Editing Un ballo in maschera (section)

===Homosexuality of Gustav III===

Scribe's libretto for ''Gustave III'' includes details that could be understood as signs of the king's [[homosexuality]]. Verdi and Somma eliminated many of these coded signals, but new codes take their place, particularly relating to the character of Oscar.<ref>Ralph Hexter, “Masked Balls”. ''Cambridge Opera Journal'' 14 (2002): 93–108</ref> David Richards has argued that although the opera was no longer explicitly based on Gustav III, Verdi deliberately deviated from his usual practice and set Oscar for a soprano – despite disliking women singing men's parts: "''Verdi goes as far as one could go within the repressive conventions of his period to portray Gustavo (based on a widely known flamboyantly homosexual ruler) as either a gay man or, at a minimum, a bisexual man"''. Richards believes this therefore demonstrates that "Verdi's art embraces all forms of sexualities".<ref>David Richards, ''Tragic Manhood and Democracy: Verdi's Voice and the Powers of Musical Art'', Sussex Academic Press, 2004</ref> Ralph Hexter has examined the “masking” of homosexual aspects of the main character and how it relates to the idea of masking in the opera as a whole.
   
Several productions have attempted to draw out this suggestion – most notably the staging by [[Göran Gentele]] for the [[Royal Swedish Opera]] in 1959 where Gustavo is having an affair with his Oscar even while pining for Amelia, and also the 1993 staging by [[Götz Friedrich]] for Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.operawarhorses.com/2014/10/05/a-stylishly-sung-and-intelligently-staged-masked-ball-at-san-francisco-opera-october-4-2014/|title=Review: A Stylishly Sung and Intelligently Staged "Masked Ball" at San Francisco Opera – October 4, 2014|date=Oct 6, 2014|access-date=Apr 22, 2019}}</ref>