By 15 July they had decided on a subject for early 1831, but it was uncertain as to whether Pasta was interested in singing a trousers role, that of the protagonist, Ernani, in an adaptation of Victor Hugo's "Hernani", later set to music by Giuseppe Verdi in 1844. With both men having various other commitments, by the end of November 1830 nothing had been achieved in the way of writing either the libretto or the score of "Ernani" but, by January, the situation and the subject had changed. Bellini wrote that " is now writing ...It must go on stage on 20 February at the latest."