Oberto (opera) - Performance History

Performance History

The opera is rarely performed. The British premiere did not take place until 8 April 1965, and then only in a concert version at St Pancras Town Hall. It was not given a staged production until 17 February 1982 at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. Its American premiere did not take place until 18 February 1978 at the Amato Theatre in New York, although the San Diego Opera claims to have presented the US professional premiere in March 1985.

In modern times, occasional performances have been given. While it is claimed that Vincent La Selva (now of the New York Grand Opera) gave the first US presentation of the opera in 1986, it was presented as part of their comprehensive and chronological "Viva Verdi" series from 1994, when it launched performances of all Verdi's operas.

Opera North gave several performances of Oberto during their 1994-5 season with John Tomlinson both directing and performing the title-role. The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, gave a concert performance in June 1997 with Denyce Graves as Cuniza. Three opera companies, which plan to present all of Verdi's operas before the bi-centenary of his birth in 2013, have given this opera recently. The Sarasota Opera presented Oberto in 2001; the ABAO in Bilbao, Spain, presented it in performances in January 2007, from which a DVD has been released; and the Teatro Regio di Parma gave it in October 2007 as part of their on-going "Festival Verdi".

In its celebration of the Verdi bicentential, it is being staged by La Scala in April/May 2013.