility, the Pope could
not very well deprive this important social group of opera, its most important
entertainment.
Various forms of theatrical entertainment existed in Rome during this period: the
lowest forms included equestrian spectacles, acrobats, and performing monkeys; the
mid-level ones consisted of spoken plays; and the most prestigious forms included
the various forms of opera, which belonged mainly to the upper classes.15 Operaseria
was performed in the two most prestigious Roman theaters, the Teatro Apollo and
the Teatro Argentina, with the government assuring the aristocracy and diplomatic
corps of the best seats.16 Members of the upper classes occasionally attended
12
De Cesare, TheLast Days of PapalRome(see n. 9), 85. Prelates are ecclesiasticaldignitaries

who can occupy various ranks between the cardinaland the priest. The prelacy governed
the temporal aspects of church and state. See RaffaeleDe Cesare, Romae lo StatodelPapa, 2
vols. (Rome, 1907), I: 102-5; and Rosselli, OperaIndustry(n. 8), 45. The account of the lay
hierarchyas reported by the French ambassadorin Rome, the Count of Harcourt, matches
De Cesare's description. See Friz, Consumi(n. 9), 217. Leopold G. Glueckert (BetweenTwo
Amnesties:FormerPoliticalPrisoners
andExiles in the RomanRevolution
of 1848 [New York,
1991], 3) subdivides the society of the Papal States (not just of the city of Rome) according
to profession:
2%
Clergy (all levels)
10.2%
Nobility and untitled landowners
Professionals (doctors, magistrates,teachers)
1.8%
Commercial people
4.5%
13.0%
Artisans, tradesmen, and skilled workers
Servants, unskilled workers, and unemployed 16.2%
50.0%
Peasant-owners,sharecroppers,and tenants
Soldiers
1.0%
Students
1.3%
Of the lay pillar, the 'untitled landowners' (mercantidi campagna)
made up the only group of
the borghesia
that could become rich. The 'people', from the artisansdownward, and even
some members of the lower borghesia,
depended to various degrees on charity.
13 De Cesare, TheLast Days of Papal Rome(see n. 9), 85.
14 Calls for liberal reforms came mainly from the middle class, which according to the French
ambassadorin Rome, the Count of Harcourt,was influenced by 'dangerous foreign
elements'. See the report of the Count of Harcourt to his government, quoted in Friz,
Consumi(see n. 9), 217. As we will see in the last part of this study, the government had a
great interest in having the middle class represented in the opera house as well.
15 RosseUi, OperaIndustry(see n. 8), 40.
16 For detailed information on this
process, see 'Controlling the audience' below.

237
productions at second-rank theaters for amusement, but night after night, they went
to the opera.
The opening of the Teatro Apollo for the Carnival season (26 December through
Shrove Tuesday) was the most important social event of the year.17 During
Carnival, the government required performances on every day except Fridays.18 In
spite of the Jesuits' condemnation of opera's moral, religious and political
decadence, the impresario's contract with the city of Rome required a minimum
number of performances per season. If an impresario did not meet the
minimum, he had to lower the ticket prices, and his theater would receive a
smaller subsidy. If it was his negligence that caused the reduction of the
performances, he had to pay a fine.19 Every season, the contract also called for at
least one opera by a major composer newly written specifically for a theater in
Rome. These circumstances put Verdi in a powerful negotiating position. By the end
of the 1840s, he had achieved a reputation that allowed him to choose the theater
for which he would write a new work. And with Bellini and Donizetti dead, Rossini
no longer writing operas, and Mercadante past his peak, Verdi no longer had any
serious competition in Italy.20 In addition, taking into account both the large
number of opera houses in Italy in the nineteenth century - Rome alone had two
first-rate opera houses - and Verdi's transcendent popularity, we can imagine
the impresarios' efforts in convincing Verdi to choose their theaters for first
performances.
In a position to ignore offers of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, one of the most
reputable houses, to premiere his operas, as he did between 1845 and 1869, Verdi
could also influence terms in the contracts with his publisher Ricordi. Publication
17
De Cesare,Romae lo StatodelPapa(see n. 12), 301. The Carnivalwas of enormous

importancefor the Romanpopulation.Even duringtimesof politicalunrest,the
governmentguaranteedthe celebrationin ordernot to irritatethe inhabitantseven more.
See Friz, Consumi (n. 9), 211.
'Prodottoche sia lo spettacolodovraproseguirecompleto,e senzaalcunainterruzionefino

al terminedi Carnevale,esclusisoltantoi venerdi,e gli altrigiorninei qualiin Romasono
vietatele rappresentenze
teatrali.'[Oncethe workis produced,it mustproceedcomplete
andwithoutanyinterruption
untilthe end of the Carnival,
with the exceptionof Fridays
and the otherdaysduringwhichin Rometheatricalrepresentations
are forbidden.]
l'appaltoprivativodelleopereseriee dei ballidi Romanelle stagioni
'Capitolatoriguardante
di Carnevaledelleoperein musicada darsisenzaprivativanelle stagionidi primavera
ed
autunno[1853-56]',Rome,Archiviodi Stato,Direzionegeneraledi polizia,ordinepubblico,
busta33, no. 884.
19 'Capitolato[1856]per l'appaltode' teatri
of the Contract
regjdi Roma[Specification
Concerningthe RoyalTheatersin Rome (betweenthe Cityof Romeandthe Impresario)]',
Argentina
reprintedin Tirincanti,1/ Teatro
(Rome,1971), following230.
20 Paragraph
5 of the 'Capitolato',
Argentina,
reprintedin Tirincanti,
following230. This
contractdatesfrom 1856,but contractsof the sametitle existedfor the completeperiodin
consideration
here.See AlbertoCametti,I1 Teatro
di Tordinona
poi diApollo,2 vols. (Tivoli,
1938), I: 248, 251, 254, and 257. The TeatroSanCarloin NaplesspecifiedVerdi,Saverio
and GiovanniPacinias maestriprimari.
See 'II maestroVerdie la impresadel
Mercadante,
teatroS. Carlo'.Rome,Archiviodi Stato,Miscellaneacartepolitichee riservate,busta140,
fasc. 5111, no. 1582.
18

238
Andreas Giger
was an important matter because after the premiere of an opera, the composer
normally lost control over its performances, especially with regard to censorship.21
In order to discourage censorial distortions in subsequent performances, Verdi
specified an additional paragraph in the contract for La battaglia di Legnano,
prohibiting even the smallest changes in the score; for every performance at any
theater in which the censors required changes, Ricordi would have to pay Verdi a
fine of 1,000 francs.22
The history of the theaters Apollo and Argentina gives ample evidence of the
struggle for compositions by renowned masters. In order to reduce such competition, the impresario Vincenzo Jacovacci controlled as many as three Roman opera
houses (the Apollo, Argentina, and Valle) by 1846. Although this accumulation of
positions did not eliminate competition altogether, it at least allowed him to reduce
expenses by sharing productions among the institutions.23
Impresarios were also under pressure from the audience, for if it did not like the
performance or the piece, it expressed its dissatisfaction, and such manifestations
could escalate into violence.24 When, for example, the Neapolitan censors required
drastic changes in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera,the composer withdrew the piece.
After the opera disappeared from the announced schedule, the public began to
protest. The government intervened, urging a review of the agreements between
theater and composer, but Verdi remained firm.25 As a consequence, the theater
involved him in a lawsuit, referring to the 'horror of an awful libretto' (1' orrore del
pessimo libretto').26 The court conceded that the numerous censorial emendations
might negatively affect the music, and the composer was released from the contract,
providing he returned with SimonBoccanegra(first performed 1857 in Venice) in the
fall.
Censorship notwithstanding, the government never considered closing an
opera house in order to protect its audiences from the decadence of operatic
plots;27 opera was too essential to those social segments upon which the
government relied. The expectations of the opera audience and the meaning of
opera to the culture enabled a composer such as Verdi to put pressure on the
censorial system.
21
Luke Jensen, GiuseppeVerdi& GiovanniRicordiwithNotes on Francesco

Lucca:From 'Oberto'to
'La traviata'(New York, 1989), 182.
22 Paragraph8 of the contract
concerning La battagliadi Legnano.Gaetano Cesari and
Alessandro Luzio, eds., I Copialettere
di GiuseppeVerdi(Milan, 1913; repr., Bologna, 1963),
39.
23
Cametti, Tordinona
(see n. 20), I: 251.
24
Industry
Rosselli,
Opera
(see n. 8), 87.
25
Franco Abbiati, 'Gli Anni del Balloin maschera',
Verdi,1 (1960), 15.
26
27
Ibid., 16.
The closing of the Teatro Apollo in 1849 resulted from a shortage of money and staff, as
well as 'French hostilities' during this revolutionaryperiod, not from a papal decree. See
Cametti, Tordinona
(n. 20), I: 256.


The organization
239
of the Roman censura
Censorship has usually been treated as a black box,28 the content of which has only
recently received some attention.29 The documents reveal that the organization of
this system was neither simple nor clear. Under normal circumstances, censorship
functioned on two levels. First, the censors examined the scenario, the libretto,
costumes, and staging, largely disregarding the music, which did not seem to have
much potential to harm the people.30 Then, representatives of the government
frequented the theaters and checked whether the artists followed the directions of
the censors and other authorities. This controlling body consisted of a heterogeneous group of people with very different degrees of power. On the political side,
the director of the police headed the so-called Deputation of Public Performances
(deputazionedeipubblici spettacoli)and oversaw various other police officials responsible for matters of security; on the ecclesiastic side these duties belonged to the
domains of the luogotenentedel tribunalecriminale(a lawyer) and the ecclesiastical
censor, both representing the Cardinal Vicar (see Tables 1 and 2). The division of
spheres of influence was not always clear and occasionally led to disputes.31
The tendency toward decentralization and greater participation of the municipality initiated by Pius IX's assumption of power led to a reorganization of the
Deputation in 1847. Its members were elected from within the Communal Council
with the mayor (senatore)as their chair.32This emphasis on the municipality gave the
illusion of balance with the ecclesiastical side, thereby diverting audience hostility
from the Pope and his cardinals without significantly reducing their control.33 The
28
The term 'black box' is used by cyberneticians to denote a system of processes too
complex to be understood, usually indicated in diagrams by a simple box, of which only the
input and output are considered. Bruno Latour, Sciencein Action: How to Follow Scientistsand
Engineers throughSociety(Cambridge, Mass., 1987), 2-3.
29 The short articles covering some of the organization and function of Roman censorship
include Maria Calzolari, 'La censura nella Roma pontificia dell'ottocento: il ruolo
predominante della Direzione Generale di Polizia', in La musica a Roma attraversole fonti d'
archivio(see n. 7), 287-97; Renata Cataldi, 'La censura sugli spettacoli nella Roma pontificia
dell'ottocento: Le licenze del cardinal vicario', in ibid., 299-320; Paola Pavan and Michele
Franceschini, 'La deputazione dei pubblici spettacoli e il suo archivio', Architetturastoricae
documenti,1 (1986), 97-100; and Angela Montano, 'Introduzione [to the catalog of the
documents in Rome, Archivio Capitolino, titolo 15 (1848-1870)]' (typescript, 1997). Luigia
Rivelli's study 'G. Gioacchino Belli "censore" e il suo spirito liberale', Rassegnastoricadel
Risorgimento(1923), 318-93, did not approach the topic systematically and includes mistakes.
Other studies, such as Rosselli (Opera Industry[see n. 8]) and Di Stefano (La censurateatrale
in Italia 1600-1962 [Bologna, 1964]) only refer to isolated aspects of the Roman system.
30 Philip Gossett, 'Becoming a Citizen: The Chorus in RisorgimentoOpera', thisjournal, 2 (1990),
46-7 discusses this curiosity, referring to an instance in Rossini's L' Italiana in Algeri where
an obvious occurrence of the Marseillaiseeither escaped the censors or did not bother them.
31 See Antonio Somai's letter to his successor Antonio Ruggieri (quoted in Cataldi, 'La
censura' (n. 29), 308), in which he reminds him of his rights vis-a-visthe luogotenente.
32 The Communal Council was appointed by the Pope. The members elected the nine
conservatoriwho made up the magistraturaromana (i.e., the Roman Senate). From the first
three elected, the Pope chose the senatore.Pompili Olivieri, II senato romano(see n. 9), II:
56-62.
33 See
Rivelli, 'Belli' (n. 29), 337.

