'Nabucodonosor' (1842) and 'I Lombardi' (1843) established his
reputation in his own country and won favour abroad; but the opera
which gave him European fame was 'Ernani' (1844). The story is an
adaptation of Victor Hugo's famous play. Elvira, the chosen bride of Don
Silva, a Spanish grandee, loves Ernani, an exiled nobleman, who has had
to take refuge in brigandage. Silva discovers their attachment, but
being connected with Ernani in a plot against Charles V., he defers his
vengeance for the moment. He yields his claim upon Elvira's affection,
but exacts a promise from his rival, that when he demands it, Ernani
shall be prepared to take his own life. Charles's magnanimity frustrates
the conspiracy, and Silva, defeated alike in love and ambition, claims
the fulfilment of Ernani's oath, despite the prayers of Elvira, who is
condemned to see her lover stab himself in her presence. Hugo's
melodrama suited Verdi's blood-and-thunder style exactly. 'Ernani' is
crude and sensational, but its rough vigour never descends to weakness,
though it often comes dangerously near to vulgarity. 'Ernani' is the
opera most typical of Verdi's earliest period. With all its blemishes,
it is easy to see how its masculine vigour and energy must have
captivated the audiences of the day. But there were political as well as
musical reasons for the instantaneous success of Verdi's early operas.
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