With the acknowledged, definitive successes of Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi became a public figure – although, as we have said, the latter work merely reflected the former: Nabucco has always remained in the repertoire, while I Lombardi was swiftly forgotten. Verdi demanded certain inalienable rights and, with extremely sound business sense, requested higher and higher prices; but he was also well aware of his duties, and made it a point of honour not to fail in either direction. It is these duties which above all define the ‘galley years’, that period from about 1843 to 1851. By the latter date, with the composition of Luisa Miller and Rigoletto, Verdi entered a new phase: independence and artistic freedom gradually emerged as his fame consolidated, and his personal wealth increased to the point where it was no longer necessary to undertake commitments which did not correspond to his artistic ideals.

In a certain sense, Verdi had been reasonably free up to I Lombardi. His fame was initially limited to the Milanese background and La Scala, and the real ‘gallery years’ began only when an opera was commissioned by another theatre – in this case La Fenice in Venice. In short, this next work marks a genuine turning point, and, as well as a new cultural milieu, entails an orientation towards new problems of style and language.