Table 1. Political censorship
in Rome before the Reform of October 1847*
Direttore generale di polizia and Governatore di Romat

Deputazione dei pubblici spettacoli
6 Deputies ('cavalieri' appointed by the Segreteria di Stato)
1. Accounting
2. Machines,
3. Ballet, with
illumination,
(contabilita e
corresponding
attributions in
cassa)
security, and
cleanliness of
terms of costhe theaters,
tumes, decoratons, and
especially the
political censorstage
ship
Personnel
4. Operas, with
corresponding
attributions
5. Spoken
theaterand signing of the manifestos
6. Supervision
of the archive
Legal cou
Secretary
Archivist
Employee
3 Doctors
3 Surgeon
Architect
2 Censors
Painter fo
Notary
*Based on Rome, Archivio Capitolino, Deputazione dei pubblici spettacoli, busta 6, no. XXVII/211; Pavan and Franceschini, 'La de
Montano, 'Introduzione', 4n.
since the appointment of Giuseppe Morandi on 19 July 1847.
tPro-governatore

241
Table 2. Ecclesiastic censorship*

CardinalVicario
representedby:
Luogotenentedel tribunalecriminale(a lawyer)
Deputato revisoreecclesiastico
Functions are mainly administrative:
Functions mainly concern censorship (revisione):
(1) Authorizationfor public performances(licenZa)

in terms of time and place
(2) Enforcementof the 'Regolamento'
(1) Preventivecensorshipof all aspects of performances

(2) Orderingarrestsand imprisonments
(3) Attendingdress rehearsalsto censor aspects
other than printedtexts
*Basedon Cataldi,'La censura',301-3.
reorganization led to considerable confusion as to who controlled the Deputation.

With the papal motuproprio of 12 June 1847, the governatoredi Roma, who also
functioned as president of the Deputation, lost his judiciary powers while retaining
control over the capital's government and the police of the entire state, now under
the designation pro-governatore.
On 29 December, Domenico Savelli, who had held
the office since 13 November, became minister of the police, losing both title and
The Pope transferred control over Rome to the presidente
position ofpro-governatore.34
di Roma e Comarca,appointing Cardinal Ludovico Altieri. Although this change was
supposed to be complete by 31 October, it remains unclear when exactly the
pro-governatore
relinquished the presidency of the Deputation;35 the papers were not
moved
to their new location on the Campidoglio until 24 January 1848,36
actually
and the duties of the various authorities were poorly delineated. Only in 1850 did
a regolamentoclarify the respective competencies of the presidenteand the senatore:
control over the police and thus law and order in the opera house fell into the hands
of the presidente,i.e., once again a prelate (see Table 3).37
Both before and after the reorganization, Rome's censorship was preventive,
which meant that librettos had to be approved prior to performance. The composer
or librettist sent copies of the programma(prose outline) and the libretto (usually
through the impresario) to the president of the Deputation, who then normally
transferred them first to the ecclesiastic censor and then to a political one, both of
whom made appropriate emendations.38 After the final decision, the president
returned the documents to the impresario, who either handed them back to the
Nicolo del Re, Monsignorgovernatoredi Roma (Rome, 1972), 57. Nevertheless, Savelli kept
using the tite pro-governatore.
See Pompili Olivieri, I senato romano(n. 9), II: 45.
35
36 Calzolari, 'La censura' (see n. 29), 292.
37 See the 'Progetto di regolamento da osservarsi nella citta di Roma
per gli spettacoli,
rappresentanze e giuochi compilato con superiore autorizzazione dagli incaricati dell'Autorita
Ecclesiastica, Governativa e Municipale', Rome, Archivio di Stato, Ministero dell'Interno,
busta 1025, no. 18980.
38
Rivelli, 'Belli' (see n. 29), 383-7.
34

Table 3. Political censorship
since 1848*
Control over Public Performances
Before 16 January 1855

Presidente di Roma e Comarca (law and order)t
President: Senatore di Roma (administration)
After 1
President: Direttore Gen
Vice-President: Conservatore dell
Deputazione dei pubblici spettacoli
9 Deputies (Communal Councilors) One deputy in turn presides as 'Inspection Deputy for the Evening' over each performance in t
the first order
5 Special Deputies elected from within the Deputation (according to the regolamento
of 1856)
1. Deputy for proper behavior on stage, illumination, and safety and
cleanliness of the theaters
2. Deputy for the ballets
3. Deputy for the operas
4. Deputy for the spoken

theater
5. Deputy for
*This excludes the period of the short-lived Roman republic (24 November 1848-4 July 1849) and the period of the commissionespec
The information contained in the table is based on Montano, 'Introduzione', and the 'Regolamento sulla parte d'ordine e di esecuzion
[6 December 1856]', Rome, Archivio di Stato, Direzione generale di polizia, ordine pubblico, busta 33, no. 80662.
tThe competencies of the various authorities (presidente,senatore,and even the director of the police) were not always clearly distingui
dell'interno, teatri e spettacoli, busta 1025, fols. 155 and 167. See also Montano, 'Introduzione', 8-10.

243

Table 4. Stamps in Verdi's librettos printed in Rome 1850-6
Opera
[withdate of publ.]
Date
[stamps]
Ecclesiastic
Rome: Puccinelli,1851)
([Stiffelio];
Guglielmo
Wellingrode
Viscardello
[Rome:Olivieri,1851]
Macbeth[Rome:Menicanti,n.d.]
ll trovatore
[Rome:Olivieri,1853]
Violetta[Rome:Olivieri,1854]
Giovanna
de Gugman[Rome:Olivieri,1856]
1850-1
1851
1852
No dates
No dates
1856
Ruggieri
Ruggieri
Ruggieri
Ruggieri
Ruggieri
Ruggieri
Stamps
Political
Municipal
Doria
Doria
Doria
Doria
Pulieri
Cardelli
Cardelli
librettist or composer for revisions or submitted them for examination to the

printing censorship.39
Rome employed three censors, one ecclesiastic (controlling aspects of religion,
good customs, and public morals), one political (controlling aspects of politics and
proper respect toward other people and the laws), and one representing the
Deputation. All of them in theory had to approve the texts and confirm the
approval with a stamp (visto), but in practice the three censors had very different
weight. The ecclesiastic and political representatives occupied much higher positions than the representative of the Deputation, who remained very much in the
background. Questions about the number and precise function of the various
Roman censors have repeatedly led to misleading explanations. Several sources
mention that by 1851, Rome employed a third censor, municipal or communal, who
controlled 'philological and artistic' aspects of the performances.'40 It seems,
however, that this third censor was none other than a representative of the
Deputation whose stamp had already appeared on librettos predating the period of
reforms, for example, the manuscript libretto of Filippo Meucci's Gusmanodi Medina
(1846) and the original printed libretto of Verdi's I due Foscari (1844).41 Only the
affiliation of this third censor had changed, however: before the reforms he had to
respond to the Segreteria di Stato, after the reforms to the municipality.42
The attributes 'philological and artistic' for the municipal censor perfectly reflect
the vagueness of his function, and some documents even neglect to mention him,
39
Calzolari, 'La censura' (see n. 29), 296n. For a short discussion of the printing censorship,
see ibid., 291-2.
40
'. . . ci6 che si riferisce alla parte filologica ed artistica degli spettacoli.'See, for example, Calzolari,
'La censura', 294; and Rivelli, 'Belli', 331 (both n. 29). For a short description of the three
levels of censorship, see Art. 17 of the 'Regolamento da osservarsi nella citta di Roma per
gli spettacoli, rappresentanze e giuochi compilato dagli incaricati dall'autorita ecclesiastica,
governativa e comunale', Rome, Archivio Capitolino, titolo 15, busta 14, fasc. 3 (1851).
41 Manoscritto del dramma lirico Gusmano di Medina di Filippo Meucci (1846)', Rome, Archivio
Capitolino, Pubblici spettacoli, busta 7, no. XXXI/309; and Francesco Maria Piave, I due
liricaposta in musicadalMaestroGiuseppeVerdipel teatrodi TorreArgentina

Foscari, Tragedia
l'autunno del 1844 (Rome, [1844]), 38. The responsible deputy was in both cases L. Duca
Bonelli.
42 See Rome, Archivio di Stato, Ministero del interno, titolo 152, busta 1025, fol. 155; and
par.
4 of the 'Regolamento da osservarsi nella citta di Roma per gli spettacoli', Rome, Archivio
Storico Capitolino, titolo 15, busta 14, fasc. 3 (1851).

244
Andreas Giger
thus hinting at his irrelevance.43 Furthermore, Verdi's librettos printed in Rome

during the years following the Roman Republic occasionally lack the stamp of the
municipal censor and, surprisingly, sometimes even that of the political one.44 (See
Table 4.)
Not only missing stamps of approval but also instances of high officials
circumventing the censorial process show the system's flexibility. On 22 December
1850, for example, the Minister of the Interior, Domenico Savelli, instructed the
Director of the Police as follows: 'For the best outcome, the undersigned Minister
of the Interior does not omit repeating in writing to Monsignor Direttore Generale
di Polizia what he has already told him orally, that if at any time the musical score
of Ernani is submitted for approval by the impresarios of the capital, [the approval]
must be absolutely denied'.45 As we will see later, high officials could also intervene
in favor of a work, especially if the premiere of a Verdi opera was at stake.
Verdi's struggle with the censors in Rome

How Verdi's operas came to satisfy censorial standards in Rome is a question that
remains largely unanswered. Censored librettos cannot provide all the answers, since
they document only the censors' emendations and not the means by which
fundamentally objectionable librettos eventually managed to pass the censorial
hurdles. Documents that could shed light on this question - namely correspondence of the personnel involved in the decision-making process - are either rare or
have not yet come to light. However, some newly discovered sources of this kind
concerning La battagliadi Legnano and Un ballo in maschera,together with a new
reading of previously known documents, support the picture of a censorial system
that could turn a blind eye when it suited the interest of its officials.
Verdi's first work for Rome, I dueFoscari (3 November 1844), is a case in point.
The composer originally intended the opera for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice,
while waiting for Rome to accept a more daring subject entitled Lorenginode'Medici.
Although enthusiastic about the latter subject, Verdi anticipated difficulties with the
43
Paragraph 11 of the 1856 Capitolato, for example, requires the visti only of the ecclesiastical
and political censors: 'The impresario must present . . . the opera librettos furnished with
the ecclesiastic and political stamps . . .' 'Capitolato', reprinted in Tirincanti, Argentina, (n.
19) following 230. Another document requires the stamp of the 'deputato per la prosa' only
for printed materials. See [Matteucci's] letter of 24 December 1857 [with no addressee],
quoted in Rivelli, 'Belli' (n. 29), 370-2. This observation would agree with Calzolari's ('La
censura' [see n. 29], 292) listing of the 'censore filologo' under the printing censorship.
44 I would like to thank Professor Matin Chusid (director) and Francesco Izzo (archivist) of
the American Institute for Verdi Studies at New York University for generously making
these librettos available.
45
'Per ogni buon fine il sottoscritto Ministro dell'interno non lascia di ripetere in scritto a
Monsignor Direttore Generale di polizia quanto gia verbalmente gli accenno, e cioe che
qualora dagl'Impresari Teatrali nella Capitale si presentasse per l'approvazione lo spartito
Musicale l'Ernani deve questa venire assolutamente negata.' Rome, Archivio di Stato,
Ministero dell'interno, busta 1025, no. 36060, fols. 49 and 50. Fol. 49 shows the draft
(probably by Savelli himself) and fol. 50 a clean copy by a scribe. The clean copy has
subsequently been modified by a third hand to the effect of a qualified permission. For a
similar letter concerning Rigoletto,see Rivelli, 'Belli' (n. 29), 366-7.

