Giuseppe Verdi

Italian opera composer

• Born: October 9, 1813
• Birthplace: Le Roncole, Duchy of Parma (now in Italy).
• Died: January 27, 1901
• Place of death: Milan, Italy

One of the giants of nineteenth century opera, Verdi was an innovator who during a long career evolved his own form of music drama and contributed at least half a dozen of the most enduringly popular operas in the international repertory.

Early Life

Giuseppe Verdi (VAYR-dee) was the son of Carlo and Luigia Verdi, who eked out a modest living as owners of a wine and grocery store. Verdi’s musical talent revealed itself early, and his father bought him an old spinet when he was eight. When he was ten, he played the organ at the village church. His talent was noticed by Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant in nearby Busseto, who arranged for Verdi to be tutored by Ferdinando Provesi, the director of the music school in Busseto. Provesi taught him to play the flute, the bass clarinet, the horn, and the piano. After finishing high school in Busseto, Verdi became Provesi’s assistant. In 1833, Verdi traveled to Milan, hoping to win a place at the conservatory, but his application was refused because he was over the age limit.

Barezzi provided for him to stay in Milan and take private lessons from Vincenzo Lavigna, a conductor at La Scala. Verdi proved to be a diligent student, sometimes working fourteen hours a day. In 1834, Verdi returned to Busseto, hoping to fill the vacancy left by the death of Provesi. The post, however, had already gone to another candidate, and the slight to Verdi caused a storm in the small town. Eventually, after a public competition, Verdi was appointed Busseto Master of Music. This was in April, 1836; the next month, Verdi married Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his benefactor.

Verdi began teaching, composing, and conducting, and his first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio , was performed at La Scala in November, 1839. It ran for only fourteen performances, but Verdi received a contract for three more operas. He began working on Un giorno di regno , which was performed in September, 1840, but it was withdrawn after the premiere. Shocked by this failure and the death of his wife in the same year—as well as the loss of his infant son the previous year—Verdi decided never to compose again. After some months, the director of La Scala persuaded him to read a libretto based on the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar. As a result, Verdi wrote Nabucco , his first major work. Premiered at La Scala in March, 1842, it was an immediate success, and Verdi found himself being hailed throughout Italy as the successor to his fellow countrymen, Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti.

Life’s Work

Verdi often referred to the next nine years of his life, during which he wrote fourteen operas, as his period “in the galleys.” The Italian operagoing public was accustomed to a regular supply of new works, and Verdi gave them what they wanted. After Nabucco came I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843); audiences were quick to apply the story, about the struggle of the Lombards to free Jerusalem from the Saracens, to the contemporary Italian struggle to throw off Austrian rule, and Verdi’s music became a symbol of Italian nationalism. I Lombardi all prima crociata was followed by Ernani (1844), I due Foscari (1844), and Giovanna d’ Arco (1845). In 1845, dissatisfied with standards of production, Verdi broke his connection with La Scala and was not to return until 1869. His next two operas, Alzira (1845) and Attila (1846), were performed in Naples and Venice, respectively. Then came what is probably the best opera of his early period, Macbeth , based on William Shakespeare’s tragedy. It premiered in Florence in March, 1847.

Verdi had by now gained an international reputation, and later in 1847 he was in London, producing I masnadieri . The successful premiere was attended by Queen Victoria. Verdi returned home via Paris, where he renewed his friendship with Giuseppina Strepponi, who had sung in the premiere of Nabucco. They began living together, in defiance of the rigid conventions of the period, and married twelve years later. In 1848, political events became more important than artistic ones in Verdi’s life. It was a year of revolutions throughout Europe, and the Austrians were driven out of Milan. When Verdi, who was an enthusiastic patriot, heard the news in Paris, he left immediately for Milan. The freedom and unification of Italy was still in the future; republicans and monarchists quarreled among themselves, and in May Verdi returned to Paris. Milan was occupied by Austrian troops once more in August; the failure of the nationalist revolt depressed Verdi.

