Talk:Re Lear

Prod/now removed
As I explained when I put the prod notice on this: ''This is a might-have-been opera. AFAIK Verdi never wrote any music for it, and Cammarano never completed a libretto. After Cammarano's death Verdi approached Antonio Somma with the idea of writing it but the project fell through.''

The prod notice has now been removed and the fact of Cammarano's completion of the libretto restated. Again it says that Verdi started work on the project.

Can we have some explanation? When did Cammarano finish the libretto? Did Verdi write any music? I have an open mind on this but we do need to know the details. Thanks and regards. -- Kleinzach 11:18, 17 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I now put this up for deletion again. Here are some facts (care of GuillaumeTell) who checked in Julian Budden:


 * 1850: Verdi and Cammarano discussed the opera.  Verdi had written a "programma" (synopsis, apparently), but found that Cammarano wasn't on the same wavelength.
 * 1852: Cammarano died.  The programma reverted to Verdi, and some or all of the libretto (which apparently Cammarano had drafted either before or after Verdi gave up on him) became the property of Cammarano's heirs.  I have no idea what happened to it after this.
 * 1853-5: Verdi and Somma worked on what appears to have been a completely new libretto (Verdi had to give Somma instructions on how to write a libretto).  It seems to have been completed by 1855.
 * 1856: Verdi signed a contract with the San Carlo in Naples to compose the opera for the 1857-8 season.  However, nothing came of this - because Verdi refused to accept the singers who were being put forward, it seems - and he composed Ballo instead.
 * 1861-2: Verdi took the text for an aria for Cordelia in Somma's libretto, and used it for Leonora's "Me pellegrino" in Act 1 of Forza.  Budden is fairly certain that Verdi's music was composed for Forza and not Lear, as the situations in the two operas were completely different.


 * Hope this is all clear now. The project never happened. It's not listed in Grove -- Kleinzach 09:10, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Can we have some mention of Antonio Cagnoni's Re Lear (1895)? This would be helpful. 85.1.250.193 (talk) 11:34, 28 May 2010 (UTC)