A Musician is Born
Born in 1813 in the Italian village of Le Roncole near Busseto, Giuseppe Verdi spent his early years studying the organ. By the age of seven, he had become an organist at San Michele Arcangelo. It was there that the young Verdi was an altar boy and, according to myth, his mother saved him from the French in 1814.
Education
In 1823, Verdi moved to Busseto and attended the music school run by Antonio Provesi. By the age of 13, he was an assistant conductor of the Busseto orchestra. After finishing the school, Verdi applied for admission to the Milan Conservatory. He was rejected for admission, although one of the examiners suggested that he "forget about the Conservatory and choose a maestro in the city." Verdi studied composition in Milan with Vincenzo Lavigna, a composer and the maestro at La Scala. Verdi bounced back and forth between Milan and Busseto until he was named maestro of the Busseto Philharmonic in March 1836.
Young Adult
By May 1836, he had married childhood sweetheart, Margherita Barezzi, his greatest benefactor's daughter. He returned to Milan several years later, this time with a young family.
Verdi Composes First Opera
Verdi's first opera, Oberto , was brought to the stage at La Scala in November 1839 and ran for multiple performances. The noted Ricordi firm published Oberto and, based upon his initial operatic effort, Verdi won a contract for three additional operas. He began work on his next opera, Un Giorno di Regno , but was interrupted when, one by one, the Verdis fell ill. Over the course of a few weeks, Verdi lost his son, his daughter, and his beloved wife to illness. Unfortunately, Un Giorno was a complete failure.
Grief to Fame
Verdi vowed never to compose another comedy and developed a fatalistic belief in inescapable destiny. Even so, the director at La Scala kept faith with Verdi, who later declared that with his next work, Nabucco , "my musical career really began." At dress rehearsals for Nabucco in the La Scala theater, carpenters making repairs to the house gradually stopped hammering and, seating themselves on scaffolding and ladders, listened with rapt attention to what the composer considered a lackluster chorus rendering of "Va, pensiero." At the close of the number, the workers pounded the woodwork with cries of "Bravo, bravo, viva il maestro!" The opening of Nabucco was a triumph. Verdi was famous, commanding a higher fee than any other composer of his time.
Over the next seven years, the composer penned ten additional operas of varied success, gradually making the transition between two distinct eras of Verdi composition. Initially captive of the "bel canto" style and heir to Donizetti's artistic throne, Verdi continually experimented to produce his own operatic genre in which melodic drama and identifiable musical essence of character took center stage as an equal to vocal purity and elegance.
From the Heart
It was an inspired stroke of boldness about which Verdi commented in explaining the innovative core of his work, Il Trovatore , "I think (if I'm not mistaken) that I have done well; but at any rate I have done it in the way that I felt it." In saying so, he defined his own creative hallmark. Although a musical genius, Verdi composed spontaneously from the heart. A brilliantly schooled musician, he placed emotional sensibility above intellect in all that he wrote. In the process, he created the remarkable marriage of dramatic characterization and vocal power, an indelible artistic signature.
Great Works
The creation of an operatic tour de force based upon his ingenious artistic formulation assured Verdi's immortality, beginning in 1851 with Rigoletto , followed soon after by Il Trovatore , La Traviata, and ultimately in 1871, by Aida. Even without the masterpieces that followed - Simon Boccanegra, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino , and Don Carlos or his great Requiem Mass - the Maestro could have afforded to rest on his musical achievements and stand unchallenged as the premier operatic composer of any age. In fact, with the success of Aida, Verdi seemed to have abandoned composing altogether, producing no new works for fifteen years.
Fortunately for posterity, an electrifying libretto, Otello , created by poet Arrigo Boito, brought the composer out of his self-imposed retirement. The opening of Otello in February of 1887 attracted an international audience to Milan for a dramatic event which ended only after the citizenry had showered Verdi with gifts and applause throughout twenty curtain calls and towed his carriage to the hotel. Public festivities continued until dawn.
Last Years
In 1893, with the premiere of Falstaff , Verdi and his adoring audience repeated the entire sequence of events at La Scala - all in honor of a comedy he had vowed as a young man never to write. The maestro finally retreated to his country home in Sant' Agata with his second wife, singer Giuseppina Strepponi. They spent several peaceful years in retirement until her death in 1897. His wife's death left Verdi in a state of unbearable grief. He immediately fled Sant' Agata for the Grand Hotel in Milan and, after four unhappy years, Verdi died in 1901, the victim of a massive stroke. Verdi's death left all Italy in mourning. He still is revered throughout the music world as the greatest of operatic composers and, more particularly, in Italy as a patriotic hero and champion of human rights.
