See Teatri Arte e Letteratura, J (.)Ģ Already in February, Lumley had left London for Vienna, with the intention to recruit Thérèse Tietjens, whose engagement he had unsuccessfully sought the previous year. 6 Marietta Piccolomini had already appeared in Luisa Miller in 1853.This was especially true at a time when Lumley was facing major financial difficulties and the competing opera house at Covent Garden was again threatening the primacy of Her Majesty’s Theatre. The choice of repertoire and the success of the season continued to depend on the vocal and dramatic skills of the star singers. Nevertheless, in emphasising the performers rather than the composers, the theatre manager’s account of the season provides us with some clues. His reasons are difficult to ascertain, for no public statement appeared in the press in this regard, and no explicit reference can be found in Lumley’s Reminiscences. Considering the complete oblivion into which Luisa Miller had fallen, at least in so far as the London scene was concerned, it may seem surprising that the manager of Her Majesty’s Theatre decided to stage it in 1858. 1 Nor did the debate concerning Verdi’s new style resonate in the London press during the ensuing years. Its first production was briefly refered to in The Athenaeum, but its success was considered dubious and its subject unsuitable for the composer. Luisa Miller had been premiered in Naples on 8 December 1849 and produced in Paris, at the Salle Ventadour du Théâtre-Italien, on 7 December 1852. As previously mentioned, little or no attention had been paid to this opera over the past nine years. 1 The Athenaeum, January 12, 1850, p. 51.ġ On 8 June 1858, Luisa Miller had its London premiere.

Verdi opera miller