Piave's life was more unruly than the way that Verdi was used to living, but he still knew how to defer to Verdi's wishes. It is believed that Piave had a way of allowing Verdi to "let his hair down" (Berger 2000) as he was often much more uptight around others. They did develop a solid working relationship and they were even known for carousing around Venice (2000) (a city that is known for carousing). Their relationship would span two decades, however, this working relationship, which sometimes involved carousing, was not necessarily equal when the two were in the theatre.

The relationship between composer and librettist in the theatre was, in general, known as one that was not one of equals and this is especially true in the relationship between Verdi and Piave. In the story of Giuseppe Verdi: oberto to un ballo in maschera by Baldini, d'Amico, and Parker...
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