Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore had its first French performance at the Theatre des Italiens on 23 December 1854: this premiere was in Italian. Only later did the Paris Opera decide to stage it and three years later, on 12 January 1857, the Opera was performed in French and in accordance with the taste of the time. It was on this occasion that the Author was commissioned to write the inevitable ballet, as had happened for all the other Verdi operas performed in France. On this occasion Verdi decid...