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Burlesque Il Trovatore
[from an 1866 notebook]
Burlesque Il Trovatore [from an 1866 notebook]

In August 1866 Clemens attended a performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore in San Francisco.

Never an opera fan, he was inspired to sketch his own version of the plot in his notebook.

A sample of his text:

"Then the chief woman came back & grabbed the fellow round the neck—Same moment knight in complet[e] armor & with sheet round him rushes in & just saves self from going into orchestra—sensation—hell to pay, in fact."
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