of the season's most successful novelty, Il templario, Nicolai's version of Ivanhoe". Other factors which have been noted include the large size of La Scala itself (noted by George Martin as "too big for the piece") plus the rather old-fashioned nature of the work which was written in a style that was rapidly going out of fashion. In fact, in summary, Budden notes that "by the side of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore or Don Pasquale, it cuts a clumsy figure". Other productions in Italy during Verdi's lifetime seemed to fare better; it was given in Venice in 1845 (as Il finto Stanislao, where it did well), in Rome in 1846, and Naples (also as Il finto Stanislao) in 1859. 20th century and beyond In the U.S., the opera received its premiere on 18 June 1960, while in the UK, the premiere took place on 21 March 1961. It was part of the San Diego Opera's June 1981 "Verdi Festival". With the temporary shutdown of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1999, the Royal Opera gave a concert performance at the Royal Festival Hall. Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov sang the "King" with John Del Carlo as Baron Kelbar; Susanne Mentzer sang Giuletta. This presentation was followed in 2001 with a staged production at the Buxton Festival in England. In October 2012, the Bilbao-based ABAO society, one which plans to present all of Verdi's works, presented the opera under conductor Alberto Zedda. Sarasota Opera presented the new critical edition of the opera in March 2013, the 29th work of the complete Verdi canon (in all its versions) to be presented by the company. Dr. Francesco Izzo, Co-Director of the American Institute for Verdi Studies and the critical edition's editor, notes that: This edition corrects a number of inaccuracies and arbitrary alterations present in other scores of the opera, which has often circulated under the title Il finto Stanislao. I have done my very best to provide an edition that faithfully reflects Verdi's intentions throughout.Carrie Seidman, "A critically close look at a little-known Verdi opera", Herald-Tribune (Sarasota), 23 February 2013 The Glimmerglass Festival presented the opera in a new English adaptation during the 2013 Festival. Roles Synopsis The Polish monarch, King Stanisław Leszczyński, an historical figure during the War of Succession, lost his throne after the Saxon invasion at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. He regained it in 1733, but was again