Toye, Francis (1962), Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works, New York: Knopf, 1931
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The story is loosely based on a historical event, the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, using material drawn from the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia.
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The composer was aware that in Italy at that time, it was not possible to retain the Sililian location, as he notes to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in April 1855: "I shall...(change) the subject so as to render it acceptable for Italian theatres".
In 2000 he was engaged as a Bass at the Thater Lübeck where he sang Procida (I vespri siciliani), Pandolph (Cendrillon), Orest (Elektra) and Ramfis (Aida).