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Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by...

Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball), is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The opera's first production was at the Teatro Apollo, Rome, 17 February 1859. The opera is based on the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, but is not historically accurate. During its composition, Verdi was asked by government censors to make many changes to the opera due to its politically sensitive subject matter. Among these changes is a transportation of the setting to Boston, Massachusetts. Despite its tragic conclusion, Un ballo in maschera has many moments of the brilliance and irony associated with comedy — a mixture which has led critics to label it "Shakespearean." In 1792, the King of Sweden, Gustav III, was killed, the result of a political conspiracy against him. He was shot while attending a masked ball and died 13 days later from his wounds. It is on this episode that Verdi’s Masked Ball is loosely based; however, very little historical truth is contained in Verdi’s opera. In 1833, the French playwright Eugène Scribe wrote about Gustav in a play called Gustave III. He retained the names of some of the historical figures involved, the conspiracy, and