For his reworking of Macbeth (the original version had been performed at the Teatro alla Pergola in Florence on March 14, 1847), Verdi composed a rather extensive three-movement ballet score for the second scene of the third act, illustrating the Hecate scenes of Shakespeare’s drama. At the premiere in the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris on April 21, 1865, however, the audience was less than enthusiastic – the drama was too much at odds with the dance tastes of the Second Empire, which favoured lightweight, virtuoso diversions. Verdi, however, was convinced by the concept and insisted on retaining it in the new Italian production in Milan (1874), which met with unexpected success.