"I am glad to be able to relieve you of your difficulty. Don't you
remember the libretto of 'Il Proscritto,' which you procured for me,
and for which I have never composed the music? Give that to Nicolai in
place of 'Nabucco.'"
Merelli thanked him for his kind offer, and, as they reached the
theatre, asked him to go in, that they might ascertain whether the
manuscript of "Il Proscritto" was really there. It was at length
found, and Verdi was on the point of leaving, when Merelli slipped
into his pocket the book of "Nabucco," asking him to look it over. For
want of something to do, he took up the drama the next morning and
read it through, realising how truly grand it was in conception. But,
as a lover forces himself to feign indifference to his coquettish
_innamorata_, so he, disregarding his inclinations, returned the
manuscript to Merelli that same day.
"Well?" said Merelli, inquiringly.
"_Musicabilissimo!_" he replied; "full of dramatic power and telling
situations!"
"Take it home with you, then, and write the music for it."
Verdi declared that he did not wish to compose, but the worthy
impresario forced the manuscript on him, and persisted that he should
undertake the work. The composer returned home with the libretto, but
threw it on one side without looking at it, and for the next five
months continued his reading of bad romances and yellow-covered
novels.
The impulse of work soon came again, however. One beautiful June day
the manuscript met his eye, while looking listlessly over some old
papers. He read one scene and was struck by its beauty. The instinct
of musical creation rushed over him with irresistible force; he seated
himself at the piano, so long silent, and began composing the music.
The ice was broken. Verdi soon entered into the spirit of the work,
and in three months "Nabucco" was entirely completed. Merelli gladly
accepted it, and it was performed at La Scala in the spring of 1842.
As a result Verdi was besieged with petitions for new works from every
impresario in Italy.