When, on 15 December 1807, it was staged at the Théâtre Impérial de Musique in Paris, La Vestale had already undergone many changes compared to the version originally conceived by Spontini two years earlier. Further important adjustments were then made during the performances until reaching the version which was printed the following year by Imbault-Érard and which the author then considered the definitive one. Retracing the stages of this tortuous journey, between the hostility of the performers, the intrigues of the palace, the contradictions and the composer’s indecisions, the human and artistic figure of a musician emerges who, trained in the last flashes of the old Neapolitan school, knew how to renew deeply his own language and conquer leading roles in the musical life of capitals such as Paris and Berlin.