In 1849, Verdi and Strepponi moved back to Busseto, scandalizing the local people by their illicit liaison. Four operas followed over the next four years, including the patriotic La battaglia di Legnano (1849) and Luisa Miller (1849). Then within two years came three masterpieces. Rigoletto , first performed in March, 1851, and based on a play by Victor Hugo, was Verdi’s first worldwide success. The heartbreaking story of the hunchback Rigoletto and his beautiful daughter Gilda includes one of Verdi’s most popular melodies, “La donna e mobile,” and the brilliant quartet “Bella figlia dell’ amore.” Over the next four years, Rigoletto was performed all over Europe and in the United States.

After Verdi and Strepponi moved to a new home in Sant’ Agata, close to Busseto, Verdi began working simultaneously on Il trovatore and La traviata. Il trovatore , based on a drama by the Spanish playwright Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez, premiered in January, 1853, in Rome. It was an immediate and brilliant success, its superb melodies weaving a compelling tale of passion and vengeance, tenderness and melancholy. Less than two months later came the premiere of La traviata, based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. For several reasons, however, the first performance was a failure: Verdi had discarded some old conventions, and the opera was performed in contemporary dress; it also featured a courtesan as heroine, which offended public taste. In 1854, the opera was performed again, this time successfully, at a different theater in Venice.

Verdi was now famous and wealthy, although he was not immune to failure: Simone Boccanegra (1857), which followed Les Vêpres siciliennes (1855), was not well received. Verdi was to revise it twenty-four years later. His next opera, Un ballo in maschera , which concerns the assassination of Gustavus III Adolphus of Sweden, premiered in Rome in 1859. Like a number of Verdi’s previous operas, it was subject to censorship—the authorities were wary of having an assassination depicted on the stage.

In 1859, political events once more came to the fore. To Verdi’s delight, Milan was liberated, and after Parma voted to join neighboring Modena, Verdi was elected as deputy to the new assembly. He led a delegation to Vittorio Emanuele, king of Piedmont, to request the union of Parma with Piedmont. In 1861, Verdi was reluctantly persuaded to stand for election to Italy’s new national parliament, and he remained a member until 1865. He did not care for the day-to-day business of politics. During the 1860’s Verdi wrote only two operas: La forza del destino (1862), which was first performed in St. Petersburg in the presence of Czar Alexander II, and Don Carlos (1867). The latter was based on Friedrich Schiller’s verse drama of the same name, and the libretto was in French.

In the last twenty-two years of his life, Verdi entered yet another creative phase. Aïda , commissioned by the Khedive of Egypt to mark the opening of the Suez Canal, was first performed in Cairo in December, 1871. Verdi stayed in Italy preparing for the performance in Milan, which followed shortly afterward. Full of pageantry and spectacle, Aïda was his greatest success. It has been called the last grand opera, and yet in spite of its vastness—a performance can use up to five hundred extras—the tender emotions of the three main characters, caught in a love triangle, are intimately conveyed. After the success of Aïda, Verdi seemed to have reached the summit of his career. However, three great works were still to come. The first of these was the Messa da requiem (1874), in memory of the Italian poet and patriot Alessandro Manzoni, which is notable for the dramatic rather than devotional quality of the music.

For more than a decade following this work, Verdi lived in virtual retirement on his estate at Sant’ Agata. He only reluctantly agreed to write Otello when he was shown the outstanding libretto, based on Shakespeare’s play and written by the Italian poet Arrigo Boito. Otello was first performed at La Scala in February, 1887. It was another triumph: the musical event of the decade and Verdi’s finest tragic opera. Verdi’s final great work, Falstaff (1893), was an astonishing feat for a man in his eightieth year. It was his first comic opera in fifty years, and the libretto was again written by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597), with some material from Henry IV (1598). Full of warm humor, fast-paced, and subtle, Falstaff was first performed at La Scala, in February, 1893. Verdi’s last works were religious and included Te Deum (1896) and Stabat mater (1897). In 1897, his wife died, and in January, 1901, while in Milan, Verdi suffered a stroke. He died six days later, on January 27, at the age of eighty-seven.

