Giuseppe Verdi


"It may be a good thing to copy reality;

but to invent reality is much, much better."

~Verdi, 1876



Early Years

Giuseppe Verdi was born in a small village near Parma in 1813. He studied privately with Antonio Barezzi. In 1836, Verdi married Barezzi's daughter Margherita. Verdi began composing operas a few years later.

Verdi was overcome with the death of his two children and eventually his wife all by 1840. Between this and the failure of his most recent opera, Verdi almost gave up composing.

Verdi, however, was encouraged by a friend to start work on his opera Nabucco, which turned out to be a huge success all over Europe. Soon, Verdi was being labeled as an Italian Nationalist.



Galley Years

Verdi entered what he called his "galley years", where he created operas for various cities in Europe. During this period, he wrote a series of operas that became more personal and intimate.

Rigoletto was one of his finer operas. It is a sad story of a hunchbacked court jester that tries to get revenge on the seduction of his daughter by a Duke. Unfortunately, this attempt at revenge results in the death of his daughter, as she gives up her life to save the Duke. (See audio clip below)



Grand Opera

Verdi's third period included larger opera works. This includes the operas Don Carlos and Aida. He spent a lot of time on his country estate during this time near his homeland. At this point he also had a second wife, a soprano, Giuseppina Strepponi (1815-1897).

After the Italian War of Independence, Verdi composed much less. This was due to the fact that he was elected to the new Italian Parliament, and became involved in politics.



Final Years

The success of Verdi's Requiem prompted his publisher to ask him to work with the composer Arrigo Boito on an opera based on Othello, the Shakespeare work. It took about ten years for Verdi to get started on this project.

Verdi composed his last work in 1898. At this point, Verdi also lost his second wife. He felt worn out. He died in Milan in 1901. He left his fortune to a home for aged musicians that he built in Milan, and which he perceived as "his greatest work".