Robert Merrill
Studio recordings
Table:
Composer
Opera
Role
Date

Bizet
Carmen
Escamillo
1951, 1963

Donizetti
Lucia di Lammermoor
Enrico
1961

Leoncavallo
Pagliacci
Silvio
1953

Leoncavallo
Pagliacci
Tonio
1967

Mascagni
Cavalleria rusticana
Alfio
1953

Ponchielli
La Gioconda
Barnaba
1967

Puccini
La bohème
Marcello
1956, 1961

Puccini
Manon Lescaut
Lescaut
1954

Puccini
Il tabarro
Michele
1962

Rossini
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Figaro
1958

Straus
Der tapfere Soldat
Bumerli
1952

Verdi
Aida
Amonasro
1961

Verdi
Un ballo in maschera
Renato
1946, 1966

Verdi
Falstaff
Ford
1963

Verdi
La forza del destino
Don Carlo
1964

Verdi
Rigoletto
Rigoletto
1956, 1963

Verdi
La traviata
Germont
1946, 1960, 1962

Verdi
Il trovatore
Conte di Luna
1964

By analysing the accompanying table plus the supplementary paragraphs provided.

Respond to the question below: What was the full name of the composer who wrote three operas that Robert Merrill starred in , including the opera based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger in which he played Marcello ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

