the true king's letter and reveals his true rank. He expresses his love for the Marchesa and all ends happily with the prospect of two weddings. Music The music of the piece shows the influence of Rossini and Donizetti. The haste in which the work was written may account for some of the uneven quality some critics have noted. With regard to the recitatives, Gossett notes that "only his youthful comic opera, Un giorno di regno (1840), uses secco recitative". Recordings References Notes Cited sources Budden, Julian, The Operas of Verdi, Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell, 1984. . Gossett, Philip, Divas and Scholars: Performing Italian Opera, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008 Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, Verdi: A Biography, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1993 Other sources Baldini, Gabriele (1970), (trans. Roger Parker, 1980), The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera. Cambridge, et al.: Cambridge University Press. De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. (hardback), Kimbell, David (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. Martin, George, Verdi: His Music, Life and Times (1983), New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. Osborne, Charles (1969), The Complete Opera of Verdi, New York: Da Capo Press, Inc. Parker, Roger (2007), The New Grove Guide to Verdi and His Operas, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Pistone, Danièle (1995), Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera: From Rossini to Puccini, Portland, OR: Amadeus Press. Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane (1993), Verdi: A Biography, London and New York: Oxford University Press. Pougin, A., Vita aneddotica di Giuseppe Verdi con note ed aggiunte di Folchetto. Milan, 1881. (In Italian) Toye, Francis (1931), Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works, New York: Knopf Walker, Frank, The Man Verdi (1982), New York: Knopf, 1962, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Werfel, Franz and Stefan, Paul (1973), Verdi: The Man and His Letters, New York, Vienna House. External links Libretto Brief synopsis in English Aria database Italian-language operas Operas by Giuseppe Verdi Drammi giocosi 1840 operas Operas Operas set in France Opera world premieres at La Scala