Works:
Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio (17th November, 1839; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Un Giorno di Regno (5th September 1840; Teatro alla Scala, Milan) (Il Finto Stanislao)
Nabucco (9th March 1842; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata (11th February 1843; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Ernani (9th March 1844; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
I Due Foscari (3rd November 1844; Teatro Argentina, Rome)
Giovanna d'Arco (15th February 1845; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Alzira (12th August 1845; Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Attila (17th March 1846; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Macbeth (14th March 1847; Teatro della Pergola, Florence)
I Masnadieri (22nd July 1847; Her Majesty's Theatre, London)
Jérusalem (26th November 1847; Académie Royale de Musique, Paris)
Il Corsaro (25th October 1848; Teatro Grande, Trieste)
La Battaglia di Legnano (27th January 1849; Teatro Argentina, Rome)
Luisa Miller (8th December 1849; Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Stiffelio (16th November 1850; Teatro Grande, Trieste)
Rigoletto (11th March 1850; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Il Trovatore (19th January 1853; Teatro Apollo, Rome)
La Traviata (6th March 1853; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Les Vêpres Siciliennes (13th June 1855; Académie Impériale de Musique, Paris)
Simon Boccanegra (12th March 1857; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Aroldo (16th August 1857; Teatro Nuovo, Rimini)
Un Ballo in maschera (17th February 1859; Teatro Apollo, Rome)
La Forza del destino (10th November 1862; Bolshoi Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Don Carlos (11th March 1867; Académie Impériale de Musique, Paris)
Aïda (24th December 1871; Opera House, Cairo)
Otello (5th February 1887; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Falstaff (9th February 1893; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Bibliography:
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/verdi.html
http://www.edinboro.edu/CWIS/Music/Cordell/comp-verdi.html
http://www.8notes.com/biographies/verdi.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi
http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/verdi.html
http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/verdi.html
http://www.sfsymphony.org/templates/composer.asp?nodeid=247
http://www.italica.rai.it/index.php?categoria=bio&scheda=verdi_prima_parte
Born in 1813 in the Italian village of Le Roncole near Busseto, Giuseppe Verdi spent his early years studying the organ. By the age of seven, he had become an organist at San Michele Arcangelo. It was there that the young Verdi was an altar boy and, according to myth, his mother saved him from the French in 1814.
Education
In 1823, Verdi moved to Busseto and attended the music school run by Antonio Provesi. By the age of 13, he was an assistant conductor of the Busseto orchestra. After finishing the school, Verdi applied for admission to the Milan Conservatory. He was rejected for admission, although one of the examiners suggested that he "forget about the Conservatory and choose a maestro in the city." Verdi studied composition in Milan with Vincenzo Lavigna, a composer and the maestro at La Scala. Verdi bounced back and forth between Milan and Busseto until he was named maestro of the Busseto Philharmonic in March 1836.
Young Adult
By May 1836, he had married childhood sweetheart, Margherita Barezzi, his greatest benefactor's daughter. He returned to Milan several years later, this time with a young family.
Verdi Composes First Opera
Verdi's first opera, Oberto , was brought to the stage at La Scala in November 1839 and ran for multiple performances. The noted Ricordi firm published Oberto and, based upon his initial operatic effort, Verdi won a contract for three additional operas. He began work on his next opera, Un Giorno di Regno , but was interrupted when, one by one, the Verdis fell ill. Over the course of a few weeks, Verdi lost his son, his daughter, and his beloved wife to illness. Unfortunately, Un Giorno was a complete failure.
Grief to Fame
Verdi vowed never to compose another comedy and developed a fatalistic belief in inescapable destiny. Even so, the director at La Scala kept faith with Verdi, who later declared that with his next work, Nabucco , "my musical career really began." At dress rehearsals for Nabucco in the La Scala theater, carpenters making repairs to the house gradually stopped hammering and, seating themselves on scaffolding and ladders, listened with rapt attention to what the composer considered a lackluster chorus rendering of "Va, pensiero." At the close of the number, the workers pounded the woodwork with cries of "Bravo, bravo, viva il maestro!" The opening of Nabucco was a triumph. Verdi was famous, commanding a higher fee than any other composer of his time.