Georges Bizet ( UK : /ˈbiːzeɪ/ BEE-zay , US : /biːˈzeɪ/ bee-ZAY , French : [ ʒɔʁʒ bizɛ ] ; 25 October 1838 - 3 June 1875 ) , registered at birth as Alexandre César Léopold Bizet , was a French composer of the Romantic era . Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death , Bizet achieved few successes before his final work , Carmen , which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire . During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris , Bizet won many prizes , including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857 . He was recognised as an outstanding pianist , though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public . Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy , he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers . His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored ; as a result , his career stalled , and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others . Restless for success , he began many theatrical projects during the 1860s , most of which were abandoned . Neither of his two operas that reached the stage in this time - Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth - were immediately successful . After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 , during which Bizet served in the National Guard , he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh , though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to Alphonse Daudet 's play L'Arlésienne was instantly popular . The production of Bizet 's final opera , Carmen , was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences . After its premiere on 3 March 1875 , Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure ; he died of a heart attack three months later , unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success . Bizet 's marriage to Geneviève Halévy was intermittently happy and produced one son .
Carmen [ kaʁ.mɛn ] is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet . The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy , based on a novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée . The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875 , where its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences . Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance , unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years . Carmen has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon ; the Habanera from act 1 and the Toreador Song from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias . The opera is written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue . It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José , a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen . José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties , yet loses Carmen 's love to the glamorous torero Escamillo , after which José kills her in a jealous rage . The depictions of proletarian life , immorality , and lawlessness , and the tragic death of the main character on stage , broke new ground in French opera and were highly controversial . After the premiere , most reviews were critical , and the French public was generally indifferent . Carmen initially gained its reputation through a series of productions outside France , and was not revived in Paris until 1883 . Thereafter , it rapidly acquired popularity at home and abroad .
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti ( /ˌdɒnɪˈzɛti/ , also UK : /-ɪtˈsɛti/ , US : /ˌdoʊn- , -ɪdˈzɛti/ , Italian : [ doˈmeːniko ɡaeˈtaːno maˈriːa donidˈdzetti ] ( listen ) ; 29 November 1797 - 8 April 1848 ) was an Italian composer . Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini , Donizetti was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century . Donizetti 's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi . Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy . Although he did not come from a musical background , at an early age he was taken under the wing of composer Simon Mayr who had enrolled him by means of a full scholarship in a school which he had set up . There he received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint . Mayr was also instrumental in obtaining a place for the young man at the Bologna Academy , where , at the age of 19 , he wrote his first one-act opera , the comedy Il Pigmalione , which may never have been performed during his lifetime . Over the course of his career , Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas . An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja , the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples , which followed the composer 's ninth opera , led to his move to that city and his residency there which lasted until the production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844 . In all , Naples presented 51 of Donizetti 's operas .
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico ( tragic opera ) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti . Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott 's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor . Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835 , a time when several factors led to the height of his reputation as a composer of opera . Gioachino Rossini had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini had died shortly before the premiere of Lucia leaving Donizetti as the sole reigning genius of Italian opera . Not only were conditions ripe for Donizetti 's success as a composer , but there was also a European interest in the history and culture of Scotland . The perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds , as well as its folklore and mythology , intrigued 19th century readers and audiences . Sir Walter Scott dramatized these elements in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor , which inspired several musical works including Lucia . The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton ( Lucia ) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods . The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland ( Lammermoor ) in the 17th century .
Ruggero ( or Ruggiero ) Leoncavallo ( UK : /ˌleɪɒnkæˈvæloʊ/ LAY-on-kav-AL-oh , US : /ˌleɪoʊnkəˈvɑːloʊ , -kɑːˈ-/ LAY-ohn-kə-VAH-loh , -⁠kah- , Italian : [ rudˈdʒɛːro leˌoŋkaˈvallo ] ; 23 April 1857 - 9 August 1919 ) was an Italian opera composer and librettist . Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera Pagliacci ( 1892 ) that remained his lasting contribution , despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success . Today he remains largely known for Pagliacci , one of the most popular works in the repertory , appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide in the 2013/14 season . His other well-known works include the song Mattinata , popularized by Enrico Caruso , as well as the symphonic poem La nuit de mai .
