On a late-winter evening in the late 18th century, an event occurred that inspired no less than four examples of a certain type of creative work. The best-known of these repeatedly ran afoul of politically-jittery censors, so that its original setting was rather oddly changed to someplace else altogether. What is the work, what event inspired it, and on what date did that event take place?

peasypod

Well, I'm toying with the time frame here, and tossing around with the execution of Louis XVI, in January of 1793. I'll go see about any official pieces of work that may have been found guilty. Mar 16 06, 8:21 PM

lanfranco

You're on the right track with a regicide but in the wrong part of Europe. The year is close, though. Mar 17 06, 11:09 AM

JaneofGaunt

The assassination of King Gustavus III of Sweden. He was shot in the back at a masked ball on March 16th, 1792. This inspired Guiseppe Verdi's opera "Un Ballo In Maschera" first performed on 17th February, 1859. The jumpy politicians had Verdi move the setting from Sweden to Boston, of all places. Great music. Mar 17 06, 2:38 PM

JaneofGaunt

Sorry, I forgot the link... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_ballo_in_maschera Mar 17 06, 2:39 PM

lanfranco

Bravo, Jane. In fact, modern stagings of the opera often return it to the original Sweden, though Verdi himself seems to have been rather enthusiastic about Boston once he settled on it. The Count of Warwick, the tenor in the Boston version, becomes Gustavus III again. I posted the question yesterday because it was the 214th anniversary of the shooting, although Gustavus lingered until the 29th. Mar 17 06, 3:28 PM