The earliest opera in Italy has its origins in the early seventeenth century in the form of courtly entertainments, often pastorales. Opera's emergence into public theaters radically changed both its structure and content. History became a favorite subject, and some opera subsequently lost its escapist flavor and was anchored in more contemporary and realistic contexts. Yet pastoral comedies continued in their popularity; a good example of this genre is Gaetano Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" (1832). This libretto, whose text was written by Felice Romani, was published in 1895 by the well-established G. Ricordi company of music publishers, who also published Giuseppe Verdi's librettos.