Re Lear

Their extensive correspondence has been preserved; it thoroughly documents Verdi's oversight and detailed supervision, the result being two completed and still extant versions of the libretto prepared by Somma in 1853 and 1855.

He was instrumental in anonymously writing the original libretto for Gustavo III, an opera which changed its name several times and which finally became Un ballo in maschera in 1859.

[8] As documented in their extensive correspondence and with Verdi's overall detailed supervision, two completed and still extant versions of the libretto were prepared, the first in 1853 followed by the second in 1855.

[9] Only in 1996 did music historian Leo Karl Gerhartz come across a brief paper in the Carrara-Verdi archives at Sant' Agata, Verdi's home near Busseto, and it was through the later support from that family (as well as the American National Endowment for the Humanities) that much more material including Somma's manuscript libretto became available on microfilm.

[10] Many of the subsequent letters from the composer (those of 29 June, 30 August, and 9 September 1853 for example), in addition to others continuing into April 1856, constantly demonstrate Verdi's detailed oversight.