Pagliacci ( Italian pronunciation : [ paʎˈʎattʃi ] ; literal translation , Clowns ) [ a ] is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts , with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo . It is the composer 's only opera that is still widely performed . Opera companies have frequently staged Pagliacci with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni , a double bill known colloquially as Cav and Pag . Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892 , conducted by Arturo Toscanini , with Adelina Stehle as Nedda , Fiorello Giraud as Canio , Victor Maurel as Tonio , and Mario Ancona as Silvio . Nellie Melba played Nedda in London in 1893 , soon after the Italian premiere , and it was given in New York on 15 June 1893 , with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio .
Pietro Mascagni [ a ] ( 7 December 1863 - 2 August 1945 ) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas . His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music . While it was often held that Mascagni , like Ruggiero Leoncavallo , was a one-opera man who could never repeat his first success , L'amico Fritz and Iris have remained in the repertoire in Europe ( especially Italy ) since their premieres . Mascagni wrote fifteen operas , an operetta , several orchestral and vocal works , and also songs and piano music . He enjoyed immense success during his lifetime , both as a composer and conductor of his own and other people 's music . He created a variety of styles in his operas : a Sicilian passion and warmth of Cavalleria , the exotic flavor of Iris , the idylls of L'amico Fritz and Lodoletta , the Gallic chiaroscuro of Isabeau , the steely , Veristic power of Il piccolo Marat and the over-ripe post-romanticism of the lush Parisina .
Cavalleria rusticana ( pronounced [ kavalleˈriːa rustiˈkaːna ] ; Italian for rustic chivalry ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci , adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name [ it ] and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga . Considered one of the classic verismo operas , it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome . Since 1893 , it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo .
Amilcare Ponchielli ( US : /ˌpɒnkiˈɛli , ˌpɔːn-/ , Italian : [ aˈmilkare poŋˈkjɛlli ] ; 31 August 1834 - 16 January 1886 ) was an Italian opera composer , best known for his opera La Gioconda . He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla .
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito ( as Tobia Gorrio ) , based on Angelo , Tyrant of Padua , a play in prose by Victor Hugo , dating from 1835 . ( This is the same source as Gaetano Rossi had used for his libretto for Mercadante 's Il giuramento in 1837 ) . First performed in 1876 , La Gioconda was a major success for Ponchielli , as well as the most successful new Italian opera between Verdi 's Aida ( 1871 ) and Otello ( 1887 ) . It is also a famous example of the Italian genre of Grande opera , the equivalent of French Grand-Opéra . Ponchielli revised the work several times ; the version that is played today was first given in 1880 . There are several complete recordings of the opera , and it is regularly performed , especially in Italy . It is one of only a few operas that features a principal role for each of the six major voice types .
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( UK : /pʊˈtʃiːni/ puu-CHEE-nee , US : /puːˈ-/ poo- , Italian : [ ˈdʒaːkomo putˈtʃiːni ] ; 22 December 1858 - 29 November 1924 ) was an Italian opera composer who has been called the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi . Puccini 's early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera . Later , he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style , of which he became one of the leading exponents . Puccini 's most renowned works are La bohème ( 1896 ) , Tosca ( 1900 ) , Madama Butterfly ( 1904 ) , and Turandot ( 1924 ) , all of which are among the important operas played as standards .
La bohème ( French : [ la bɔ.ɛm ] , Italian : [ la boˈɛm ] ) is an opera in four acts , [ N 1 ] composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa , based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger . The world premiere of La bohème was in Turin on 1 February 1896 at the Teatro Regio , conducted by the 28-year-old Arturo Toscanini . Since then , La bohème has become part of the standard Italian opera repertory and is one of the most frequently performed operas worldwide . In 1946 , fifty years after the opera 's premiere , Toscanini conducted a commemorative performance of it on radio with the NBC Symphony Orchestra . A recording of the performance was later released by RCA Victor on vinyl record , tape and compact disc . It is the only recording ever made of a Puccini opera by its original conductor ( see Recording history below ) .
Manon Lescaut ( Italian : [ maˈnɔn leˈsko ] , French : [ manɔ̃ lɛsko ] ) is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini , composed between 1890 and 1893 . The story is based on the 1731 novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost . In 1884 an opera by Jules Massenet entitled Manon , and based on the same novel , was premiered and has also become popular .
Il tabarro ( The Cloak ) is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami , based on Didier Gold 's play La houppelande . It is the first of the trio of operas known as Il trittico . The first performance was given on 14 December 1918 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City .
Gioachino Antonio Rossini [ n 1 ] [ n 2 ] ( 29 February 1792 - 13 November 1868 ) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas , although he also wrote many songs , some chamber music and piano pieces , and some sacred music . He set new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from large-scale composition while still in his thirties , at the height of his popularity . Born in Pesaro to parents who were both musicians ( his father a trumpeter , his mother a singer ) , Rossini began to compose by the age of 12 and was educated at music school in Bologna . His first opera was performed in Venice in 1810 when he was 18 years old . In 1815 he was engaged to write operas and manage theatres in Naples . In the period 1810-1823 he wrote 34 operas for the Italian stage that were performed in Venice , Milan , Ferrara , Naples and elsewhere ; this productivity necessitated an almost formulaic approach for some components ( such as overtures ) and a certain amount of self-borrowing . During this period he produced his most popular works including