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This article contributes to the European history of musical nationalism with regard to operatic debates in the eighteenth century. The investigation reveals that within operatic debates national categories were used for all levels of the multimedia genre of opera: music, text, composer, and actor. Moreover, the relationship between national character and national taste was a highly critical point: there was general agreement that only outstanding aesthetic abilities enable composers to go beyond their own particular national character. Only in this respect could aesthetic abilities stand above national taste, which was said to be shaped by national character.
As we shall see, the two composers can be understood as opposites in many respects. While some superficial details of Verdis style were imitated by contemporary operatic composers, Verdi should be understood as exceptional, as pursuing a unique path amidst the Italian opera of his time. Rather than imitating either the concision of Verdis operas or their even more striking dramatic intensity, Petrella and most other Italian composers of the period instead downplayed these elements and sought instead to develop melodic appeal above all.