 After the first performance in Venice in 1851 the "Gazzetta ufficiale di Venezia" deplored the fact that in his opinion the libretto was inspired by "the Satanic school" and Verdi and Piave had sought beauty from the "deformed and repulsive".Typical of critical reaction in Britain, Austria and Germany was the review in the "Frankfurter Nachrichten" of July 24, 1859 - "It is well known that this shoddy work presents all the vices and virtues of Verdi's music