Verdi, Giuseppe. (1813-1901)
Attila. Dramma Lirica in un Prologo e tre Atti [...] di Giuseppe Verdi.
Venezia: Dalla Tipografia di Giuseppe Molinari. [1846]. First Edition. Attila. Dramma Lirica in un Prologo e tre Atti. Poesia di Temistocle Solera, Musica di Giuseppe Verdi, da rappresentarsi nel Gran Teatro La Fenice nella Stagione di Carnavale e Quadragesima del 1845-46. The singers listed under "Artisti" are Ignazio Marini, Natale Costantini, Sofia Loewe, Carlo Guasco, Ettore Profili, and Giuseppe Romanelli. 28 pp. Original green wrappers, in very fine and crisp condition. 4.5 x 7.25 inches (11.5 x 18.2 cm). Only one copy in the United States (Pierpont Morgan) recorded by WorldCat. Melisi 228; Chusid, p. 24.A rare copy of the first edition libretto to Verdi's opera, based on the 1809 play Attila, König der Hunnen by Zacharias Werner. Attila received its first performance at La Fenice in Venice on 17 March 1846. It achieved fame in its own time with audiences in the context of the adoption of a liberal constitution by Ferdinand II; other contemporary comment praised the work as suitable for the "political education of the people", while, in contrast, others criticised the opera as "Teutonic" in nature. Benjamin Lumley, who first produced Attila in London, wrote in his autobiography that "none perhaps of Verdi's works had kindled more enthusiasm in Italy or crowned the fortunate composer with more abundant laurels than Attila." (14947)
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