the comic operas L'italiana in Algeri , Il barbiere di Siviglia ( known in English as The Barber of Seville ) and La Cenerentola , which brought to a peak the opera buffa tradition he inherited from masters such as Domenico Cimarosa . He also composed opera seria works such as Otello , Tancredi and Semiramide . All of these attracted admiration for their innovation in melody , harmonic and instrumental colour , and dramatic form . In 1824 he was contracted by the Opéra in Paris , for which he produced an opera to celebrate the coronation of Charles X , Il viaggio a Reims ( later cannibalised for his first opera in French , Le comte Ory ) , revisions of two of his Italian operas , Le siège de Corinthe and Moïse , and in 1829 his last opera , Guillaume Tell . Rossini 's withdrawal from opera for the last 40 years of his life has never been fully explained ; contributary factors may have been ill-health , the wealth his success had brought him , and the rise of spectacular grand opera under composers such as Giacomo Meyerbeer . From the early 1830s to 1855 , when he left Paris and was based in Bologna , Rossini wrote relatively little .
The Barber of Seville , or The Useless Precaution ( Italian : Il barbiere di Siviglia , ossia L'inutile precauzione [ il barˈbjɛːre di siˈviʎʎa osˈsiːa liˈnuːtile prekautˈtsjoːne ] ) is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini . The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais 's French comedy Le Barbier de Séville ( 1775 ) . The première of Rossini 's opera ( under the title Almaviva , o sia L'inutile precauzione ) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina , Rome , with designs by Angelo Toselli . Rossini 's Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music , and has been described as the opera buffa of all opere buffe . After two hundred years , it remains a popular work .
Oscar Nathan Straus ( 6 March 1870 - 11 January 1954 ) was a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs . He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs , chamber music , and orchestral and choral works . His original name was actually Strauss , but for professional purposes he deliberately omitted the final 's ' , since he wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna . However , he did follow the advice of Johann Strauss II in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing waltzes for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre . The son of a Jewish family , he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch , and became an orchestral conductor , working at the Überbrettl cabaret . He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas , becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár . When Lehár 's popular The Merry Widow premiered in 1905 , Straus was said to have remarked Das kann ich auch ! ( I can also do that ! ) . In 1939 , following the Nazi Anschluss , he fled to Paris , where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur , and then to Hollywood . After the war , he returned to Europe , and settled at Bad Ischl , where he died . His grave is in the Bad Ischl Friedhof . Straus ' best-known works are Ein Walzertraum ( A Waltz Dream ) , and The Chocolate Soldier ( Der tapfere Soldat ) .
The Chocolate Soldier ( German title : Der tapfere Soldat or Der Praliné-Soldat ) is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus ( 1870-1954 ) based on George Bernard Shaw 's 1894 play , Arms and the Man . The German language libretto is by Rudolf Bernauer and Leopold Jacobson [ de ] . It premiered on 14 November 1908 at the Theater an der Wien . English versions were successful on Broadway and in London , beginning in 1909 . The first film adaptation was in 1915 . The 1941 film of the same name enlists much of Straus 's music but is otherwise unrelated , using a plot based on Ferenc Molnár 's play Testőr .
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( Italian : [ dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi ] ; 9 or 10 October 1813 - 27 January 1901 ) was an Italian opera composer . He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means , and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron . Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Vincenzo Bellini , Gaetano Donizetti , and Gioachino Rossini , whose works significantly influenced him . In his early operas , Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy . He also participated briefly as an elected politician . The chorus Va , pensiero from his early opera Nabucco ( 1842 ) , and similar choruses in later operas , were much in the spirit of the unification movement , and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals . An intensely private person , Verdi , however , did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements and as he became professionally successful was able to reduce his operatic workload and sought to establish himself as a landowner in his native region . He surprised the musical world by returning , after his success with the opera Aida ( 1871 ) , with three late masterpieces : his Requiem ( 1874 ) , and the operas Otello ( 1887 ) and Falstaff ( 1893 ) . His operas remain extremely popular , especially the three peaks of his 'middle period ' : Rigoletto , Il trovatore and La traviata , and the 2013 bicentenary of his birth was widely celebrated in broadcasts and performances .
Aida ( pronounced [ aˈiːda ] ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni . Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt , it was commissioned by Cairo 's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871 , in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini . Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon , receiving performances every year around the world ; at New York 's Metropolitan Opera alone , Aida has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886 . Ghislanzoni 's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette , but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera .
Un ballo in maschera ( A Masked Ball ) is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi . The text , by Antonio Somma , was based on Eugène Scribe 's libretto for Daniel Auber 's 1833 five act opera , Gustave III , ou Le bal masqué . The plot concerns the assassination in 1792 of King Gustav III of Sweden who was shot , as the result of a political conspiracy , while attending a masked ball , dying of his wounds thirteen days later . It was to take over two years between the commission from Naples , planned for a production there , and its premiere performance at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 17 February 1859 . In becoming the Un ballo in maschera which we know today , Verdi 's opera ( and his libretto ) underwent a significant series of transformations and title changes , caused by a combination of censorship regulations in both Naples and Rome , as well as by the political situation in France in January 1858 . Based on the Scribe libretto and begun as Gustavo III set in Stockholm , it became Una vendetta in domino set in Stettin , and finally Un ballo in maschera set in Boston during the colonial era . It became one of the most frustrating experiences of Verdi 's career . From the mid-20th century , it has become more common for the setting to revert to its original 18th-century Stockholm location . A re-creation of the original Gustavo III has been staged in Sweden .
