Giuseppe Verdi(1813-1901)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Giuseppe Verdi was born Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi on October
10, 1813, in Le Roncole di Busseto, Parma, Italy. His parents were
landowners and innkeepers. Young Verdi received his first organ lessons
at the age of 7. He studied composition privately with Ferdinando
Provesi in Busseto. At age 20 he moved to Milan to continue his
studies, but the Conservatory of Music rejected him. Verdi took private
lessons and associated with Milan's cultural milieu in his pursuit of a
musical career. He was patronized by Antonio Barezzi, a merchant, whose
daughter, Margherita, was Verdi's student and later became his wife.
His first opera, Oberto (1839), was a successful production by Milan's
Theatro La Scala. While Verdi continued working on his second opera,
his wife and two children died. The second opera failed, and he
suffered a depression and vowed to quit musical career. La Scala
impresario, Merelli, persuaded him to write a third opera. Nabucco
(1842) made Verdi famous. He followed the Bel Canto style of
Gaetano Donizetti and
Vincenzo Bellini. Verdi's best operas
were based on plays by Victor Hugo,
such as 'Ernani' (1844) and 'Rigoletto' (1851). In 1853 Verdi 's
masterpiece
'La Traviata' was produced in Venice. It was based on 'The Lady of the
Camelias', a play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. At that time Verdi became
familiar with the music of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka
who was popularized in Europe by
Franz Liszt. The music of
Mikhail Glinka had certain influence on
Verdi's later operas.
In 1861 Verdi wrote
'La forza del destino' commissioned by the Imperial
Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, upon the recommendations by Aleksandr Borodin.
It was performed with great success in 1862, and became part of a
standard operatic repertoire ever since. His grand-opera 'Aida' (1871)
was premiered in Cairo as part of the celebrations of the opening of
the Suez Canal, and became an instant success. In his later operas
Verdi turned from the style of Bel Canto to more expressive music and
orchestration, like in 'Otello' (1887), based on the eponymous play by
Shakespeare. Verdi's last and musically most brilliant, rich and
expressive opera,
'Falstaff' (1893), was based on the Shakespeare's
play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in the adaptation of Victor Hugo.
Verdi's musical success coincided with the political events of Italian
unification during the Austrian occupation. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew
Slaves' from his opera 'Nabucco' (1842), became a popular song among
supporters of Italian unification. Many of his opera performances were
used by the supporters of Victor Emmanuel to shout "Viva Verdi" as a
code name for a secret unification message. The name Verdi was used as
acronym for "Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia" - Victor Emmanuel, King of
Italy. Such a code enabled clandestine partisans of Victor Emmanuel,
then the King of Sardinia, to gain more supporters in Milan which
eventually led to the unification of Italy. Verdi was aware that his
popular operas and his name was used as a political tool. Austrian
censorship was powerless.
In 1861 Victor Emmanuel became the King of Italy in Turin. From
1861-1865 Giuseppe Verdi was elected representative of Busseto in the
newly formed Italian parliament. After Garibaldi's military campaign
the capital was moved to Florence, then to Rome, and Verdi returned
from politics to music. He lived in Milan during the last years of his
life. He was revered and honoured all over the world, and was much
visited by his admirers. He died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, and was
laid to rest at the Casa di Riposo, a retirement home for elderly
musicians that was established by Verdi himself.
Verdi's music was used in hundreds of film scores. His operas has been
the staples of operatic repertoire. His canzonas "La donna è mobile"
from opera
'Rigoletto' (1851) and "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Drinking
song) from 'La Traviata' (1853) has been popular concert numbers in
performances by the three tenors: Luciano Pavarotti,
Plácido Domingo and
José Carreras.
10, 1813, in Le Roncole di Busseto, Parma, Italy. His parents were
landowners and innkeepers. Young Verdi received his first organ lessons
at the age of 7. He studied composition privately with Ferdinando
Provesi in Busseto. At age 20 he moved to Milan to continue his
studies, but the Conservatory of Music rejected him. Verdi took private
lessons and associated with Milan's cultural milieu in his pursuit of a
musical career. He was patronized by Antonio Barezzi, a merchant, whose
daughter, Margherita, was Verdi's student and later became his wife.
His first opera, Oberto (1839), was a successful production by Milan's
Theatro La Scala. While Verdi continued working on his second opera,
his wife and two children died. The second opera failed, and he
suffered a depression and vowed to quit musical career. La Scala
impresario, Merelli, persuaded him to write a third opera. Nabucco
(1842) made Verdi famous. He followed the Bel Canto style of
Gaetano Donizetti and
Vincenzo Bellini. Verdi's best operas
were based on plays by Victor Hugo,
such as 'Ernani' (1844) and 'Rigoletto' (1851). In 1853 Verdi 's
masterpiece
'La Traviata' was produced in Venice. It was based on 'The Lady of the
Camelias', a play by Alexandre Dumas, fils. At that time Verdi became
familiar with the music of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka
who was popularized in Europe by
Franz Liszt. The music of
Mikhail Glinka had certain influence on
Verdi's later operas.
In 1861 Verdi wrote
'La forza del destino' commissioned by the Imperial
Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, upon the recommendations by Aleksandr Borodin.
It was performed with great success in 1862, and became part of a
standard operatic repertoire ever since. His grand-opera 'Aida' (1871)
was premiered in Cairo as part of the celebrations of the opening of
the Suez Canal, and became an instant success. In his later operas
Verdi turned from the style of Bel Canto to more expressive music and
orchestration, like in 'Otello' (1887), based on the eponymous play by
Shakespeare. Verdi's last and musically most brilliant, rich and
expressive opera,
'Falstaff' (1893), was based on the Shakespeare's
play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in the adaptation of Victor Hugo.
Verdi's musical success coincided with the political events of Italian
unification during the Austrian occupation. The 'Chorus of the Hebrew
Slaves' from his opera 'Nabucco' (1842), became a popular song among
supporters of Italian unification. Many of his opera performances were
used by the supporters of Victor Emmanuel to shout "Viva Verdi" as a
code name for a secret unification message. The name Verdi was used as
acronym for "Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia" - Victor Emmanuel, King of
Italy. Such a code enabled clandestine partisans of Victor Emmanuel,
then the King of Sardinia, to gain more supporters in Milan which
eventually led to the unification of Italy. Verdi was aware that his
popular operas and his name was used as a political tool. Austrian
censorship was powerless.
In 1861 Victor Emmanuel became the King of Italy in Turin. From
1861-1865 Giuseppe Verdi was elected representative of Busseto in the
newly formed Italian parliament. After Garibaldi's military campaign
the capital was moved to Florence, then to Rome, and Verdi returned
from politics to music. He lived in Milan during the last years of his
life. He was revered and honoured all over the world, and was much
visited by his admirers. He died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, and was
laid to rest at the Casa di Riposo, a retirement home for elderly
musicians that was established by Verdi himself.
Verdi's music was used in hundreds of film scores. His operas has been
the staples of operatic repertoire. His canzonas "La donna è mobile"
from opera
'Rigoletto' (1851) and "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Drinking
song) from 'La Traviata' (1853) has been popular concert numbers in
performances by the three tenors: Luciano Pavarotti,
Plácido Domingo and
José Carreras.