Staging Verdi’s Operas: The Single, ‘Correct’ Performance

Abstract Thirty years ago, the following would have been an astonishing claim: should we wish to do so, we could reconstruct the original costumes, sets, and staging of Verdi’s operas from 1855 (Les Vêpres siciliennes) to 1887 (Otello). This is especially true of the later works, whose original stage images we could re-create with remarkable accuracy: what everyone wore, where everyone was to stand, what their stage motions were, even (in cases such as Otello) their arm and hand gestures and facial expressions.