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In a rare event, one that has only taken place at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona on a handful of occasions in the preceding decades, Giuseppe Verdi's opera Ernani is centre stage with a production that tells the tale of a noble bandit. The innovative theatrical energy and vitality of the young composer's melodies are very much on show with this romantic subject matter. This delightful and passionate operatic production features the orchestra and chorus of the Fondazione Arena di Verona.

Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in Venice to compose a dramma lirico. Based on Victor Hugo’s 1830 play, Hernani, the result was a four-act opera with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, the theatre's resident poet who also went on to collaborate on Rigoletto and La traviata, among other notable operas, with Verdi. Subsequently, Ernani enjoyed a highly acclaimed first performance on 9 March 1844 at Venice's premier opera house.

At its core, Ernani is a story that tells of a complex, four-sided love saga. The title character is a nobleman turned outlaw. He is in love with Elvira, a love which is reciprocated by the noblewoman. However, Elvira is being pursued by two powerful men. The first is her guardian, Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, and the other is Don Carlo, who later becomes the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Elvira is about to be forced into a marriage with de Silva but Ernani courageously steps in to try and rescue her. The plot thickens with various elements of political intrigue, disguised characters and, later on, personal betrayals. Eventually, everything looks set for Ernani and Elvira to marry one another but the story takes a dramatic turn on the couple's wedding day.

Hugo's original play had been controversial when it was first staged and Piave, who had originally been planning a libretto based on another of the French playwright's works, thought Ernani might cause trouble with censorship. Nobles and kings are not portrayed in the best light in the opera but by condensing some of the play's narrative and by offering human touches of emotion throughout the work, Ernani was a hit for the pair. Musically, the three male characters are scored for bass, baritone and tenor performers. At times, these voices seemingly besiege Elvira, a soprano part, but it is Ernani, the tenor role, which is both emotionally and musically closest to her.

This staging of Ernani at Verona's Teatro Filarmonico offers fascinating insights into Verdi as an up-and-coming maestro in his earliest collaboration with Piave.