The Teatro La Fenice in Venice was one of the most important theatres in Giuseppe Verdi’s early career, not only because of its prestige but also because of its theatrical resources and relative openness to innovation. Between 1844 and 1857, Verdi composed five operas for the theatre: Ernani (1844), Attila (1846), Rigoletto (1851), La traviata (1853), and Simon Boccanegra (1857). In these works, Verdi experimented with new approaches to operatic convention and honed his development of the soprano and baritone voices, evident in a series of remarkable duets.

Susan Rutherford is Professor of Music at the University of Manchester. Her publications include The New Woman and Her Sisters: Feminism and Theatre, 1850–1914 (co-editor, 1992), The Prima Donna and Opera, 1815–1930 (Cambridge University Press, 2006), Verdi, Opera, Women (Cambridge University Press, 2013), and London Voices 1820-1840: Vocal Performers, Practices, Histories (co-editor with Roger Parker, University of Chicago Press, 2019), as well as numerous essays on voice, performance, and 19th-century Italian opera. Her current project (funded by a three-year Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, 2016-2019) is entitled A History of Voices: Singing in Britain 1690 to the Present.