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This column provides a forum for responses to the contents of this journal, and for information of interest to readers. The editor reserves the right to publish letters in excerpted form and to edit them for conciseness and clarity.

To the Editor:

Your review of the edition of Il corsaro, edited by Elizabeth Hudson (The Works of Giuseppe Verdi, ser. I: Operas, vol. 13 [Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Milan: Ricordi, 1998]; Notes, September 2000, pp. 193-95) complains that the editor has only quoted the beginning of the inserted cabaletta "Oh! scellerato, la mia vendetta." In fact, the voice part of the whole cabaletta is given in the article by Stephen Town, to which Hudson refers in her notes. Strangely enough, neither Town nor Hudson has seen that this cabaletta is nothing other than Rolando's "Ahi scellerate alme d'inferno" from Act 3 of La battaglia di Legnano!

I take this opportunity of raising another question concerning Il corsaro.

The Bodleian Library here has a copy of the original oblong vocal score editon of I masnadieri, the back cover of which has an advertisement of operas published by Lucca running up to the year 1851. This advertisement lists three editions of operas in upright octavo using the treble clef, all three by Verdi: Attila, I masnadieri, and Il corsaro, which last is said to be in press ("sotto ai torchi"). Such an edition of Il corsaro is mentioned neither by Hudson nor by the Verdi bibliographies of Cecil Hopkinson (A Bibliography of the Works of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). 2 vols. [New York: Broude, 1973-78]) or Martin Chusid (A Catalog of Verdi's Operas [Hackensack, N.J.: J. Boonin, 1974]). Are we to conclude that, in view of the opera's poor success, this edition was never published?

RALPH LEAVIS

Oxford, England