All we know about an opera entitled Rocester (sic), which Verdi, in a letter of 1837, was hoping to have performed at Parma, is that the librettist was called Piazza. It is even possible that Rocester was identical to Oberto, and that its title reflects early flirtations with a remote setting, later to be abandoned.

Whatever the case, Oberto was not performed until some years later, on 17 November 1839 at La Scala, Milan, and this thanks to the mediation of the impresario Merelli. Merelli also made it his business to give the composer an especially favourable contract; instead of expecting the young man personally to finance the staging of his opera, which was still usual, at least among beginners, he generously offered to divide the profits. In the end, the contract did not turn out too badly, because although, in Verdi's own words, the opera did not have ‘enormous success’, it did ‘fairly well, with enough performances for Merelli to see profit in staging a few extra outside the subscription Period’, and it was eventually shown a total of fourteen times. Piazza's libretto was revised by Temistocle Solera, who later collaborated with Verdi on Nabucco, I Lombardi, Giovanna d'Arco and Attila.