Post Cards from the Edge Verdi’s A Masked Ball - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - War Memorial, San Francisco, 7:30 pm | Welcome to Fred’s Home Page

Verdi’s A Masked Ball - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 - War Memorial, San Francisco, 7:30 pm


I guess I need to see this opera again.  I don’t seem to remember much about it.  It could be that I simply had too much to drink at dinner that night but neither of my two opera companions seemed to remember much about it either.  Supposedly, at a masked ball, the King of Sweden (Gustavus III) falls for Amelia but does not act on it.  Count Anckarström thinks Amelia betrays him and has an affair with the king.  She doesn’t.  In any case, the count plots for the death of the king.  Once the assassination takes place, the count realizes his mistake but the king forgives him before dying.  

All I can say is that when the king was shot, the audience awoke from its stupor.  None of the voices were memorable, nothing stands out - not even the set design.  The costuming was pretty elaborate but that’s it.

Image from the San Francisco Opera web page.

© Fred Searcy 2017