Alvise III Francesco Mocenigo

Count Alvise Francesco Mocenigo was a Venetian nobleman who served in all three roles (spettacoli, cassiere, economia) within the Presidente of the Teatro la Fenice in Venice. Mocenigo first met Giuseppe Verdi in 1842 in Vienna at the revival of Nabucco and mounted Venetian productions of I Lombardi in 1843. He commisioned Ernani for 1844, actively participating in the choice of subject and genesis of the libretto, recommending that Verdi collaborate with Francesco Maria Piave on the text, and overseeing the opera's premiere. Verdi dedicated the piano-vocal score of Ernani to Mocenigo's (first) wife, Countess Clementina Spaun. (Source: The Cambridge Verdi Encyclopedia, pages 287-288)