The famous musician and composer Giuseppe Verdi had an extraordinary talent, in addition to his work in music, he was a man of multiple gifts and lived his life with probity, generosity and strength, his artistic and moral heritage has guaranteed him an unquestionable place in universal history.
Verdi’s hometown of Parma was successively ceded to Napoleon, the Habsburgs and the Bourbons until 1860, when it became part of the new kingdom of Italy.
- In the midst of the situation of political instability experienced in Italy.
- Verdi.
- Armed only with his music.
- Manages to contribute to the unification of the country.
- Excerpts from his operas have served and continue to serve to enhance the nationalist personality of the Italian people.
Exceptionally for his historical moment, Verdi wrote not with the privileged groups of society of the time in mind, but in the masses; his compositions had as a cornerstone the passions of humanity, extreme feelings such as love, hatred, jealousy and fear.
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on 10 October 1813 in Roncole, a village in Parma, Italy. He was born in a modest house; his father, Carlo Giuseppe Verdi, worked at an inn; her mother, Luisa Utinni, was a weaver. Little Verdi grew up in a wild and rural setting.
At the age of eight, due to his fascination with music, his father gave him an old fir tree, this instrument was restored especially for him and Giuseppe spent hours practicing, was a gifted child and his enormous talent was discovered by the merchant Antonio Barezzi, who became his protector.
At least twelve years old, the young Verdi moved to Busseto to live with Barezzi. The merchant would provide the young man with the best possible musical training, during which time he met his teacher Ferdinando Provesi.
? I love art; when I’m alone with my notes, my heart beats and my tears flow, my emotion and my pleasure are immense. ?- Giuseppe Verdi-
At the age of 18, with the help of his benefactor, Giuseppe Verdi changed residence again; on this occasion, Milan would be the city that the young musician would choose; Verdi looked forward to the entrance exam to the city conservatory. the prestigious school did not admit the young man, because he was too old to enter the conservatory.
To this incident were also added the particularity of Verdi and his unrthodox way of playing the piano. Ironically, today the Milan Conservatory, the same one who did not admit it in his youth, takes the name Verdi, this happened shortly after his death. , against the will of the famous musician.
In 1836, at the age of 23, Verdi married the daughter of his benefactor, Margherita Barezzi. The couple had two children. However, they had to deal with the loss of their two children very early, as they died about a year old.
During this period, the young Verdi met at the head of the Busseto Philharmonic Society and gave private lessons, tasks that he compatible with his work in his masterpiece, Oberto.
In 1839, even without creating his first work, he decided to return to Milan to take over Scala and manage his release. Oberto debuted with relative success and had 14 performances, so Verdi signed a contract with Scala to release three more works.
These were difficult years for the director; On June 18, 1840, Margherita died of encephalitis at the age of 26. Despite his suffering, Verdi was forced to honor his contract.
In these conditions, he writes his second work, Un Giorno di Regno, a comic opera. The play began on September 5, 1840, but was an absolute failure and was removed from the scene. Unfortunately, he thought about giving up his career.
Fortunately, Verdi recovers and resumes his compositions. In the political circumstances of a divided and oppressed country, Nabucco’s book managed to ignite a new flame of composition in Verdi’s heart.
The play premiered at Scala in 1842 and its triumph on this occasion was extraordinary, the masses felt irremediably identified with the conflict recreated in the drama.
After Nabucco, Verdi, who had been exiled by Milanese society, devoted himself as a composer and as an icon of the Italian struggle for the unification of the country. The masses have appropriated the “Va, Pensiero” spread throughout the country as a song. “resurgence anthem. “
In 1851 he released his first masterpiece: Rigoletto, this success was followed, two years later, by II Trovatore and La Traviata. In light of his consolidation as a composer, Verdi focuses on satisfying his own musical inclination, so his works sought dramatic certainty about musical conservatism.
“I’m not a cultured composer, I’m an experienced composer. ” Giuseppe Verdi-
The expression of the composer’s search is illustrated in his work Aida (1871), a piece that has a more careful instrumentation and in which shorter and more integrated arias are appreciated; in other words, it exhibits less segmentation between movements.
From then on, Verdi began his retirement as a composer, although he composed other immortal works based on Shakespeare’s texts: Otello and Falstaff.
At the age of 84, Verdi buried his second wife, Giuseppina, who died on 14 November 1897 after spending several months suffering from bronchitis. The master stayed at his home in the village of Sant?Agata, where he devoted himself to fieldwork.
During a trip to Milan, Giuseppe Verdi suffered a stroke that caused his death on 27 January 1901. His death touched the country and society, and expressions of respect and pain in the face of his death were massive.
Verdi left his fortune in the home of retired musicians that he founded to house musicians in a situation of helplessness: Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, where, according to his will, his body rests and that of his wife.
This house is still functioning today; it is a kind of residence for the elderly who are dedicated to music, a place where music springs from all corners, where former opera characters enjoy their retirement and of which Verdi was very proud.
Few composers were able to write operas of political philosophy, but Verdi was an exception, becoming a universal figure. The general public loved his work and was one of the few authors who succeeded in his life and achieved significant economic benefits.
Critics attacked his operas for his themes of abuse, suicide and free love, but Verdi overcathed the sadness of his life and the barriers imposed by critics, managing to define his own parameters.