245
Roman police, which proved to be justified.46 As the programmaof I due Foscari

awaited approval from the censorship in Venice, Verdi asked Francesco Maria
Piave, his librettist, to withdraw the piece in order to offer it to Rome as a substitute
for Lorengino,now rejected.47 As it happened, Venice refused to accept I due Foscari
because it made reference to Venetian noble families such as the Foscari and the
Loredani; the authorities feared that even though the story dated from the fifteenth
century, it would incite gossip and political unrest since these names still existed
among Venetian aristocracy.48 Venice's refusal was not an insignificant matter:
Piave, who lived in Venice (an Austrian territory), informed Ricordi on 9 September
1844 that the Austrian government would not allow its citizens to publish anything
abroad if it had not received approval from one of the censors in Austriancontrolled territory. Upon Verdi's suggestion, Piave therefore asked Ricordi to have
the libretto approved in Milan (which was also under Austrian control), in order to
make a publication in Rome possible.49 The progress of events suggests that Milan
approved the libretto.
In May 1844, the impresario of the Teatro Argentina, Antonio Lanari, accepted
I due Foscari, and the Roman censorship also gave its permission - without
requesting any changes, according to Piave.50 The original libretto includes the
printed approval of Antonio Ruggieri (the ecclesiastical censor) in the name of the
Cardinal Vicar and of L. Duca Bonelli in the name of the Deputation. The political
censor (Giovanni Carlo Doria or Giuseppe Berardi) either never saw the libretto or
his name was omitted in the production of the printed version. In this case, Verdi
did not worry too much about the Roman rejection of Loren-ino since he could
immediately offer an adequate substitute. He had not yet written any of the music
of LorenZinoand was not pressured for time. Furthermore, giving it up for the time
being did not mean giving it up altogether; Verdi hoped to save it for better political
times.51 That Rome objected to Lorenginobecause of the portrayal of tyrannicide on
46
It is interesting that Verdi here does not refer to the 'censors' but to the 'police'. This
observation reinforces the fact that the composer knew that at this time the director of the
police (who at the same time was the director of the Deputation) and not the censor gave
the final approval. See letter to Francesco MariaPiave (Verdi's librettist for I dueFoscari)of
18 April 1844, quoted in Franco Abbiati, GiuseppeVerdi,4 vols. (Milan, 1959), I: 513.
47 The programma
refers to the detailed plot summary,not the libretto. Not until 14 May in a
letter to Piave does Verdi say: 'At this moment I receive I dueFoscari.A nice, a very nice,
a beautiful drama!'Letter quoted in ibid.,I: 514.
48 Rosselli, OperaIndustry(see n. 8), 94.
49
Piave's letter to Ricordi of 9 September 1844; quoted in Abbiati, Verdi(see n. 46), I: 521.
50 Letter of 9
September 1844. Piave writes: 'The Roman censorship has licensed the whole
[libretto]without changing a comma'. Quoted in ibid.,I: 521. The sentence 'Cedi, cedi,
rinunzia al poter' (Give in, give in, renounce the throne) in Act III scene 11 had to be
changed only when in 1859 the survival of the Vatican State became endangered.Di
Stefano, Censurateatrale(see n. 29), 59.
51 Piave's Lorenzino
was eventually accepted in Venice and set to music by Giovanni Pacini.
See George Martin, Verdi:His Music,Life and Times,4th ed. (New York, 1992), 118. The
fact that each city, Rome and Venice, refused a libretto accepted in the other one is not
indicative of the standardsof censorship. Venice rejected I dueFoscaribecause the opera
portrayedthe city'sownnobility on stage but accepted a much more daring subject instead.

246
Andreas Giger
stage is not surprising;52 however, it raises questions about a censorial procedure

that would permit I due Foscari, an opera featuring both a plot in which a leader is
forced to renounce the throne and evil prevailing in the form of a corrupt political
figure who triumphs over a good-natured one. Moreover, in 1843, the year before
the premiere of I dueFoscari,Giuseppe Mazzini and his revolutionary movement had
staged an unsuccessful uprising in Bologna (one of the principal Vatican cities), and
it is astonishing that the opera was permitted during the Risorgimento without
emendations.
Two explanations, perhaps related, are possible. First, the Piave family could
count Pope Gregory XVI (1831-46) among its friends, a connection that may have
facilitated the approval process.53 Second, the printed libretto does not include the
permission of a political censor but only that of Antonio Ruggieri and the final nihil
obstatof the Deputation.54 Of course, the political censors may have examined the
programmaand an earlier copy of the libretto. But it is possible that Piave, Verdi, and
Lanari managed to push a libretto through the censorial system with the help of
connections to ecclesiastical officials and perhaps even the Pope himself, despite the
failure of the libretto to meet the moral or the political standards of the state.
The revolutions of 1848 inspired Salvadore Cammarano and Verdi to collaborate
on a deliberately patriotic work, La battagliadi Legnano.The librettist decided to use
as a foundation Joseph Mery's La battaillede Toulouseand graft upon it the historical
events of Barbarossa's defeat by the Lombard League at Legnano in 1176. The new
opera not only promoted an independent Italy but conjured up religious sentiments
through the inclusion of settings of verses from Psalm 82 and the Te Deum. Verdi
seems to have expected production of his opera in a more liberal or even unified
Italy, but with the events taking a turn for the worse since July 1848, he could no
longer realistically sustain such hopes. Considering the political turmoil in much of
Italy, Verdi decided to write the opera for Ricordi and not as a commission.55
Ricordi would then arrange for a performance in whatever theater he deemed
appropriate.
Verdi must have had enormous confidence in his ability to have the opera
approved by the censors, wherever the premiere would take place. Rome certainly
did not lend itself to a premiere of La battagliadi Legnano:in his allocution of 29 April
1848, the Pope refused to take any part in the Risorgimento, in spite of his possible
personal sympathy for the cause, and urged all Italians to remain loyal to their
princes.56 Verdi's common sense led him to consider possible changes in case of a
censorial veto. To Cammarano he wrote: 'if by chance the censorships do not
permit [the opera], do you think we could, by changing the title, the locality, etc....
52
53
54
55
56
featuredtyrannicide.
Accordingto Budden(TheOperas
of Verdi,I: 175) Loren#ino
See MaryJanePhillips-Matz,
Verdi(Oxford,1993), 153.
Piave,I dueFoscari(see n. 41), 38.
See Verdi'sletterto Cammarano
of 31 May1848. Copialettere
(n. 22), 53n.
Martin,Verdi:His Music,LifeandTimes(see n. 51), 186.The Pope'sofficialoppositionto
the Risorgimentodoes not precludea personalsympathyfor the cause,but it does indicate
his priorityof securingthe papacyover Italianunity.See GiulioAndreotti,Ore13:II ministro
devemorire
TwoAmnesties
(Milan,1974), 40; and Glueckert,Between
(n. 12), 55.

247
retain all or nearly all the poetry? For the moment we had better go ahead and agree
on it the way it is.'57
Cammarano did not send Verdi, who was living in Paris at the time, the fourth
act of La battagliadi Legnanountil 29 October.58 Sometime during the first half of
November, several days - if not weeks - before the Pope fled to Gaeta, Tommaso
Corsini (the president of the Deputation and Mayor of Rome) accepted the 'score'.
Vincenzo Luccardi, a Roman sculptor and friend of Verdi's, conveyed the news to
the composer, who responded indignantly:
You tell me that the [Roman]Senate has accepted
... but who offered [it]?
my score!Accepted?
... No no: I cannot and must not yield to so much. In accordancewith an old contract, I
owe Ricordi a score: once [it is] written, my obligations are fulfilled.At his request,I agreed
to come to Rome, takinga personal loss, since the thousand francs I asked for are certainly
not enough for the trip from Paris to Rome and from Rome to Paris.... I am indebted to
the good intentions of all my friends,but I cannot yield gladlyto this kindness, to this favor
shown me of accepting
one of my scores.59
It seems that Luccardi did not have the actual score in mind since Verdi did not
complete it until December. He probably meant the production as a whole, the
libretto, or both, especially since no opera could be produced without approval of
the libretto first by the censors and then by the Deputation.60 In light of the Pope's
allocution, it hardly seems possible that the political censor would have approved
the libretto's spirit of the Risorgimento. How, then, could the Deputation have
acted as it did? Several possibilities may be advanced. In mid-September, Pius IX
appointed the liberal count Pellegrino Rossi minister of the interior and finance, and
Rossi made financial and democratic reforms his first priorities.61 He undoubtedly
knew of the Pope's continuing weakness for the Risorgimento movement and the
Deputation may not have had to fear later reprimand by ecclesiastical authorities. It
is also possible that Giovanni Carlo Doria (the political censor) never received the
libretto, which therefore would not have been examined from a political standpoint.62 And even if the minister was consulted, he would hardly have forbidden the
57
credetevoi che si potracambiandotitolo,localita

'[C]asomaile Censurenol permettessero
etc.... riteneretuttao quasituttala verseggiatura?
Al momentoconvieneandareavantie
fissarlocosi.'Verdiin an undatedletterto Cammarano,
Copialettere
(see n. 22), 56.
58 Abbiati,Verdi(see n. 46), I: 772.
59 'Tu mi dici che il Senato[di Roma]ha accettato
il mio spartito!Accettato?
... Ma chi ha
offerto?... No no: io non posso ne devo sottomettermitanto.A Ricordiin forzadi
vecchiocontrattodevo uno spartito:unavolta scrittosono finitii miei obblighi.Dietrosua
venirea Romacon mio sacrifizioperchei millefranchiche
preghieraio accondiscendeva
ho chiestonon bastanocertamentepel viaggioda Parigia Roma,e da Romaa Parigi....
Sono obbligatissimo
dellebuoneintenzionidi tuttii miei amici,ma non posso
sottomettermidi buon gradoa questofavore,a questagraziache mi si vuol faredi accettare
un mio spartito.'Verdito Luccardi,21 November1848;quotedin Abbiati,Verdi(see
n. 46), I: 775.
Luccardi'sstatementthatthe scorewas acceptedby the senatecannotbe entirelycorrect.

Suchdecisionshad to be madeby the Deputation,the headof whichwas the senatore.
61
Andreotti,Ore13 (see n. 56), 39-41.
62
Ruggieri,on the otherhand,did, as becomesclearfromhis letterto Corsiniquotedbelow.
60

248
Andreas Giger
libretto; he must have known that in times of great political unrest, it would have
been detrimental to the state's interest not to allow a production that would surely
have been the climax of the upcoming Carnival season.
With the Pope's escape to Gaeta, the censorial system changed only in part.
Although on the level of the state, the Pope gave way to a new government
(consisting of Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Aurelio Saffi), the municipal
council and thus the personnel of the Deputation was not replaced until after the
premiere of La battagliadi Legnano.63In addition, Doria and Ruggieri remained in
their positions as political and ecclesiastical censors respectively.64 With Rome
transformed into a republic, ideas reflecting the Risorgimento no longer offended
the government, and any objection from Doria's side would not have received a
favorable hearing. Violation of religious standards, however, still concerned some
members of the Deputation. In the case of La battaglia di Legnano, one of the
inspectors, Vincenzo Jacovacci, brought attention to the final scene in the cathedral
of Milan, whose text included without mention some verses of the Te Deum. On 23
January, four days before opening night, Jacovacci wrote to Ottavio Scaramucci,
member of the Senate and the Deputation:65
I forewarnYour Excellency to be informed that in the final scene of Maestro Verdi's new
opera, which will be performed at the [Teatro]Argentina this Saturdayfor the first time,
they want to depict the altarof the Milanese cathedralin the middle, and that although the
TeDeumis not indicatedin the libretto, they will nevertheless sing 'Te Deum laudamus,te
Dominum confitemur. Te eternum patrem omnis terraveneratur'.
I also forewarn that the management of the above-mentioned theater does not wish
anyone to have access to the dress rehearsalof the said opera, which will be performed on
Friday.I thus would like to ask Your Excellency to be ready with instructions....
I remain sincerely ...
The assembly ordered a deputy to encourage the composer to remove the
Ambrosian hymn from the score.66 Corsini consulted with the ecclesiastic censor
63
64
65
66
(see n. 9), III: 3.

