- Della Seta, Fabrizio. “Il tempo della festa: Su due scene della Traviatae su altri
luoghi verdiani.” Studi verdiani2 (1983): 108–146.
Sonata form is said to be the structural base of the first act. In the second act,
the author finds parallels to the opening of Rigolettoand the finale of Un ballo
in maschera. - Della Seta, Fabrizio. “Varianti (d’autore e non) ne La traviata.” In Napoli e il
teatro (#2534), 417–435.
Discusses a number of scenes and the minor changes (e.g., adding or deleting a
measure) by Verdi after the premiere. These alterations have not always been
observed in performance. Della Seta justifies the variants.
Il trovatore
ASO60 (1984; 1990), ENOG 20 (1983), Rororo (1986).
- Mossa, Carlo Matteo. “La genesi del libretto del Trovatore.” Studi verdiani 8
(1992): 52–103.
A valuable exploration of the text and its sources, with correspondence, drafts,
and the autograph libretto. Controversy developed between Cammarano and
Verdi over the characterization of Azucena, with the composer’s ideas prevail-
ing upon the death of the librettist. - Lawton, David. “Le trouvère: Verdi’s Revision of Il trovatorefor Paris.” Studi
verdiani3 (1985): 79–119.
Political, legal, and financial considerations behind the revision are described,
as well as the alterations themselves. Some of the changes might be included in
modern stagings. - Petrobelli, Pierluigi. “Per un’ esegesi della struttura drammatica del Trova-
tore.” In Atti(#1802), v.3, 387–407. English trans. William Drabkin, in Music
Analysis1 (1982): 129–141.
The dramatic structure is forged from various musical devices such as rhyth-
mic motives, melodic figurations, and sonorities. There is less characterization
here than in Verdi’s other operas of the period. Footnotes give a good review of
the earlier literature. See next entry. - Drabkin, William. “Characters, Key Relations, and Tonal Structure in Il trova-
tore.” Music Analysis1 (1982): 143–153.
Takes as starting point the Petrobelli study (previous entry), giving it in trans-
lation, then elaborates on matters of key. Finds a dual polarity around E minor,
which moves toward G major or C major according to the circumstances of
the plot. See next entry. - Greenwood, Joanna. “Musical and Dramatic Motion in Verdi’s Il trovatore.”
Jahrbuch für Opernforschung2 (1986): 59–73.
A totally different structural picture, drawn from Schenkerian analysis, is devel-
oped here from that of Drabkin/Petrobelli, which Greenwood disputes. There is
a useful summary of the numerous approaches to tonal structure in Verdi.
360 Opera