Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born in a small Italian village, Le Roncole, in 1813. He is still widely known for his extraordinary operas and other musical compositions. His works mixed beautiful music with engaging story-telling, and they occasionally included a political message, striving for the unity of the Italian people.
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Famous works:
Nabucco
Macbeth
Rigoletto
La Traviata (The Fallen Woman)
Aida
Otello
Messa da Requiem (The Requiem Mass)
Musical Beginnings and the Start of a Career
Verdi’s musical life began while he was very, very
young. At the age of four, he began meeting with the local
schoolmaster, Baistroocchi, to learn proper Italian and
Latin. Lucky for us, Baistroocchi also played the organ for
the local church. After Verdi showed a clear interest in
playing music, Baistroocchi began to give him organ
lessons as well. Young Verdi’s mastery of the instrument
was so impressive that when he was 8 years old, he
began serving as the paid organist at the church, as
Baistroocchi had passed away. (Rosselli, 2000)
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As a teenager, Verdi delved more seriously into composing music, both for his church and for his own local performances. Later, he began studying music under a man named Vincenzo Lavigna, who introduced him to the famous operas composed by Rossini and Bellini (Parker, 2007). Through this new teacher, Verdi began making connections that ultimately guided Verdi into writing his first opera, eventually titled Oberto. The opera was first performed in 1839, and landed Verdi a contract to write three more operas! (Budden, 1993)
Unfortunately, Verdi also faced personal hardships around this time. Within three years, his wife and both of his children passed away due to serious illnesses ("Giuseppe" n.d.). These traumatic events seriously affected Verdi’s ability to remain motivated and inspired to create music. Thankfully, he returned to his work after a short hiatus.
Gaining Fame
In the 1840’s, Verdi became a very busy man. After the positive reception of his early works, Verdi wrote around twenty more operas around this time, including Nabucco, La Traviata and Macbeth ("Giuseppe" n.d.). After his repeated successes, Verdi began to move his attention to his finances, investing in 62 acres of land around his childhood home and providing a reliable space for his parents. He also contracted the construction of his own private home, now known as the Villa Verdi, in the nearby city of Busseto, Italy (Phillips-Matz, 1993).
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During this time, Verdi was also traveling throughout Europe, spending time in Vienna, London, and Paris supervising productions of his operas. During these travels, it is said that a visit to Paris to see a play called The Lady of the Camellas sparked Verdi’s interest in composing the music for what became La Traviata (Phillips-Matz, 1993).
Final Works
In 1859, Veri shifted his focus to Italian politics, as Italy was
struggling to declare its unity. He briefly served as a council
member, meeting with government officials about the unification
movement. Because of this political activity, many of Verdi's works
were used throughout Italy to celebrate nationalistic beliefs
(Phillips-Matz, 1993).
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In the 1860’s, Verdi premiered a new opera, Don Carlos, but
critics said that this opera did not continue Verdi’s “Italian” style,
proving to be too similar to the newer operas of Richard Wagner
(Budden, 1993). Nevertheless, his reputation as an outstanding
operatic composer was still bringing in impressive work. The
Egyptian government commissioned Verdi’s Aida, an opera
celebrating ancient Egyptian culture, which was first performed in Cairo, Egypt (Rosselli, 2000). After Aida’s success, Verdi’s attention moved to the composition of his Requiem mass, a large work to be performed at funerals. Verdi’s Requiem is still quite popular, and is often used in movie scores and commercials today!
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While many critics thought the Requiem may be Verdi’s last musical work, Verdi was secretly composing a new opera, Otello, based on the work of Shakespeare. After Otello’s success, he decided to continue the idea and recreate Shakespeare’s Falstaff into an operatic production (Rosselli, 2000). These are now known as his last masterpieces. Giuseppe Verdi passed from a stroke on January 21, 1901.
Example Recordings
"Simpre Libera (Always Free)"
from La Traviata, 1853
"La Donna e Mobile
(The Woman is Fickle)"
from Rigoletto, 1851
"Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)"
from The Requiem Mass, 1874
Sources:
Budden, J (1993). Verdi (master musicians series). London: J. M. Dent.
“Giuseppe Verdi Biography”. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/giuseppe-verdi-9517249
Parker, R. (2007). Verdi and Milan. Retrieved from http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/verdi-and-milan
Phillips-Matz, M. (1993). Verdi: A Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Rosselli, J. (2000). The Life of Verdi. New York: Cambridge University Press.