Un ballo in maschera - A Masked Ball - English National Opera Guide 40

"See how the drama is turned into laughter," comment the chorus, as they witness the destruction of a marriage and a friendship in Verdi's A Masked Ball

Here Pierluigi Petrobelli shows how the irony woven into the tragedy results from the meeting of French and Italian traditions

Is this really a ridiculous libretto mangled by censorship, or is it Verdi's finest achievement, with its perfectly symmetrical drama and beautiful variety?

Benedict Sarnaker analyses the extended love duet the kernel of the score, and the pivot of the action

Harold Powers looks at the laughing chorus and at the quicksilver character of Oscar, unique in Verdi's work.

REVIEWS

'Brilliantly produced and superb value' ~ Sunday Times

'All these will provide the new opera-goer with food for thought' ~ Daily Telegraph

'Wholehearted recommendation of this valuable new series' ~ TLS