UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
Dramatis Personae: Characters in the Life of Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi
opera composer, Italian patriot, philanthropist

Carlo Verdi
his father, an innkeeper

Luigia Uttini-Verdi
his mother

Ferdinando Provesi
his music teacher, director of Busseto Philharmonic Society

Antonio Barezzi
his benefactor, father-in-law, amateur musician

Margherita Barezzi
his first wife, singer, pianist

Icilio Romano Verdi and Virginia Verdi
his son and daughter, both named for characters in tragedy by Alfieri

Giuseppina Strepponi
his second wife, soprano, created female lead in Nabucco

Teresa Stolz
soprano, rumored to be his mistress

Giovanni Ricordi
publisher of most of his works

Francesco Maria Piave
librettist of several of his operas

Antonio Somma
librettist of Un ballo in maschera (“A Masked Ball”) and Re Lear (“King Lear,” never composed)

Antonio Ghislanzoni
librettist of Aïda, writer, baritone

Arrigo Boito
librettist of his last works, composer, poet

Alessandro Manzoni
patriot, poet, honored in his Requiem