PompiliOlivieri,II senatoromano
See Calzolari,'La censura'(n. 29), 294.
'PrevengoVostraEccellenzadi essereinformato,che nell'ultimascenadellanuovaoperadel
MaestroVerdi,che si rappresentera
al ArgentinaSabatoprossimola primavolta,vi si voglia
pitturarenel mezzo,l'altaredel duomodi Milano,e che sebbenenon notatonel libroil
TeDeum,per tuttaviasaracantato"Te Deum laudamus,te Dominumconfitemur.Te
eternumpatremomnisterraveneratur."
Prevengoancorache l'impresadel sudettoteatronon vorrebbesi dasse1'ingressoad
alcunonellaprovageneraledellasuindicataopera,che si eseguiraVenerdi,e perci6prego
VostraEccellenzadi avereistruzioniin proposito....
Mi rassegnocon tuttol'ossequio
di VostraEccellenza
devotissimo,ed umilissimoservitore
obbligatissimo,
VincenzoJacovacciIspettoreprowisorio'
Rome,ArchivioStoricoCapitolino,titolo 15, busta2, fasc.2. In 1848the impresario
Jacovacciwas in seriousfinancialproblemsand had to withdrawfromhis contractwith the
city of Rome.He becametheatricalinspectorinstead.Cametti,Tordinona
(see n. 20), I: 254.
Throughresponsiblereportslike the one quotedabove,he probablytriedto regainsome of
the respectlost due to his poor management.
Argentina
Tirincanti,
(see n. 19), 278.


Antonio
249
Ruggieri, who answered in a letter of 26 January:67
Besides the corrections made in the libretto of Maestro Verdi's new opera for the Teatro
Argentina, I told Mr. Lopez [the impresario] that considering some earlier news [and]
fearing that he would not stick to the regulations, I once again refreshed his memory.
Mr. Lopez then let me know that according to Verdi, the few measures of the Te Deum
constituted the magic of the music in Act IV and thus would rather stimulate devotion.
I responded in the following precise words that only in sacred music could one permit
sacred expression and actions, not in other types; but that - since at present I do not
have any means to impede the performance of what was proscribed-I
do not have
the power to oppose the matter; nevertheless, I would have only acted passively,
which is why he should notify Maestro Verdi so that in any case my conscience could
remain clear.
Having brought all this to Your Excellency's attention in response to the highly respected
note, which I just received, I remain with my deepest devotion ...
Corsini asked the Republic's
evaluate the case:68
new Minister
of the Interior,
Carlo Armellini,
to
Excellency:
In his new opera La battaglia di Legnano, Maestro Verdi believes he has to set some
strophes of the sacred hymn Te Deum.
67
68
'Oltre le correzioni fatte al libretto per la nuova musica del Signor Maestro Verdi da
rappresentarsial teatro Argentina, feci a voce sapere al Signor Lopez che attese alcune
notizie avute, temendo che non si stesse alle prescrizioni,tornavo a rinnovarglienela
memoria. Il Signor Lopez in seguito mi ha fatto conoscere che le poche battute dell'Inno di
ringraziamentoa sentimento del Verdi formavano il magico dell'armoniadel 4't atto, e che
eccitavano anzi la divozione.
La mia risposta e stata in questi precisi termini che nelle sole musiche di fatti sagri, si
possono permettere espressione, ed azioni sagre, non gia nelle altre;che per6 non avendo
io al presente alcuno mezzo per impedire l'esecuzione di quanto fu proscritto, non avrei
potuto oppormi al fatto, ma per6 non non [sic]avrei agito che passivamente per cui avesse
di ci6 awertito il Signor Maestro affinche in ogni caso fossi io potuto star tranquilloin
coscienza.
Tanto detto render noto a Vostra Eccellenza in risposta al veneratissimo foglio ricevuto in
questo istante, mentre col piu profondo ossequio mi rassegno
Di Vostra Eccellenza Umilissimo Devotissimo Obbligatissimo Servitore
Antonio Ruggieri'
Letter of Ruggierito Corsini, 26 January1849, Rome, Archivio Capitolino, titolo 15, busta
2, fasc. 2, No. 17163.
'Eccellenza:
I1 Maestro Verdi ha creduto nella sua nuova Musica la Battagliadi Legnano di porre in
musica alcune strofe dell'Inno sacro il "Te Deum".
II Revisore Ecclesiastico erasi in principio opposto a tal cosa, ma ci si accerta
dall'ImpressarioSignor Lopez che questa mattina abbia acconsentito in voce ricusandosidi
porre in scritto tale permesso.
In tale stato di cose lo Scrivente Principe Senatore si rivolge all'EccellenzaVostra onde gli
piacera dichiararese possa su tale asserzione dell'impressariopermettersi che venga eseguito
l'inno Sudetto.
Profitta anche di tale incontro per ripetersi ...'
This letter is preserved in an archivalcopy in the hand of Ottavio Scaramucci.It bears no
date but was catalogued on 27 January 1849. Rome, Archivio Capitolino, titolo 15, busta 2,
fasc. 2, No. 17161.

Andreas Giger
250
The ecclesiasticalcensor was in principleopposed to such a thing, but we are assuredby

the impresarioMr. Lopez that this morning he agreedin person, refusing [however]to put
such permission in writing.
In this state of affairs,the undersignedPrincipe Senatoreturns to Your Excellency to see

whether you would be so kind as to declare on the basis of such an assertion,whether one
may allow the performance of the above-mentioned hymn.
[The writer] takes advantageof this occasion to declare himself...
Corsini revealed his concern by making sure that the Deputation did not act against
any authority. While he assured the Minister of the Interior of Ruggieri's oral
consent, he was in fact still negotiating with the censor:69
The manager of the Teatro Argentina, Mr. Luigi Lopez, revealed to the undersigned
Principe Senatore that Your Honor had agreed that in the final scene of Maestro Verdi's
new opera La battaglia
di Legnanoa few strophes of the sacred hymn TeDeumbe sung. Since
I would like to know whether the account is true (though the above-mentionedMr. Lopez
should not be judged capable of making a false declaration),the writer [of this letter] turns
to Your Venerable[?]Honor to ask whether it would please him to confirm such a thing in
order to reassurethe communal Deputation of Public Performances,over which I have the
honor to preside.
Pressure on the authorities was considerable: the population would not wait for the
premiere and, threatening violence, demanded admission to the dress rehearsals.70
Armellini answered on 26 January:71
The undersignedminister finds no obstacle to the permission requested by the impresario
Mr. Lopez to put to music some stanzas of the SacredHymn TeDeumin the new opera by
Maestro Verdi entitled La battagliadi Legnano,since it does not include any insult of the
Santita of the religion; rather, keeping in mind the purpose that the famous composer[italics
69
70
71
'L'intraprendentedel Teatro Argentina Signor Luigi Lopez ha esposto allo Scrivente

Principe Senatore che Vostra Signoria abbia acconsentito che nell'ultimaScena della nuova
opera del Maestro Verdi la Battaglia di Legnano si cantino alcune strofe dell'Inno Sacro il
'Te Deum'[.] Interessando di conoscere se sia vero l'esposto (sebbene non si giudichi
capace il sudetto Signor Lopez di avere esposto il falso) chi scrive si rivolge alla
Venerabilissima[?] Signoria Vostra onde gli piacera confermare una tal cosa per norma e
regola della deputazione comunale dei publici spettacoli alla quale io ho l'onore di
presiedere.
In attesa di grato categorico riscontro passa lo Scrivente a ripetersi . . .'
This letter is preserved in an archival copy in Scaramucci's hand. It bears no date but was
catalogued on 27 January 1849. Rome, Archivio Capitolino, titolo 15, busta 2, fasc. 2,
No. 17162.
Phillips-Matz, Verdi (see n. 53), 239.
'Non incontra ostacolo lo Scrivente Ministro al permesso implorato dall'Impresario Signor
Lopez per porre in musica alcune strofe dell'inno sacro TeDeumnella nuova opera del
Maestro Verdi Intitolata la Battagliadi Legnano,dappoiche non viene con ci6 recato oltraggio
veruno alla Santita della religione; che anzi ponendosi mente allo scopo che si e proposto
l'illustre compositore e facile il comprendere che possono eccitarsi coll'armonia di quel
canto sublime sentimenti di rispetto e di ammirazione nell'animo degli spettatori....
Di Vostra Eccellenza
Devotissimo Servitore
II Ministro C. Armellini'
Rome, Archivio Storico Capitolino, titolo 15, busta 2, no. 17160, partially quoted in
Tirincanti, Argentina (see n. 19), 278.

251
added] has set forth, it is easy to understandthat with the music of such a sublime chant
the sentiments of respect and admirationcan be excited in the hearts of the audience.
Even in this, as in the political arena, what should not have been permitted in
theory- a portrayal of religious symbols on stage and the rendition of a sacred
chant - was allowed in practice when a famous composer such as Verdi was the
author.
Verdi's next premiere in Rome was II trovatore,an opera based on a Spanish play
by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez. The composer first suggested the source in a letter of
2 January 1851, and by 9 April 1851, he had already read Cammarano's programma.
In October, Vincenzo Jacovacci (now returned to his position as impresario of the
Teatro Apollo after a three-year absence due to financial difficulties) tried to
convince the librettist to send him the libretto or at least the scenario, claiming that
Verdi had given his permission. But Cammarano had reservations about Rome and
consulted with the composer in a letter of 4 November 1851:72
As for having abandoned negotiations with Venice for those with Rome, permit me to
suggest that (as far as the subject [of the opera] is concerned) you acted unwisely;Venice
would have approved fully that which Rome will do only with exceptions. One could send
the scenario instead of the unfinished libretto, and not give up the fight - provided there
were a suitable cast proposed. But instead of concerning ourselves in vain about what has
alreadyhappened, let us see what can usefully be done. My advice (but do as you like) is
to send Jacovacci my scenario as it is, so that he can present it to the censors, but strongly
urge him that if difficultiesarise (and you must expect them) concerning the scene in which
Leonora wouldliketo take the veil, he needs to be skillfulenough to propose a change in that
situation. It seems to me that the rest should not encounter difficulties.
I cannot urge you enough, however, to be extremely cautious in this matter, for if by
misfortune the rumor began to circulatethat I//trovatore
was prohibitedin Rome, then what
would you do with this poor work of mine, which is costing me so much time and effort?
Let's bear it in mind.
On 18 November, Jacovacci reported to Cammarano on the changes required by
the Roman censors, downplaying the seriousness of the emendations:73
In my opinion, the modifications do not prejudicethe substance of what you have done.
Instead of witches, as you will note, they are called gypsies. Outlawed and alternative
72
Drammain quattro
Quoted in translationin Giuseppe Verdi, 'IItrovatore':
parti, ed. David
Lawton, The Works of Giuseppe Verdi, ser. I, Operas, vol. 18A (Chicago, 1993), xii-xiii.
The prefaceto the editionalso containsthe originalItaliantext.

