On the 11th February 1843, crowds were flocking to the Milan Theatre to hear _I Lombardi_--the new opera by the composer who had driven the remembrance of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini from the heads of the Milanese. Unusual interest was aroused because the authorities, suspecting political suggestions, had sought to stop the representation of the opera. The people even brought their provisions with them, and when the moment for the performance came, a frightful odour of garlic pervaded the theatre! The patriotic subject pleased everybody, and the rendering had not proceeded far before undoubted expressions of approval issued from all parts of the house. The feverish audience detected readily exact analogies to their own political circumstances. Verdi, "saviour of his country," as some would have it, had kept up the sentiment of the _Nabucco_ music--a sentiment which had an unmistakable revolutionary flavour and ring, soon to be mightily emphasized--and the issue was never in doubt. Soloists, chorus, and orchestra quickly had their feelings echoed by the Milanese public at large.
Another triumph. Moved by the stirring music and the unstinted exertions of the principal singers, Signora Frezzolini and Signori Guasco and Derivis, the auditors were so overcome that they re-demanded number after number. The clamouring for the quintet was such that the police interfered and would not suffer it to be repeated; then the chorus, "_O Signore dal tetto natio_," in the fourth act brought the listeners once more to their feet; nor would they be appeased until they had heard it three times.
If only for its fortuitous association with the awakening of Lombardo-Venetia to a sense of national unity and independence, this opera must always be interesting. But _I Lombardi_ abounds in vocal treasures, and contains some of Verdi's best early work. Take, for instance, the lovely tenor _cavatina_ "_La mia letizia infondere_," and the _cabaletta_ "_Come poteva un angelo_," which Oronte sings in scene 2 of the second act, and which Signor Gardoni used to render with much charm and beauty of voice. Little wonder that such melodies and music predisposed the Italians towards the new young musician.