Significance

In spite of the fact that a large number of Giuseppe Verdi’s twenty-six operas were hugely successful in his lifetime and that many of them quickly became part of the international repertory, full critical appreciation of his work was slow in coming. For some years after his death, only Otello and Falstaff were considered worthy of serious praise. The situation began to change first in Germany during the 1920’s, with the Verdi Renaissance. This was partly a reaction against Verdi’s great contemporary, Richard Wagner; indeed, during this period, there were almost as many performances of Verdi’s operas in Germany as there were of Wagner’s and far more than those of any other composer. Since then Verdi’s reputation has steadily grown throughout the world. At least six of his operas, Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata, Aïda, Otello, and Falstaff, are universally acknowledged as masterpieces and are among the most frequently performed, and best loved, of all operas. In addition, the Messa da requiem has power to rouse those who do not normally respond to religious music.

Verdi revolutionized nineteenth century opera. As an innovator, he was second only to Wagner. He quickly outgrew the operatic conventions of the period, which valued beautiful melodies and demonstrations of vocal agility more than dramatic action. Particularly from Aïda onward, Verdi perfected a form of continuous music drama, quite distinct from that of Wagner, in which the music served as an expression of character and dramatic situation. In this he proved himself equal to the daunting task of putting Shakespeare, the dramatist he most revered, into operatic form. These final works of Verdi reveal his technical mastery, psychological insight, and that deep sympathy for humanity—its passions, sufferings, follies, and nobility—that pervades his work as a whole.

Bibliography

Balthazar, Scott, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Verdi. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Collection of essays, including discussions of Verdi’s life, operas and other compositions, working methods, and Verdi criticism.

Budden, Julian. The Operas of Verdi. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973-1981. Three of the most impressive volumes ever written on Verdi. Volume 1 covers Verdi’s first seventeen operas, including plot summaries and biographical background. Volume 2 covers Il trovatore to La forza del destino and includes details of Verdi’s revisions and alterations. Volume 3 analyzes the composition, structure, and first performances of Don Carlos, Aïda, Otello, and Falstaff; the volume also discusses the creative process, the relationship between composer and librettist, and Verdi’s relationship to contemporary Italian composers.

Conati, Marcello, ed. Encounters with Verdi. Translated by Richard Stokes. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984. A major contribution to Verdi studies. Contains fifty eyewitness accounts written by Verdi’s contemporaries who knew him between 1845 and 1900, including composers, artists, musicians, critics, and journalists. Conati’s excellent introductions, and extensive notes further illuminate Verdi’s life and music. Also includes bibliography and index.

Gatti, Carlo. Verdi: The Man and His Music. Translated by Elisabeth Abbott. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1955. One of the most important and enjoyable biographies, originally published in 1931. Gatti, who as a young man knew Verdi, writes tenderly and affectionately about the man he admired.

Rosselli, John. The Life of Verdi. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. A good introduction to Verdi’s life and music for the general reader.

Sadie, Stanley, ed. Verdi and His Operas. Compiled by Roger Parker. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. The information about Verdi contained in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera has been extracted in this book. Includes a brief biography and detailed analyses of Verdi’s operas.

Toye, Francis. Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works. London: William Heinemann, 1931. One of the first comprehensive studies of Verdi in English. Divided into two parts. The first is intended for the general reader and surveys Verdi’s life and music; the second is more specialized, treating each opera in detail, including an account of the librettos and their origins.

Verdi, Giuseppe. Letters of Giuseppe Verdi. Edited, compiled, and translated by Charles Osborne. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. Contains nearly three hundred letters written by Verdi between the ages of thirty and eighty-seven. Verdi did not expect these candid, down-to-earth, pithy letters to be published; they reveal his immense care for every detail of his craft and give insight into his dealings with theater directors, publishers, and librettists. Contains a biographical introduction.

Weaver, William, and Martin Chusid, eds. The Verdi Companion. New York: W. W. Norton, 1979. Ten short essays on various topics, including Verdi’s relationship with the Risorgimento, with the city of Milan, and with librettists, as well as his attitude to operatic texts and his relationship to contemporary Italian opera. Includes a critical bibliography, a seventy-page chronological timetable of his life, and a list of major works by date of first performance.