73
'Le modifiche a mio parere non possono recare pregiudizio alla sostanza del fatto. Invece di
Streghe come rileverete sono denominate zingare. Proscritti e partiti di fazioni non
potendosi nominare sono tolti .... Invece del rogo che potrebbe attribuirsi alia condanna
del S. Uffizio di quell'epoca, si dira la semplice condanna di morte ....
Leonora non dovra
far vedere al pubblico di prendere il veleno, perche non si premettono i suicidii e si potra
pertanto modificare la cosa. Il genere di musica dei canti interni potra essere come si vuole
accompagnato da una grossa fisarmonica, che ha la medesima voce dell'organo, come si e
praticato nello Stiffelio,ma non dovranno per6 esservi parole sacre ed immorali in nessuna
parte. Nel Vestibulo si avanzera Leonora per entrare nel chiostro. Senza nominar Chiesa,
Convento e Voti. Queste cose come le altre, voi, che senza farvi corte siete il primo poeta
melodrammatico del giorno, potete farle conoscere senza trovare opposizione nella
Censura.' Letter quoted in Alessandro Luzio, ed., Carteggi Verdiani, 4 vols. (Rome, 1935-47),
I: 8n.

Andreas Giger
252
factions that cannot be mentioned are erased. ... Instead of the stake, which could be
attributedto the condemnation of the Holy Office of that period, one should simply say
condemnation to death.... Leonora must not show to the public that she takes poison,
because suicides are not permittedand we should therefore change the thing. The genre of
the music inside can be accompaniedas you like by a large harmonium,which has the same
sound as the organ (as you did in Stiffelio).But there must be no sacred or immoral words
in any part.In the vestibule, Leonora advancesto enter the cloister,without saying'Church',
'Convent', and 'Vows'. You, who without my flatteringyou are the foremost librettisttoday,
can [surely]evoke these things as all the others without provoking opposition from the
censorship.
Rome's political censor, Giovanni Carlo Doria, prepared a plot synopsis for
the government, omitting those suspect elements mentioned by Jacovacci,
with the exception of Leonora's suicide (but without criticism).74 He also
completely ignored the role of Azucena and the immoral deeds associated with her
character.
Like La battagliadi Legnano,the new opera was not a commission, and Verdi could
choose whatever theater he considered to have the most suitable singers. He
tenaciously negotiated with various theaters, especially Naples and Rome, and did
not sign a contract with any of them until he was completely satisfied with
the conditions. Censorship played a significant role in these negotiations: his
experience with the immense censorial problems of Rigolettoconvinced Verdi he
should no longer set a libretto before the censors had approved it.75 This
precondition consequently appears in his proposail to Jacovacci in June 1852,
putting additional pressure on both company and censorship because of the
need for operas by first-rate composers: 'I will write an opera for the
coming
carnival season
in Rome
...
if the censorship
approves
the libretto
of
Cammarano's II trovatore.The right to the libretto and the score will remain entirely
with me. You only have the permission to have it performed at the Apollo and only
during the Carnival season 1852-53.'76 Verdi finally signed the contract in
November 1852 but did not return it to Ricordi until 20 December, after he had
completed the opera.77
74
The document is quoted in Mossa, 'The Genesis of the Libretto', in Lawton, ed., II trovatore
(see n. 72), xxii. Mossa strangely does not say that the document was written by Doria.
75
Carteggi Verdiani (see n. 73), I: 8-9. In September 1951, Verdi wrote to his Venetian friend
Antonio Gallo: 'I have decided not to sign any contract without already having presented
the libretto to the Censura of the city where I will perform the opera.' (.. . io sono ben
deciso a non firmare alcun contratto, senza prima presentare il libretto alla Censura di quel
paese dove io dovessi far rappresentare [1' opera].) Copialettere(see n. 22), 124.
76 'Io verr6 scrivere un'opera nel Carnevale prossimo a Roma ... se la Censura
approvera il
libretto di Cammarano II Trovatore.La proprieta del libretto e spartito restera interamente a
me. Voi non avrete che il diritto di farlo rappresentare all'Apollo nella sola stagione di
Carnevale 1852-53.' Quoted in Abbiati, Verdi (see n. 46), II: 167. See also Verdi's letter to
De Sanctis of 5 August 1852, quoted in Carteggi Verdiani (see n. 73), I: 9.
7
Lawton, ed., II trovatore(see n. 72), xiii.

253
The concerns of the ecclesiastical censor mentioned in Jacovacci's letter would

suggest that Cammarano had to modify his libretto, at least for Rome. The libretto
for the premiere at the Teatro Apollo reveals that he did follow most of the censor's
requests by omitting the references to religion (such as the cloister, the Miserere,or
taking the veil) and the stage instructions for Leonora to take the poison.78
Azucena, however, still dies at the stake and refers to it repeatedly, and as far as
morality is concerned, Azucena's horrendous narration about throwing her own son
into a fire remains one of the most prominent moments of the opera. On all these
accounts, Verdi's and Cammarano's negotiations with the various authorities proved
successful, either because the censors felt they had to approve the passages in
question, because they never saw the final product, or because neither the censors
nor superior authorities enforced the emendations.
In 1852-53, Giovanni Gioacchino Belli, the famous writer of sonnets in Roman
dialect, held an unofficial position as an additional censor and direct consultant to
Antonio Matteucci, the director of the police.79 The libretto of II trovatoredoes not
appear in the list of works evaluated by Belli,80 from which we might conclude that
the director of the police did not deem it necessary to solicit the opinion of his
consultant. Belli indeed might have objected to the Trovatorelibretto because an
important characteristic spoke against it. II trovatorewas a new opera and its moral
or political decadence had not yet penetrated the minds of audiences. While Belli
tended to allow works that had already been performed, perhaps fearing disturbances if the audience's favorites were banned, he preferred to reject new ones
completely without even suggesting emendations.81
By putting pressure upon Jacovacci and the censorial system, Verdi again
succeeded in having a work approved that, according to the judgment of the Civilta
Cattolica,ranked among the most decadent examples of operatic plots: a ruler (the
Conte di Luna) appears in a very negative light, Azucena tells a gruesome story, and
evil prevails in the end. Nevertheless, in addition to his great fame, Verdi could
count on the support of his Roman admirers, including not only the impresario and
the audience but also members of the Deputation.82
78
Salvadore Cammarano, II trovatore:Dramma in quattro parti, musica di Giuseppe Verdi; da

rappresentarsi nel Teatro di Apollo il carnevale del 1852 in 1853 (Rome, 1853). The Ricordi
publication of the same year leaves the libretto as originally intended: The libretto uses the
terms 'chiostro', 'claustro', and 'cenobio'; and states that 'il velo cingera Leonora' (the veil
will surround Leonora); the Miserere,which the Roman censor replaced by a version
omitting key words of the Latin chant, appears exactly as originally intended. Salvadore
Cammarano, II trovatore:Dramma in 4 parti, musica del maestroGiuseppe Verdi (Milan, 1853),
passim.
7
Calzolari, 'La censura' (see n. 29), 295.
to Rivelli ('Belli' [see n. 29], 347), the Civilta Cattolica approved Belli's
0According
nomination as censor; his approval of II trovatorewould thus have been surprising.
Ibid., 355-6.
82
Gino Monaldi quotes a letter Verdi wrote to Luccardi on 29 January 1853, in which he
mentions the name Doria: 'Saluta amici e conoscenti; Moneta, Doria, il mio buono e caro
Angiolini, Cencetti'. Monaldi, Verdi 1839-1898, 2d ed. (Turin, 1926), 122. It is not certain,
however, that the mentioned Doria was the political censor. On Matteucci's admiration for
Verdi, see below.

254
Andreas Giger
The production of Verdi's last opera for Rome best exemplifies how a libretto,
theoretically unacceptable to the authorities, could receive censorial approval. Verdi
wrote Un ballo in mascherafor the Teatro San Carlo in Naples but soon had to face
problems with the censors. On 14 January 1858, Napoleon III survived an
assassination attempt on his way to the Paris Opera, and the Neapolitan authorities
as a consequence were very sensitive to any theatrical allusions to regicide. Since Un
ballo in mascheraportrayed the murder of the Swedish King Gustav III, the censors
required changes in Verdi's libretto to such an extent that the composer refused to
fulfill his contract. From Naples he contacted Luccardi in Rome with the request
that he investigate the possibility of giving the opera in that city: 'It is now decided
that La vendettain domino[later renamed Un ballo in maschera]will not be given here.
Ricordi wrote me in the name of the management and the government to give it in
Milan; but, to tell the truth, I would prefer to give it in Rome.... In any case, talk
to Jacovacci as if it were your idea and see what his response will be.'83 Jacovacci
immediately took advantage of the situation, traveled to Naples and offered Verdi
a production at the Apollo.84 Although the composer wondered how a libretto
rejected in Naples would be permitted in Rome, the impresario promised to have
the approval within a week.85 Although the censorial process ultimately lasted much
longer, it is nevertheless surprising that Rome accepted the new opera. The close
connection of the king in Naples to the French cannot solely have caused the
rejection there; the Pope was equally indebted to the French, who had helped him
to regain control over the liberal movement of 1848-49. By July and in spite of
Jacovacci's good connections, the Roman censors had vetoed sixty-two lines, which
the librettist Antonio Somma amended, as usual in cooperation with the composer.86 Nevertheless, Rome was willing to make much greater concessions than
Naples, and Verdi thus decided to contribute his share of flexibility, especially
since the required changes, although numerous, did not change the essential
dramatic concept of the opera.87 On 29 September, the libretto was delivered to
Matteucci (who at that point served as both president of the Deputation and
director of the police), and Jacovacci once again assured Verdi of approval - this
time correctly so.88
Two reasons primarily account for the approval of Un ballo in maschera.First,

Jacovacci had excellent connections with high politicians. Support for this claim
comes from Jacovacci himself as transmitted by the notoriously untrustworthy Gino
83
'i deciso che qui La vendettain dominonon si dara piu. Ricordi mi ha scritto a nome della
Direzione e Governo di darla a Milano; ma, a dirti il vero, io preferirei darla a Roma. ... In
ogni modo parlane a Jacovacci come se fosse pensier tuo, e vedi cosa risponde.' Letter of
27 February 1858; quoted in Copialettere(see n. 22), 570-2.
84
Phillips-Matz, Verdi (see n. 53), 376.
85
Gino Monaldi, I teatri di Roma negli ultimi tre secoli (Naples, 1928), 191.
86 See the
following letters: Verdi to De Sanctis (29 April 1858), in Carteggi Verdiani (see
n. 73), I: 41-2; Verdi to Somma (8 July 1858), in A. Pascolato, 'Re Lear, e 'Un ballo in
maschera':Lettere di Giuseppe Verdi ad Antonio Somma (Citta di Castello, 1902), 92; Somma to
Verdi (11 August 1858), in Carteggi Verdiani, I: 238-9; and Verdi to Somma (11 September
1858), in Pascolato, 'Re Lead, 94-7.
87
Abbiati, 'Gli Anni del Ballo in maschera'(see n. 25), 819-22.
88
Jacovacci to Verdi (29 September 1858). Copialettere(see n. 22), 200-1.

