Un giomo di regno (King for a Day)

Written during the sudden illness and consequent death of his first wife, it is a melodrama giocoso in two acts and is surprisingly comic considering the tragic personal circumstances under which it was written. ‘King for a Day’ (‘Un Giorno di Regno’) was Verdi’s second opera, and his only other comedy apart from ‘Falstaff’. In order to distract attention from the real king, a French chevalier assumes the identity of the king of Poland and becomes ‘king for a day’ – causing comic havoc in the love lives and dynastic plans of his unwitting hosts and their progeny. The score is full of the young Verdi’s fresh, irresistible melodies.