ERNANI

In the organizer's words:

Three men vie for Elvira's love: her lover Ernani, Don Carlo, the King of Spain, and Silva, Elvira's rich guardian, to whom she is promised. When Carlo is to be elected emperor in Aachen, Silva and Ernani are among the conspirators. But the assassination attempt fails, Carlo is elected Emperor Charles V and wants to punish the conspirators. At Elvira's request, however, he pardons them both and finally accepts the love between her and Ernani. But the happy ending does not last long, because Silva wants revenge on Ernani ...
With ERNANI, Verdi created a gripping drama about power, love and jealousy based on Victor Hugo's original, taking a historical event as its starting point: the coronation of Charles V as emperor in Aachen Cathedral in 1520. For Verdi, the shocking impact of the plot was more important than its dramatic credibility. The premiere of ERNANI on March 9, 1844 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice was an immediate triumph for Verdi. After the successes of NABUCCO and I LOMBARDI, this was to be Verdi's final breakthrough as a composer. The work quickly spread across the Italian stages and was soon also performed in London, Paris and Berlin. In the 19th century, ERNANI was one of Giuseppe Verdi's most frequently performed operas. Although the formal structure of the work is still very much in line with convention, the music contains a hitherto unheard dramatic power - with choruses that foreshadow IL TROVATORE, differentiated ensembles, arias full of extraordinary cantabile and grippingly dramatic finales. Incidentally, the conspirators' chorus from Act III became - even more than "Va pensiero" - the leitmotif of the Italian "Risorgimento", Italy's national unity movement. Verdi's early work, which is rarely performed today, is now being given a concert performance in Cologne under the baton of Giuliano Carella.