255
Monaldi: 'Now I make my way to Rome, and I will work out an agreement with the
and with the Holy Father if necessary. Within
Censura,with the CardinalGovernatore,
dear
have
the libretto with all the vistiand buonifor the
will
Maestro, you
eight days,
production.'89 As usual, Monaldi does not acknowledge the story, but other sources
support its credibility. Four letters by Jacovacci held at S. Agata account for the
impresario's personal efforts to obtain permission for Verdi's work.90 Here we find
the strongest evidence yet of Matteucci's effort on Verdi's behalf, his visit with the
Pope, attempting to subvert the work of the censors. The letters center on the
drawing of lots in order to determine the assassin of Gustav, on his rank, and on
the title of the opera.
Rome, 21 April 185891
Your letter of the 19th of this month hasdevastated
me,since after the excitement awakened
here due to the notice that you would come to stage your new opera during the next
Carnivalseason, after the expenses made in this regard, the cancellation of our contract
would be a true disaster!I immediatelypreparedmyself to leave for Civitavecchiato meet
you there, when your telegram of today reached me, which caused me to postpone the
departureuntil next Saturday.Thus, I will certainlybe in Civitavecchiaon Sunday around
6 a.m. I hope that to the pleasure of seeing you again will be added that of being able to
agree that what we decided about the performanceof Gustavoduring the next Carnivalwill
in fact take place and your concern with regardto this Censorship somewhat diminished.
In the meantime,I will see Monsignor Matteucciat 3 p.m. with your letter, upon his return
from the audiencewith the Pope, so that I can make every effort to obtain something in this
matter.
89
'Orariprendola via di Roma,e mi aggiuster6io con la Censura,con il Cardinal

Governatore,e con il SantoPadre,se occorre;entrootto giorni,caroMaestro,avreteil
librettocon tuttii vistie i buoniper la scena.'Quotedin Monaldi,I teatridi Roma(see n.
90
A microfilmcopy of theselettersis locatedat the AmericanInstitutefor VerdiStudiesat

New YorkUniversity.I wouldlike to thankFrancescoIzzo andProfessorMartinChusid
for theirhelp in trackingdown theseletters.
85), 191.
91 'Roma 21 Aprile 1858
La vostraletteradel 19 correntemi haannichilato,

poichedopo il fanatismoche si e qui
destatoper la notiziache sarestevenutoa porrein iscenala vostranuovaoperanel
del nostrocontratto
prossimoCarnevale,dopo le spese fattein proposito,lo sc[i]oglimento
sarebbeuna veraruina!Mi preparava
a partireimmediatamente
onde
per Civitavecchia,
incontrarvicola, quandomi e giuntoil vostrodispacciodi quest'oggi,che mi ha fatto
dilazionarela partenzafino al prossimoSabato.Immancabilmente,
saro6
quindiDomenicaa
Civitavecchia
circale 6 antimeridiane.
Speroche al piaceredi rivedervisi aggiungera
quello
di poterconciliareche abbiaeffettoci6 che stabilimmoper l'esecuzionedel Gustavonel
prossimoCarnevale,e di trovarequindiun poco diminuitala vostrasuscettibilita,
riguardoa
questaCensura.Intantomi porter6da MonsignorMatteuccialle 3. pomeridianeal suo
ritornodall'Udienzadel Papacon la vostraletteraonde procurareper quantoposso di
ottenerequalchecosa in proposito.
Col vivo desideriodi rivederviDomenicaprossimain perfettaprosperita,e di trovar
cambiatala risoluzioneche mi esprimetenellasuddettavostra,ho il piaceredi salutarviin
unioneallaSignoraGiuseppina,mentrecon tuttala stimami confermo,
ed obbligatissimo
affezionatissimo,
servo,ed amico
VincenzoJacovacci'

256
Andreas Giger
With the lively desire to see you next Sunday in perfect health and to find changed the
resolution you expressed in your aforementioned letter, I have the pleasure of saluting you,
together with Signora Giuseppina, while I confirm myself sincerely your
most affectionate and obligated servant and friend
Vincenzo Jacovacci
Nine days later, Jacovacci updated the composer as follows:
Rome, 30 April 185892
Back in Rome from Civitavecchia (quite sad, as you can imagine), I talked to His Excellency
Monsignor Matteucci with all the zeal you can imagine, making him aware of all the reasons
you advanced for insisting on the preservation of the drawingof lots and the title of Duke
attributable to the character of Gustav. The above-mentioned prelate responded that I
should have an accurate copy of the lottery scene made, revealing [his] intention to permit
it after considering it once again. With regard to the title of Duke, he told me he was very
displeased at not being able to permit it, adding that his determination was strengthened by
the notion that in allowing the lottery box, this would have been directed against the life of
a sovereign. Regarding the title of the dramma,if you don't believe it should be called Gustavo
di Goutemburg,he does not see any difficulty in calling it Una festa da ballo in mascheraor
92
'Roma 30. Aprile 1858
Tomato in Roma da Civitavecchia(ben triste, come ben supporrete) con tutto l'impegno
che vi potete immaginareparlai all'EccellentissimoMonsignor Matteucci, facendogli
conoscere tutte le ragioni che mi adduceste per insistere sul mantenimento del sorteggio,
e del
titolo di Duca riferibileal personaggio di Gustavo. II sullodato Prelato mi rispose che
facessi estrarrecopia originale della scena del sorteggio, manifestandomil'intenzione di
permetterla,dopo averla di nuovo considerata.Riguardoal titolo di Duca mi disse ch'era
dispiacentissimo di non poterlo permettere;soggiungendo che la sua determinazioneera
convalidatadall'ideache permettendo il bussolo, questo sarebbe stato al carico della vita di
un Sovrano. Relativamenteal titolo del Dramma se non credete, che s'intitoli Gustavo di
Goutemburg non trova difficolta che si nominasse Unafestada balloin maschera,
od altro non
censurabile.Fattoci in seguito parlaredai Deputati (che sono impegnatissimianch'essi
perche si effettui la vostra venuta in Roma) perche avesse convenuto anche sul grado di
Duca, e rivedutolo jeri giorno io stesso, mi disse che fossi tomato da lui il prossimo Sabato
nelle ore pomeridiane, che mi avrebbe fatto trovare la scena del sorteggio approvatacome e
stata scritta originalmente, ma che riguardo al titolo di Duca, non potendo rimuoversi dalla
sua opinione mi avrebbe dato una definitiva risposta nel suindicato giorno. Forse vorra
sentirci qualche opinione in alto; ne cesser6 percio di adoprarmi con tutta l'energia. Ma se
non riuscissi, quando si e potuto attenere l'essenziale, cioe la scena intera del sorteggio,e si
permetta che il Gustavo sia chiamato Signore, accordandogli sulla scena tutti i distintivi
della Sovranita, spero che non vorrete dare a me, a queste Autorita, che vi dimostrano tanta
deferenza (giacche vi confesso che mi sembra un sogno che abbiano accordato fino il
bussolo) ed al Pubblico che tanto giustamente vi ama, e vi desidera, il forte dispiacere di
rifiutarvi di far qui rappresentare la vostra nuova opera come abbiamo stabilito, trattandosi
di passar sopra a cosa che non puo nuocere all'effetto del Dramma, imperocche resta tutta
l'azione in scena del medesimo, ed ognuno sa che Gustavo e il Re di Svezia,
particolarmente dopo tutto ci6 che si e propagato in proposito.
Dovendo vedere Monsignor Matteucci domani dopo che sara partito il Corriere, ed essendo
nella Domenica chiusi qui gli Offici postal&,vi spedir6 quindi il prossimo lunedi la scena
del sorteggio del Gustavo approvata, scrivendovi contemporaneamente la risoluzione
dell' Autorita politica riguardo al titolo di Duca, come ho detto di sopra confermandovi
che perci6 spero piHin voi che in altro.

Intanto salutandovi distintamentein unione alia vostra Consorte, e nel vivo desiderio di
rivedervi nel prossimo Carnevale in ottimo stato di salute, pronto a servirvi sempre, h6 il
piacere di confermarmi
affezionatissimo, ed obbligatissimo servo, ed amico
Vincenzo Jacovacci'

257
anything else not censurable. He then brought up the Deputies (who are also most
committed to making your coming to Rome possible), because he also agreed [with them]
regardingthe rank of Duke. And when I personallysaw him again yesterday,he told me if
I would return to him the next Saturdaymorning, I would find the lotteSyscene approved
as it was originallywritten, but with regardto the title of Duke, since he could not change
his opinion, he would give me a definitive answer on the above-mentioned day. He will
probablywant us to get a higher opinion; I will thus not cease to exert myself with all my
energy.But if I don't succeed, when we have been able to keep to the essential aspect, that
is, the entire lottery scene, and allowed Gustav to be called Signore, according him all the
attributes of sovereignty in this scene, I hope that you will not give me, [not give] this
authority,who has shown to you so much deference (as I confess that it seems a dream to
me that they allowed as much as the lotterybox), and [not give] the audience,which so justly
loves and desires you, the great displeasureof refusing to produce here your new opera as
we agreed, since we are dealingwith overlooking something that cannot harm the dramma's
effect, because all the action in the scene remainsthe same, and everyone knows that Gustav
is the King of Sweden, especially after everythingthat has been discussed in this respect.
Since I will see MonsignorMatteuccitomorrow after the courierwill have alreadyleft, and
since the post offices are closed on Sundays,I will send you the approvedlottery scene from
Gustavonext Monday. At the same time, I will write to you the resolution of the political
Authoritywith regardto the title of Duke, as mentioned above, confirmingthat I therefore
count more on you than on anything else.
In the meantime, I salute you sincerely,together with your wife, and in the lively desire
of seeing you during the next Carnivalin the best state of health, as always ready to serve
you, I have the pleasure of confirming myself your
most affectionateand obligated servant and friend
Vincenzo Jacovacci.
The following letter confirms the significance of Verdi's fame for the approval of
Un ballo in maschera:
Rome, 15 June 185893
As soon as I received your latest very welcome letter, I went to see His Excellency
Monsignor Matteucciwith the mentioned letter in hand, in order to persuadehim to accord
93
'Roma 15 Giugno 1858
vostrami portaida SuaEccellenzaReverendissima

Appenaricevutol'ultimagra[di]tissima
ad accordareil titolo di
MonsignorMatteuccicon la medesimaallamano,onde persuaderlo
Duca al Protagonistadell'Operavostraegli mi risposeche tornassida lui per la risposta.
Immaginaida ci6 che volesse sentirciin propositopersonadel superioreGoverno,ed
avendorimarcata
la sua buonadisposizioneper soddisfareil vostro desiderio,vi spediiil
dispacciotelegraficoche avretericevuto.Tacciole pratticheche quinditentai(che furon
molte) onde riuscirenell'intento,ma tutteinutilmente;
poichequest'oggiho il dispiaceredi
dirviche mi e statosignificatoche l'Autoritanelle attualicircostanzenon pu6 accordareil
che a solo vostro
permessodel suindicatotitolopel vostroDramma,soggiungendomi
ve lo spediimentreper
riguardoe statoapprovatoil libbrodel Gustavo,qualeultimamente
nessunaltrosi sarebbepermesso;e che quindiessereinutilel'insisterepresentemente
piu su
tale oggetto.Moltissimepersone,come lo stesso Fraschinicon una sua letterami dice,che
abbiail titolo di Duca, o Conteil Protagonistadellavostraopera,nullatoglieall'effettodella
medesimaquandotuttal'azionerimaneintatta,massimeche questoPubblico,che
Continued
on nextpage

