A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONE OF OPERA’S GREATS: GIUSEPPE VERDI

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born October 9th, 1813 and died January 27th 1901.

He was an Italian Romantic composer mainly recognized for his operas.

Verdi is considered one of the preeminent opera composers of the nineteenth century.

His productions are regularly performed in opera houses throughout the world and, surpassing

the boundaries of the genre,

and a couple of his themes have long since been embodied in popular culture.

Verdi was born the son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in Le Roncole.

As a child, Verdi and his parents moved from Le Roncole to Busseto, where the future composer’s education was greatly influenced by trips to the large library belonging to the local

Jesuit school.

Busseto was where Verdi was given his first lessons in composition.

When Verdi was twenty, he went to Milan to continue his education.

Milan’s beaumonde association convinced him that he should pursue a career as a theatre

composer.

Verdi’s first production, Oberto, was held in Milan’s La Scala in Nobermber of 1839.

The production was received favorably by theatergoers and critics, after which Bartolomeo Merelli, La Scala’s impresario,

offered Verdi his first contract for three more works.

Thus starting his illustrious career as a composer.

While he was working on his second opera, Un giorno di regno, Verdi’s wife passed away.

Along with his second opera flopping, Verdi fell into a deep depression and vowed to give up

musical composition forever.

However, Merelli convinced him to write Nabucco, and its opening performance in

March of 1842 made Verdi famous.

Verdi remarried a couple of years later to a soprano by the name of Giuseppina Strepponi.

Between 1855 and 1870 there was an flood of prolific Verdi operas:

among them were such staples as Un ballo in maschera (1859), La forza del destino (1862), a revised version of

Macbeth (1865), and his grand opera Aida (1869).

During the following years, Verdi worked on revising a couple of his earlier scores, which became new versions of

La forza del destino, Don Carlos, and Simon Boccanegra.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONE OF OPERA’S GREATS: GIUSEPPE VERDI