Desc: I Vespri Siciliani: Directed by Tiziano Mancini. With Fabio Armiliato, Daniela Dessì, Leo Nucci, Giacomo Prestia. Not until 1855 did Verdi have a chance to try his hand at the genre of French grand opera. A setting of a libretto by Eugène Scribe, Les Vêpres siciliennes proved a success in Paris despite the problematical nature of its subject matter, which deals with the Sicilian uprising against occupying French forces in Palermo in 1282. Today, the opera is usually given in the Italian version of 1861 as I Vespri siciliani.