258
Andreas Giger
the title of Duke to the protagonist of your opera, and he responded that I should return
for the response. I imagined from this that he wanted to speak with a high government
official in this regard,and having noticed his good disposition towards satisfyingyour wish,
I sent you the telegramthat you should have received. I say nothing about the efforts I have
subsequentlymade (and there were many) in orderto succeed with [my]plan, but all in vain,
because today I have the displeasureof telling you that it has been indicated to me that
under the current circumstances the Authority cannot accord permission for the abovementioned title for your dramma,adding that only out of respect for you has the libretto of
Gustavo(the way I just sent it to you) been approved, while it would not have been
permitted to anyone else; and that it would thus be useless at present to insist on such an
object. Very many people believe, as Fraschini94himself told me in one of his letters, that
the protagonist of your opera having the title of Duke or Count has no effect when all the
action remains intact, especially since this audience, which justly loves and desires you so
much, knows that [the opera] is about Gustav III and nobody else. Thus, they all believe
that you should agree to come here to stage it, so much so that I am harassedfrom all sides,
on which account I would ask you to hear the public desire and implement our contract.
I am not exaggeratingin this respect and confess to you that this affairhas affected my
health not a little, and I count my own interest as nothing compared to satisfyingthe public
desire expressedwith such insistence. If need be, you may at my expense bringwith you the
poet of the dramma,as I wrote to you, in order to stage it and to make, in accord with the
censorship, those changes of words you desire. It may even happen that later,that is, during
the next Carnival,the circumstanceshave changed and at that point they will allow what
they cannot at present.
In the hope that you will hear not my prayers(which areworth nothing) but those of this
public and the Authorities themselves (with regardto whom I reiteratethat if they do not
accommodate you in everything,it is a sign that they reallycannot), I very anxiouslyawait
your solicitous resolution on the matter,which I hope will be favorableso that I can calm
down.
Always ready to serve you, I confirm myself sincerelyyour

most affectionateand obligated servant and friend
Vincenzo Jacovacci
Continued
fromprevious
page
e informatoche si trattadi GustavoIII., e non
tantogiustamentevi ama,e vi desidera,
a venirqui a porlain iscena,di modo
d'altri,e perci6tuttiritengonoche condiscenderete
che mi si vessa da ogni parte,onde vi preghiad esaudireil pubblicodesiderioeffettuandoil
nostrocontratto.
lo non esaggero in ci6 e vi confesso, che tale affaretiene alteratanon poco la mia salute, e
quindi nulla calcolerei il mio interesse per appagareil pubblico voto espresso con tanta
insistenza. Al caso potreste condurre con voi a mie spese il Poeta del Dramma, come vi
scrissi, onde metterlo in iscena, e farvi quei cambiamentidi parole, d'accordo colla
Revisione, che desiderate.Potrebbe anche darsi che piu tardi, cioe nel prossimo Carnevale,
le circostanze cangiassero,e potessero permettere allora quello che non possono al presente.
Nella speranza che vorrete esaudire non le mie preghiere che nulla valgono, ma quelle di
questo Pubblico e delle Autorita stesse (a riguardodelle quali vi ripeto che se non vi
appagano in tutto,e segno che realmente non possono) attendo con la piu viva anzieta la
vostra sollecita risoluzione in proposito che spero favorevole per potermi tranquillizzare.
Pronto sempre a servirvi con tutta la stima mi confermo
affezionatissimo,ed obbligatissimo servo, ed amico
Vincenzo Jacovacci'
94 Fraschiniwas the first Riccardo in Verdi's
opera.


Also the last of the four Jacovacci
commitment to Verdi's latest opera:
letters leaves
no doubt
259
about Matteucci's
Rome, 30 July 185895

Two days ago I was at His Excellency Monsignor Matteucci's (who most happily made me
read the copy of your letter and that by the poet Somma, which you attached to yours),
telling me that he had arranged everything concerning your opera with Checchetelli (who
was thus sent [to Matteucci] by Vasselli96 with copies of the two above mentioned letters),
who will write to you on this matter. Thus, if Monsignor Matteucci was most happy, you
can imagine how happy I was to hear such good news. To tell you the truth, it freed me of
the nightmare that was ruining my health. Be assured that the above-mentioned prelate will
use toward you all the correctness and kindness possible when you are in Rome, and I repeat
that were it not for the overly publicized Naples affair, I believe he would have agreed to
approve the libretto just about as it was originally written, so committed do I see him to
favor you and content that you are coming here to stage your new opera.
The news that our contract will be implemented during the next Carnival has spread
rapidly here and put all in good humor. Thus, I thank you in my name and in that of all of
Rome.
In expectation of the libretto newly accommodated by the poet Somma and of your
further instructions, I have the pleasure of repeating myself sincerely your
most affectionate and obligated servant and friend
Vincenzo Jacovacci
All good wishes and greetings to your excellent wife.
The impresario was in good standing with the Pope and could rely on him in
cases of financial problems.97 The city of Rome did not provide enough financial
95
'Roma 30 Luglio 1858

L' altro jeri fui da Sua Eccellenza Monsignor Matteucci, quale lietissimo, mi fece leggere la
copia della vostra lettera e di quella del Poeta Somma, che in essa accludeste dicendomi che
aveva il tutto accomodato riguardola vostra opera col Checchetelli (a lui perci6 inviato dal
Va[s]selli con le copie delle suddette due lettere) il quale vi scriverain proposito. Se
lietissimo perci6 era Monsignor Matteucci,potete immaginarequanto lo fossi io nel sentire
si bella notizia. Vi dico il vero, questa mi tolse l'incupo [sic] che danneggiavala mia salute.
Siate persuaso che il sullodato Prelato vi usera tutte le correntezze [sic] e gentilezze possibili
allorche sarete in Roma, e vi ripeto che se non fosse stato il troppo divulgato affaredi
Napoli, io credo, ch'Egli si sarebbe compiaciuto approvareil libbro quasi come
originalmentefu scritto, tanto lo vedo impegnato a favorirvi,e contento che veniate qui a
mettere in iscena la vostra nuova opera.
La notizia che si effettuerail nostro contratto nel prossimo Carnevalesi e rapidamentequi
propagata, ed ha messo il buon umore in tutti: vi ringrazio perci6 in mio nome, e di quello
di tutta Roma.
In attesa del libbro nuovamente accomodato dal Poeta Somma e dei vostri ulteriori
comandi ho il piacere di ripetermi con tutta la stima
affezionatissimo, ed obbligatissimo servo, ed amico
Vincenzo Jacovacci
Tanti saluti buoni augurj alla ottima vostra Consorte.'
The lawyer Antonio Vasselli was Donizetti's brother-in-law and Roman agent for Ricordi.
During his absences from Rome, he was represented by Checchetelli ('che tratta gli affari
del Va[s]selli mentre questi e assente da Roma'). See Jacovacci's letter to Verdi of
29 September 1858, quoted in Copialettere(n. 22), 200. Jacovacci's grammatical construction
implies that Matteucci was sent to Checchetelli. It seems, however, that Checchetelli was
sent to Matteucci.
97
Monaldi, I teatri di Roma (see n. 85), 172.
96

260
Andreas Giger
support to maintain the high artistic standard of the Apollo, and Jacovacci depended
not only on a full house but also on the Pope's financial support.98 Even though
obtaining money was not simple, Jacovacci had been able to rely on papal
contributions in times of need. During his first seven years as impresario, he
accumulated a considerable debt and turned to the Pope for help. Jacovacci was
temporarily removed from his position as impresario while the Pope assigned the
administration of the theater to the Deputation.99 The latter brought the finances
back on track, and with the Carnival of 1850-51, Jacovacci resumed his former
position.100
The second reason for the approval of Un ballo in mascheracan be found in the
important role played by the pontifical curia, which favored granting permission. As
the above-quoted letters byJacovacci indicate, the director of the police in particular
was greatly interested in seeing Verdi's new opera performed. That Matteucci did
not object to the project of Un ballo in mascheraalso becomes clear in a letter of
Antonio Vasselli to Giuseppe Verdi: 'I only had to show your letter to the eminent
person who presides over this Deputation, who, believe me, is most committed of
all, whether in terms of admiration for you, or for the honor of our theater.... We
will leave the persons and the situations exactly as the poet has imagined them....
It will only be necessary to move the scene outside of Europe. ...'01 It is not
surprising that Matteucci went to the Pope to obtain permission for the performance: as president of the Deputation, he could create for himself the opportunity of
a great cultural event if Un ballo in mascherapremiered in a Roman opera house.
All these reasons confirm that without the loose organization of censorship in
Rome and pressure from various interest groups, Verdi's latest opera would never
have been accepted. Verdi's name, the guarantee of a full house and good profit, and
the interest of the president of the Deputation, as well as the impresario's good
relations with high officials account for the acceptance of a libretto in a city with one
of the strictest standards of censorship.
Controlling the audience

So far, only one side of the system of censorship has been examined: the one that
made the basic decisions of approval, rejection, or emendations. These decisions
formed the prerequisites for a system of surveillance in which the police, the
Deputation, and the representatives of the Cardinal Vicar played an important role.
98
Rosselli refers to the financial strains put on the Roman theaters. Rosselli, Opera Industry
(see n. 8), 74. See also Cametti, Tordinona(n. 20), I: 255.
Cametti, Tordinona,I: 253-5. During this time Jacovacci served as inspector (see Table 3
and the discussion of La battagliadi Legnano above).
100
Cametti, Tordinona(see n. 20), I: 255-8.
101
'Io non ho dovuto fare altro che mostrare la vostra lettera all'eminente personaggio che
presiede a questa Deputazione, il quale, credetemi, e per l'ammirazione che nutre per voi e
per l'onore del nostro teatro ... . il pitu impegnato di tutti . . . si lascerebbero i personaggi
e le situazioni tali e quali li ha immaginati il poeta. ... Solo sarebbe necessario trasportare
la scena fuori dell'Europa....'
Carteggi Verdiani (see n. 73), IV: 141. For a detailed
interpretation of this passage with regard to the geographical setting of Un ballo in maschera,
see David Rosen's introduction to the forthcoming publication of the disposiioni sceniche.

261
That this system could function at all depended (as has been pointed out above) on
famous composers such as Verdi drawing large audiences to the theater. In order to
support the claim that censorship ultimately served as a means of controlling the
audience, we must now look in greater detail at the function of the Deputation and
the seating arrangement in the theater.
Censorship could only work if somebody went to the theaters to observe whether
the artists and performers followed the censors' suggestions and the police
director's decisions. Therefore, representatives of the three censorships visited the
dress rehearsals, often assisted by the president of the Deputation. High authorities
observed behavior not only during dress rehearsals but also during all the
performances. For this purpose, the impresario had to reserve a large number of
free tickets in order to allow ample personnel for surveillance of the performances
and for the control of the audiences' potential reactions. The following excerpt from
a memorandum to Edoardo Brindeau, the impresario of the Roman Teatro
Metastasio, provides a good example.102
Par. 6. The box of the Most Excellent Deputation has to be suitably furnished and must
contain a table, light, and the necessities for taking notes. Every evening, the printed
manifest for the current performance has to be placed on the table. Also the box of the
di PoliZiamust be suitablyfurnished.And besides the fixed places on the
DiregioneGenerale
floor
for
the official doctors, the architect of the Deputation, the five military
ground
and
the
of the DiregioneGenerale
architect
di PoliZia.. ., nineteen free tickets must
officers,
be provided for the various Authorities and Ministriesas usual.
Par. 7. The box no. 15 of the first tier has to be at the disposition of the court of his
Excellency the Vicar.
The contract between the city and the impresarios of the royal theaters of Rome,
which includes basically the same text, shows that these rules applied equally to
operatic performances.103
The authorities supervising operatic performances must have known that, in spite
of their presence, artists would find ways to bypass many of the restrictions. Artists
can create an atmosphere (through gestures and a particular tone) in which words
assume a meaning the audience decodes immediately.104 Since the church recognized very well its powerlessness in preventing all violations of its political and
102
'6. II palcoper l'Eccellentissima

addobbatoe
Deputazionedovraessereconvenientemente
munitoanchedi tavolino,lume e quantooccorreper iscrivere.Sovralo stesso tavolino
dovraesseredepositatoogni serail manifestoa stampadello spettacoloche si rappresenta.
Ancheil palcodellaDirezioneGeneraledi Poliziadovraessereconvenientemente
addobbato.E oltreai solitiposti fissi e distintinellaplateaper i due professorisanitari,per
l'architettodellaDeputazione,pei cinqueUfficialiMilitarie per l'ArchitettodellaDirezione
Generaledi Polizia... dovrannoaltresisomministrarsi
N. 19 bigliettigratuitiallediverse
Autoritae Dicastericome di pratica.
7. II palcoN. 15 dell'ordineI dovraogni seraesserea disposizionedel Tribunale
dell'Eccellentissimo
Vicario.'
Letterof the policedirectorto EdoardoBrindeau,24 December1857,quotedin Rivelli,
'Belli' (see n. 29), 371-2.
103 The whole contractis publishedin Tirincanti,

Argentina
(see n.
19), following230. For

furtherdiscussionof the free-ticketpolicy,see Rosselli,Opera
Industry
(n. 8), 91-2.
104 Domenico Meccoli, ed., II risorgimento

italianonel teatroe nel cinema(Rome, 1962), 101-2 and
116.

