The creation of Gioconda kept Ponchielli busy from 1874 to 1876. The going was slow above all because of the musician’s doubts regarding the libretto written by Arrigo Boito, who was inclined to favour dramatic realism over lyricism. The La Scala première was a success, but Ponchielli decided to introduces some changes to the score to eliminate the flaws that he felt were left in this work due to its troubled composition. The new version was staged at Venice’s La Fenice and in Rome,but Ponchielli, in collaboration with the librettist Angelo Zanardini, decided to revise the work yet one more time, re-writing most of the third act. Gioconda was then staged in Genoa (1879) and once again at La Scala (13th February 1880), and has since become one of the favourite works of opera lovers.