For as long as there has been opera, there have been those determined to restrict what we see on stage, most often for political reasons. This cultural censorship affected many composers and librettists who, over the years, have had to make significant changes to their works in order to see their productions reach the stage. Here are some of those who were hit hardest by censorship in the production process.
Berg’s Lulu
Alban Berg’s opera Lulu was composed in early 1930s Austria amid a climate of rising antisemitism and Nazism. The Nazis considered Berg’s atonal and experimental music to be ‘degenerate’, and paired with the opera’s controversial depictions of sex work, bisexuality and adultery, Berg was unable to secure a performance of his new opera in Germany or Austria. Instead, Berg adapted excerpts of the opera into a five-movement concert suite for performance at the Berlin State Opera in 1934 which was quickly denounced by local publications and the authorities.
Verdi’s Rigoletto
Around the mid-19th century period that Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto was written, authorities in many European countries were extremely concerned about the threat to their political establishments following the year of revolution in 1848. Based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse, Venetian censors strongly disapproved of Rigoletto’s intended depiction of a deeply immoral French King. For Rigoletto to be performed, Verdi was forced to make several significant changes, including the removal of a sexual assault scene and changing the character of the French King into a Duke of Mantua (an extinct duchy by this time).
Rossini’s La Cenerentola
Censors forced many changes on Rossini’s 1817 opera La Cenerentola, an operatic adaptation of the fairy tale Cinderella. Composed for the Rome Carnival, Papal censors demanded the removal of all magic from the story. Rossini and his librettist instead incorporated elements from many different retellings of the Cinderella story, including versions by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault; the fairy godmother was replaced with Alidoro the philosopher, an evil stepmother was supplanted in favour of a cruel stepfather, and the classic glass slipper was transformed into a bracelet – partly also because it was thought that a bare foot on stage would be far too erotic for audiences of the time.
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro
The hugely provocative Enlightenment playwright Pierre Beaumarchais had his fair share of censorship over his career, and the same was the case for his play The Marriage of Figaro, adapted to opera by Mozart in 1786. Controversial for its depiction of class conflict, Mozart’s librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte had to soften some of the more political messaging of the play in order to escape the censors’ ruling, shaping the main theme of the opera into one of love and forgiveness instead of revolution. In particular, Figaro’s monologue criticising the aristocracy in the play was removed from the opera and replaced with an aria denouncing the fickleness of women.
Censoring may have altered the stories in these operas, but fear not – they're still full to the brim of wonderful music and intense drama fit for a fantastic show. Come and see WNO’s brand-new production of Rigoletto in Cardiff, before we tour to Llandudno, Plymouth, Oxford and Southampton this Autumn. You can also catch performances of The Marriage of Figaro during our Spring 2025 Season.
