ABSTRACT
Thirty years ago, the following would have been an astonishing claim: should we wish to do so, we could reconstruct the original costumes, sets, and staging of Verdi’s operas from 1855 (Les Vêpres siciliennes) to 1887 (Otello). This is especially true of the later works, whose original stage images we could re-create with remarkable accuracy: what everyone wore, where everyone was to stand, what their stage motions were, even (in cases such as Otello) their arm and hand gestures and facial expressions. On a moment-to-moment basis, we could at leasts the same La forza del destino, the same Aida, or the same Otello that Verdi himself saw—or visualized—at their premières. (In fact, it would be easier to re-create these original visual tableaux and acting conventions convincingly than it would be to return to earlier operatic vocal and orchestral styles—features of musical interpretation that raise more troubling questions of historical performance practice.)