Over the next seven years, the composer penned ten additional operas of varied success, gradually making the transition between two distinct eras of Verdi composition. Initially captive of the "bel canto" style and heir to Donizetti's artistic throne, Verdi continually experimented to produce his own operatic genre in which melodic drama and identifiable musical essence of character took center stage as an equal to vocal purity and elegance.
From the Heart
It was an inspired stroke of boldness about which Verdi commented in explaining the innovative core of his work, Il Trovatore , "I think (if I'm not mistaken) that I have done well; but at any rate I have done it in the way that I felt it." In saying so, he defined his own creative hallmark. Although a musical genius, Verdi composed spontaneously from the heart. A brilliantly schooled musician, he placed emotional sensibility above intellect in all that he wrote. In the process, he created the remarkable marriage of dramatic characterization and vocal power, an indelible artistic signature.
Great Works
The creation of an operatic tour de force based upon his ingenious artistic formulation assured Verdi's immortality, beginning in 1851 with Rigoletto , followed soon after by Il Trovatore , La Traviata, and ultimately in 1871, by Aida. Even without the masterpieces that followed - Simon Boccanegra, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino , and Don Carlos or his great Requiem Mass - the Maestro could have afforded to rest on his musical achievements and stand unchallenged as the premier operatic composer of any age. In fact, with the success of Aida, Verdi seemed to have abandoned composing altogether, producing no new works for fifteen years.
Fortunately for posterity, an electrifying libretto, Otello , created by poet Arrigo Boito, brought the composer out of his self-imposed retirement. The opening of Otello in February of 1887 attracted an international audience to Milan for a dramatic event which ended only after the citizenry had showered Verdi with gifts and applause throughout twenty curtain calls and towed his carriage to the hotel. Public festivities continued until dawn.
Last Years
In 1893, with the premiere of Falstaff , Verdi and his adoring audience repeated the entire sequence of events at La Scala - all in honor of a comedy he had vowed as a young man never to write. The maestro finally retreated to his country home in Sant' Agata with his second wife, singer Giuseppina Strepponi. They spent several peaceful years in retirement until her death in 1897. His wife's death left Verdi in a state of unbearable grief. He immediately fled Sant' Agata for the Grand Hotel in Milan and, after four unhappy years, Verdi died in 1901, the victim of a massive stroke. Verdi's death left all Italy in mourning. He still is revered throughout the music world as the greatest of operatic composers and, more particularly, in Italy as a patriotic hero and champion of human rights.
Works:
Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio (17th November, 1839; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Un Giorno di Regno (5th September 1840; Teatro alla Scala, Milan) (Il Finto Stanislao)
Nabucco (9th March 1842; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata (11th February 1843; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Ernani (9th March 1844; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
I Due Foscari (3rd November 1844; Teatro Argentina, Rome)
Giovanna d'Arco (15th February 1845; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Alzira (12th August 1845; Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Attila (17th March 1846; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Macbeth (14th March 1847; Teatro della Pergola, Florence)
I Masnadieri (22nd July 1847; Her Majesty's Theatre, London)
Jérusalem (26th November 1847; Académie Royale de Musique, Paris)
Il Corsaro (25th October 1848; Teatro Grande, Trieste)
La Battaglia di Legnano (27th January 1849; Teatro Argentina, Rome)
Luisa Miller (8th December 1849; Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Stiffelio (16th November 1850; Teatro Grande, Trieste)
Rigoletto (11th March 1850; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Il Trovatore (19th January 1853; Teatro Apollo, Rome)
La Traviata (6th March 1853; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Les Vêpres Siciliennes (13th June 1855; Académie Impériale de Musique, Paris)
Simon Boccanegra (12th March 1857; Teatro la Fenice, Venice)
Aroldo (16th August 1857; Teatro Nuovo, Rimini)
Un Ballo in maschera (17th February 1859; Teatro Apollo, Rome)
La Forza del destino (10th November 1862; Bolshoi Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Don Carlos (11th March 1867; Académie Impériale de Musique, Paris)
Aïda (24th December 1871; Opera House, Cairo)
Otello (5th February 1887; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Falstaff (9th February 1893; Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Bibliography:
http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/verdi.html
http://www.edinboro.edu/CWIS/Music/Cordell/comp-verdi.html
http://www.8notes.com/biographies/verdi.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi
http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/verdi.html
http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/verdi.html
http://www.sfsymphony.org/templates/composer.asp?nodeid=247
http://www.italica.rai.it/index.php?categoria=bio&scheda=verdi_prima_parte
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