V. Rifaut - Gustave ou le Bal masqué avec accompagnement de
V. Rifaut - Gustave ou le Bal masqué avec accompagnement de piano - pp. - cm Gustavus III was a Swedish king, trained in the fine arts, and an accomplished writer and librettist. After he became King of Sweden, he established the Swedish National Opera, and encouraged writers, composers and set technicians to write and produce operas. He built the Swedish National Opera House, and even wrote the libretto for the first Swedish grand opera. He staged a coup to become the supreme ruler of Sweden, which alienated the Swedish nobility, and he was assassinated at a masked ball by a conspiracy of noblemen. The story is most famously treated in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, but Auber's Gustavus III was highly successful in its time. Auber created a rage throughout Europe with the galop, which is danced in the ballet in the final act. This dance number occurs in the ballroom scene, which requires a crowd of 300 people, extravagant sets, and lavish costumes. Women of society were known to have bribed the stage managers at productions of the opera, just to be allowed to dance the galop during the last act. Gustavus III premiered at the Paris Opera on February , and was a huge success. Read More