Falstaff ( Italian pronunciation : [ ˈfalstaf ] ) is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi . The libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare 's The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV , parts 1 and 2 . The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala , Milan . Verdi wrote Falstaff , which was the last of his 28 operas , as he was approaching the age of 80 . It was his second comedy , and his third work based on a Shakespeare play , following Macbeth and Otello . The plot revolves around the thwarted , sometimes farcical , efforts of the fat knight , Sir John Falstaff , to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands ' wealth . Verdi was concerned about working on a new opera at his advanced age , but he yearned to write a comic work and was pleased with Boito 's draft libretto . It took the collaborators three years from mid-1889 to complete . Although the prospect of a new opera from Verdi aroused immense interest in Italy and around the world , Falstaff did not prove to be as popular as earlier works in the composer 's canon . After the initial performances in Italy , other European countries and the US , the work was neglected until the conductor Arturo Toscanini insisted on its revival at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera in New York from the late 1890s into the next century . Some felt that the piece suffered from a lack of the full-blooded melodies of the best of Verdi 's previous operas , a view strongly contradicted by Toscanini . Conductors of the generation after Toscanini to champion the work included Herbert von Karajan , Georg Solti and Leonard Bernstein .
La forza del destino ( Italian pronunciation : [ la ˈfɔrtsa del deˈstiːno ] ; The Power of Fate , often translated The Force of Destiny ) is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi . The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama , Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino ( 1835 ) , by Ángel de Saavedra , 3rd Duke of Rivas , with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller 's Wallensteins Lager . It was first performed in the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre of Saint Petersburg , Russia , on 10 November 1862 O.S . ( N.S . 22 November ) . La forza del destino is frequently performed , and there have been a number of complete recordings . In addition , the overture ( to the revised version of the opera ) is part of the standard repertoire for orchestras , often played as the opening piece at concerts .
Rigoletto ( pronounced [ riɡoˈletto ] ) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi . The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo . Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time , the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851 . It is widely considered to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi 's middle-to-late career . Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua , his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto , and Rigoletto 's beautiful daughter Gilda . The opera 's original title , La maledizione ( The Curse ) , refers to a curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter the Duke has seduced with Rigoletto 's encouragement . The curse comes to fruition when Gilda falls in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from the assassin hired by her father .
La traviata ( Italian : [ la traˈvjaːta , -aviˈaː- ] ; The Fallen Woman ) is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave . It is based on La Dame aux camélias ( 1852 ) , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils . The opera was originally titled Violetta , after the main character . It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice opera house in Venice . Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting , but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past , c. 1700 . It was not until the 1880s that the composer 's and librettist 's original wishes were carried out and realistic productions were staged . La traviata has become immensely popular and is the most frequently performed of all operas , with 151 in the 2018/2019 season .
Il trovatore ( pronounced [ il trovaˈtoːre ] ; Italian for The Troubadour ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano , based on the play El trovador ( 1836 ) by Antonio García Gutiérrez . It was Gutiérrez 's most successful play , one which Verdi scholar Julian Budden describes as a high flown , sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotelian unities , packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident . The premiere took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853 , where it began a victorious march throughout the operatic world , a success due to Verdi 's work over the previous three years . It began with his January 1850 approach to Cammarano with the idea of Il trovatore . There followed , slowly and with interruptions , the preparation of the libretto , first by Cammarano until his death in mid-1852 and then with the young librettist Leone Emanuele Bardare , which gave the composer the opportunity to propose significant revisions , which were accomplished under his direction . These revisions are seen largely in the expansion of the role of Leonora . For Verdi , the three years were filled with musical activity ; work on this opera did not proceed while the composer wrote and premiered Rigoletto in Venice in March 1851 . His personal affairs also limited his professional work . In May 1851 , an additional commission was offered by the Venice company after Rigoletto 's success there . Another commission came from Paris while he was visiting that city from late 1851 to March 1852 . Before the libretto for Il trovatore was completed , before it was scored , and before it premiered , Verdi had a total of four different operatic projects in various stages of development . Today , Il Trovatore is performed frequently and is a staple of the standard operatic repertoire .