Un ballo in maschera

Verdi wrote the opera for Naples on the assassination of Gustav III of Sweden, and Orsini's attempt on Napoleon III in January 1858 made the subject impossible: the censors demanded a version in which no monarch was killed on stage. Verdi refused, was sued by the theatre, and moved the work to Rome, where the action was transferred to colonial Boston and the king became a governor. The premiere at the Teatro Apollo on 17 February 1859 was a success, and the Swedish setting has been restored in most modern productions.