262
Andreas Giger
moral codes but still maintained the appearance of control, we have to conclude that
this control fulfilled a function beyond controlling the performance. Such a function
emerges in the control of the audience, in the attempt to maintain a social status
quo. A reflection of the latter appears in the seating arrangements.
The auditorium of an opera house consisted of two sections, the tiers with the
boxes and the ground floor. While the impresario tried to rent the boxes for an
entire season, he had to sell the seats on the ground floor (which also included
standing places) for each performance separately. Since a normal citizen could not
afford a box (at least not for a complete season), it was mainly the aristocracy and
the rich bourgeoisie who held the best boxes. Throughout the first two-thirds of the
nineteenth century, they largely belonged to the upper classes.
The seating in the Roman opera houses carefully reflected the social layers of the
population. In the first tier, one could find some of the very rich inhabitants, the
so-called mercantidi campagna,the 'elegant youth', but also selected nobility. For some
of the latter, De Cesare provides the names and lists them as presidents of boxes.105
The second tier was the most prestigious one and hosted members of the high
nobility and diplomatic corps. In the third tier, one could find ostentatious
bourgeoisie (vistosa borghesiaor generone).Although an 1844 notification established
equal prestige for the second and third tiers, the contracts of the period under
investigation here continue to show a greater proportion of nobility in the second
tier.106The fourth tier included members of the administration and the ecclesiastical
orders (congregaZioni
while the top tier hosted the lowest social layer
ecclesiastiche),
entitled to boxes, i.e., some artisans and servants of the nobility.107The church did
not allow priests to go to the operas, but in order to bypass this restriction, they
would dress as laymen and occupy the top tier.108 Of the various authorities
connected with censorship and surveillance, the Deputation received the proscenium box in the second - and most prestigious - tier, the inspection officers the
box to the right of the entrance to the ground floor, and the Autorita Ecclesiastica
seats in the fourth tier.109
The Capitolato gave the Deputation complete control over most of the seat
assignments: 'The distribution of the boxes among the subscribers is reserved for
105
106
107
108
109
De Cesare, Romae lo StatodelPapa (see n. 12), 302; see also Rosselli, OperaIndustry(n. 8),
42.
de'palchidellastag.di Carnevale1844 in 1845 (Rome,
Notzficazione
per la stipolazione
dell'apoche
1844). Jacovacci wrote some of the prices for the boxes by hand into a copy of a
regulation.Those for the second tier are still higher than those for the third. See
'Capitolato riguardantel'appaltoprivativo delle opere serie e dei balli di Roma nelle
stagioni di Carnevaledelle opere in musica da darsi senza privativanelle stagioni di
primaveraed autunno [1853-56]', Rome, Archivio di Stato, Direzione generale di Polizia,
ordine pubblico, busta 33, P.N. 884.
De Cesare, TheLast Days of PapalRome(see n. 9), 186; and Rosselli, OperaIndustry(n. 8),
42. Rosselli points out the difference between the lowest class of the people and the group
of laborers,peasants, and beggars, who were not considered people and did not attend
operatic performances (ibid.,45).
De Cesare, Romae lo StatodelPapa (see n. 12), 186. The teatro Apollo featuredsix tiers; we
thus have to assume that the fifth tier hosted members of the 'middle' class.
'Capitolato',reprintedin Tirincanti,Argentina(see n. 19), following 230.

263
the Deputation; the impresario can only dispose of remaining boxes after the above
distribution has been completed or after the term assigned by the Deputation in
each season has passed and the entitled people have not signed the contract'.110The
Capitolatodoes not explain why the Deputation required such strong control over
the distribution of boxes. We can assume, however, that this procedure enabled the
government to keep the social classes clearly distinguished.1ll This measure helped
to maintain the social and political ranks, which was so much in the interest of the
authorities.112 Rosselli already hinted at this conclusion when he suggested that
during the eighteenth century serious opera still would suit the interests of the rich
better than those of the lower-class segments, who would enjoy mainly comic
operas, but around 1850 such a distinction between the classes would have its real
point in maintaining traditional hierarchical distinctions.113 The impresario was not
allowed to interfere in the order established by the Deputation by selling the box of
an absent box holder. When Jacovacci was caught doing it, he had to pay a heavy
fine.114
The audience furthermore had to pay respect to the authorities, the armed forces,
and box holders. Any disobedience could result in severe punishments. The edicts
of 1844 and 1850 warn:
[1844] Par. 13. Any person, however distinguished, must show proper respect and
obedience toward the representatives of the government and the public armed forces
supervising law and order, under punishment of immediate arrest and successive punishments codified in the paragraphsV and VIII of the ... regulation.
Par. 14. As individualsappear in the boxes or on the ground floor, no one will dare to
make noise, laugh at them, mock them with colorful expressions, affected acclamationsor
in any other [derogatory]form, under the punishment of immediate expulsion from the
theater and imprisonment of two to six months.115
[1850] Par. 68. One of the two types of imprisonment [i.e., only during the performance
or for an extended period] depending on the greater or lesser seriousness of the offense
110
112
113
114
115
'La distribuzione de' palchi per gli appaltati,e riservataalla Deputazione; e l'impresarionon
potra disporre, se non che di quei palchi che restassero liberi dopo compita la
distribuzione sudetta, o dopo che scorso il termine, che dalla Deputazione verra assegnato
in ciascuna stagione, i contemplati nella distribuzione non avessero stipulato le apoche
relative.' 'Capitolato',paragraph42.
As late as 1846, the papal government controlled the letting of boxes in the aristocratic
tiers even of second-rank theaters such as the Teatro Valle. In these cases, dating from the
period before 1848, the authoritiesclearly refer to the preservationof the hierarchical
arrangement.Rosselli, OperaIndustry(see n. 8), 42.
According to the Count of Harcourt, the entourage of the Pope opposed any
improvement of the social situation. See Friz, Consumi(see n. 9), 217.
Rosselli, OperaIndustry(see n. 8), 40.
Monaldi, Iteatri di Roma(see n. 85), 170-2.
'Par. 13. Qualunque persona, ancorche distinta, dovra usare verso i Rappresentantidel
Governo, e la pubblica Forza armata,che presiedono al buon ordine, il dovuto rispetto, ed
obbedienza, sotto pena dell'immediatoarresta,e successive pene a norma del prescritto al
citato Titolo V. ed al Titolo VIII. dello stesso Regolamento.
Par. 14. Presentandosi le persone ai palchi, o alle platee, nessuno ardiradi far strepito, e
deriderle,con tinte, ed affettate acclamazioni,ed in qualsivogliaaltraguisa, sotto pena
dell'immediataespulsione dallo stesso Teatro e della restrizione in Carceredai due ai sei
mesi.' 'Editto sopra i teatri 1844', Rome, Archivio Capitolino, Pubblici Spettacoli, busta 8.

264
Andreas Giger
will be applied to lack of respect and subordination vis-a-vis the representativesof the
said authorities, to any offense actors allow themselves to make vis-a-visthe audience,
and to those who already have received one or several fines and who have become
recidivist.116
The government thus stabilized the political system in two ways. First, it engraved
the segmentation of society very strongly in the mind of the whole audience, hoping
mentally to consolidate the social status quo and thus the privileges of the upper
classes, preventing potential social unrest at the earliest possible moment. Since
opera was the main entertainment during the season, audiences saw the same
hierarchical order every time they went to the opera house. Second, the government
enforced submissive behavior, making the audience feel the authorities' presence at
all times. They would forbid excessive applause and repetition of numbers, making
opera performances serve the additional purpose of teaching social obedience.117
The opera house thus not only 'attract[ed] a large part of the educated population
to a place open to observation during the hours of darkness'l18 and served as 'the
most salutary antidote to those plagues that have been growing almost throughout
the world'119 but also fortified visually and mentally the social and political
hierarchy. Thus, while the opera house might from one point of view be a source
of moral, religious, and political decadence, from another, it provided a means of
controlling the audience.
Roman censorship encompassed a complex system of parameters, the interplay of
which accounted for the apparent arbitrariness of many censorial decisions. We
might compare this system with modern politics, where a political decision represents not necessarily the best or most logical solution, but one that is influenced by
competing lobbies - in this case the Civilta Cattolica,the audience, the impresario,
and the Deputation. The papal government stood somewhere in between: on the
one hand, it had to provide the upper classes (aristocracy and rich bourgeoisie) with
their most important social and cultural pleasure; on the other hand, it needed
the censorial system to avoid serious violations of religious, political, and moral
ethics. But even more importantly, it provided the impression of constant
control and a stable political and social order. In order to exert this control
effectively, the government needed a successful operatic institution and popular
composers such as Verdi, whose success at least in part needs to be seen in his
constant search for new and moving subjects. These unavoidably led to some
116
117
118
119
'Par. 68. L'una o l'altra specie di incarcerazione a seconda delle maggiori, o minori qualita
aggravanti sara applicata alla mancanza di rispetto e di subordinazione ai rappresentanti
delle ripetute Autorita, a qualunque offesa che gli attori si facessero lecito di fare al
pubblico, non che a coloro che dopo avere sofferta una o piu multe si mostrassero
recidivi.' Rome, Archivio di Stato, Ministero dell'interno, busta 1025, no. 18980.
Rosselli compares the government that restricts 'the self-indulgence of opera audiences'
with children who 'for their own good [should] be denied things they liked'. Rosselli, Opera
Industry(see n. 8), 95-7.
Count Strassoldo, the President of the Government of Lombardo-Venetia to the Viceroy,
Archduke Rainer, on 1 August 1825; quoted in ibid., 82.
The Deputa~ione degliSpettacoliin a letter to Pope Gregory XVI in 1834; quoted in ibid., 82.

265
violations of the church's and the state's ethical codes, but the Roman government
had to accept them if operatic life was to continue. These circumstances explain why
a composer such as Verdi could become so powerful even as the censorial system
remained indispensable.


Censorship Operas in Rome

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Censorship Operas in Rome

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Social Control and the Censorship of Giuseppe Verdi's Operas in Rome (1844-1859)

Author(s): Andreas Giger

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? 1999 CambridgeUniversity Press

Social control and the censorship of Giuseppe

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The Civilta Cattolicacomplains about the consistent portrayal of rulers as wicked

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Luke Jensen, GiuseppeVerdi& GiovanniRicordiwithNotes on Francesco

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

of the Roman censura

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Table 1. Political censorship

in Rome before the Reform of October 1847*

Direttore generale di polizia and Governatore di Romat

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

Table 2. Ecclesiastic censorship*

Functions are mainly administrative:

Functions mainly concern censorship (revisione):

(1) Authorizationfor public performances(licenZa)

(1) Preventivecensorshipof all aspects of performances

*Basedon Cataldi,'La censura',301-3.

reorganization led to considerable confusion as to who controlled the Deputation.

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Table 3. Political censorship

Before 16 January 1855

Deputazione dei pubblici spettacoli

2. Deputy for the ballets

3. Deputy for the operas

4. Deputy for the spoken

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

librettist or composer for revisions or submitted them for examination to the

liricaposta in musicadalMaestroGiuseppeVerdipel teatrodi TorreArgentina

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thus hinting at his irrelevance.43 Furthermore, Verdi's librettos printed in Rome

Verdi's struggle with the censors in Rome

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

Roman police, which proved to be justified.46 As the programmaof I due Foscari

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stage is not surprising;52 however, it raises questions about a censorial procedure

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

credetevoi che si potracambiandotitolo,localita

Luccardi'sstatementthatthe scorewas acceptedby the senatecannotbe entirelycorrect.

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(see n. 9), III: 3.

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Social control and the censorship of Verdi's operas in Rome

Ruggieri, who answered in a letter of 26 January:67