• Preface; Part I. The Setting: 1. Verdi's Italy; 2. Theatrical censorship; 3. The operatic experience; 4. Dramatic principles and musical form in early ottocento opera; Part II. A Documentary History of the Early Operas: 5. Launching a career; 6. The genesis of an opera - Ernani; 7. Two overcrowded years; 8. Verdi the idealist - the Florence Macbeth; 9. Opera as a business; 10. Collaboration with Cammarano; 11. Bouts with the censor; 12. Giuseppina's operas - Il Trovatore and La Traviata; Part III. The Development of Verdi's Musical Language: 13. The first operas - Oberto and Un Giorno di Regno; 14. Italian grand opera - Nabucco and I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata; 15. The early 'galley' operas - Ernani to Attila; 16. Macbeth and its satellites; 17. Verdi a la parisienne - Jerusalem and La Battaglia di Legnano; 18. Luisa Miller and Stiffelio; 19. 'The popular trilogy' - Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata; Part IV. The Operas: 20. Nabucco, a risorgimento opera; 21. Verdi and French Romanticism - Ernani; 22. Byronismo - I Due Foscari and Il Corsaro; 23. The impact of Shakespeare - the Florence Macbeth; 24. La Battaglia di Legnano - the opera of the revolution; 25. Essays with Schiller; 26. The originality of Rigoletto; 27. Verdi and 'realism' - La Traviata; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

'Professor Kimbell demonstrates that there is a great deal to be added to our knowledge of Verdi, his times, and his works.' Notes