Giuseppe Verdi Biography

Giuseppe Verdi Biography

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi (1886)

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (October 10, 1813 - January 27, 1901) was one of the great composers of Italian opera. His work was incredibly popular during his lifetime and still remains popular.

Born in the Duchy of Parma in Le Roncole, at that time under Napoleon's occupation, he moved to Busseto in 1824 where he started his musical studies with Ferdinando Provesi. Verdi is also known as "the swan from Busseto".

He composed an overture for Gioacchino Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), then he moved to Milan, but he was not accepted at the conservatory, so he had private studies with Vincenzo Lavigna.

In 1838, the leading European musical editor Giovanni Ricordi bought his copyrights and this business would last for the rest of his life, passing through the generations of Ricordi's family, with Tito and Giulio Ricordi being considered as part of his family.

In 1842 his first real success was Nabucco, which followed two earlier operas, Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio (opened in Milan on November 17, 1839) and Un Giorno di Regno which was his only attempt at writing a comedy until Falstaff. Un Giorno di Regno was a decided failure and no wonder, it was written shortly after his first wife and child died.

Nabucco premiered at La Scala theatre, with Giuseppina Strepponi, soprano, in the part of Abigaille. The singer became his mistress and, long after the death of his first wife, Verdi would marry her.

After the success of I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata (Milan, February 11, 1843), also increased by some aspects of the political situation (see below), Ernani scored a triumph in La Fenice theatre in Venice.

The following year, Giovanna d'Arco and Attila would enforce his fame, but Verdi did not find the rendering of his scripts by La Scala sufficient, so he asked Ricordi not to allow any more productions of his opera in Milan; Attila, Alzira and Macbeth were premiered in other Italian towns. I Masnadieri was seen in London.

While Milan was lost and reconquered by the Austrians, Verdi wrote Il Corsaro, La Battaglia di Legnano, and Luisa Miller, and started a Manon Lescaut which he would never finish. After the polemics for his Stiffelio, in 1851 Rigoletto was a triumph in Venice, and in 1853 he had another great success with Il Trovatore (in Rome) but a very sad fiasco for the first soirées of La Traviata.

Other famous operas follow in this period: Les Vêpres siciliennes (I Vespri Siciliani) (Paris), Aroldo (a revision of Stiffelio), Simon Boccanegra (La Fenice), and Un Ballo in Maschera (which was censored). He then assisted at the birth of the Kingdom of Italy (he was also elected Deputy). La Forza del Destino had its premiere in St. Petersburg in 1862 and Don Carlos was first presented in Paris.

It was in 1872 that Aida was performed at La Scala with great success. It had been composed for the Egyptian Khedive, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new opera house in Cairo, and not for the opening of the Suez Canal as often mentioned.

Some troubles occurred in his relationship with the Ricordi editors, who were suspected of irregularities concerning huge amounts of money. However, a few years later it was Giulio Ricordi who proposed Otello, which had its premiere in 1887. Falstaff would follow after other revisions of older works.

Verdi's works happened to have some resonances with Italian nationalism (e.g. "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" in Nabucco, also known as Va' Pensiero (lyrics with translation here pensiero - MP3: [1]), which still in modern times has repeatedly been proposed as a possible Italian national anthem - obviously, there is no reference to racism). More curiously, someone discovered that his surname, Verdi, is the acronym of Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia (Victor Emmanuel King of Italy), when Milan (still under Austrian occupation) was beginning to consider supporting Victor Emmanuel's effort in Italian reunification, as it afterwards did. Clandestine partisans started therefore plotting to have this King of Sardinia conquer Milan and, due to severe Austrian censorship, this campaign was conventionally called "Viva VERDI" (Verdi stands for Vittorio Emmanuelle, Re D ' I'talia. The phrase means 'Long live Victor Emmanuelle, king of Italy'). The composer was aware of this use of his name and is supposed to have consented. Other references to political events have been seen in his I Lombardi.

He died of a stroke in 1901 in Milan after the completion of his "Casa di Riposo", a retirement villa for poor artists. His funeral was extremely well attended, and a quarter of a million mourners were present to show their respect to one of the most important figures in Italian music.

Giuseppe Verdi biography

Thank you for visiting our Giuseppe Verdi Biography, or composer biography of Giuseppe Verdi, and we hope that you have enjoyed reading the biography of the famous composer Giuseppe Verdi!

We would like to hear what you have to say about our composer biographies, and in particular this biography of Verdi. It is important that this composer biography is well written. If you would like to send feedback or add something to this composer biography, then send an email to composer_biography@pianoparadise.com

Giuseppe Verdi Piano Sheet Music
    Giuseppe Verdi: Verdi Operas, The Complete Vocal Scores  Composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). For voice and piano. Printable and viewable for PC and Macintosh. Format: CD Sheet Music (2 CDs). Romantic Period. The Complete Vocal Scores of Verdi. 8000 printable pages. 5.5x5 inches. Published by Theodore Presser Co.
Look inside this title
    Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem  Composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), edited by Kurt Soldan. For SATB solos, SATB choir and piano accompaniment. Format: vocal score. With choral notation, piano reduction and introductory text. Romantic Period. Text language Latin. 144 pages. 7.5x10.5 inches. Published by C.F. Peters.
Look inside this title
    Giuseppe Verdi: Va Pensiero, Sull' Ali Dorate  (Chorus From Nabucco - Act 3) Composed by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). For choir and piano accompaniment. Format: choral/piano single. Romantic Period. F# Major. 11 pages. 8x11 inches. Published by Ricordi.
    La Traviata  Vocal Score. By Giuseppe Verdi. Arranged by Ruth & Thomas Martin. (score). Vocal Score. Size 7.5x10.7 inches. 232 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc.
    Messa di Requiem  Vocal Score. By Giuseppe Verdi. (SATB). Choral Large Works. Size 6.75x10.5 inches. 214 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc.
      Rigoletto  Vocal Score. By Giuseppe Verdi. Arranged by Ruth & Thomas Martin. (score). Vocal Score. Size 7.8x10.5 inches. 232 pages. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc.
      Composizioni da camera  Voice and Piano. By Giuseppe Verdi. Vocal Large Works. Size 9x10.5 inches. 84 pages. Published by Ricordi.
    VERDI Soprano Arias with Orchestra, vol. I  For Vocal Soprano. Includes a printed vocal score on high-quality ivory paper, with informative liner notes; and a CD+G graphics-enabled compact disc with complete versions (with soloist) followed by stereo orchestral accompaniments to each piece, minus the soloist. Published by Music Minus One.
    Favourite Opera Classics for Piano 3: Verdi  by Giuseppe Verdi. For piano. transcribed solos. Koenemann. Opera. Level: Intermediate-Advanced. Book. Size 9.25x12.25. 96 pages. Published by Koenemann.
    Verdi Arias for Soprano  Cantolopera Collection. By Giuseppe Verdi. Vocal. Book & CD Package. Size 8x10.95 inches. 52 pages. Published by Ricordi.

You are currently here: PianoParadise Home>> Famous Composers >> Biography: Verdi

<<Previous biography: Telemann Next biography: Vivaldi>>