Biography of Giuseppe Verdi. The operatic work of Giuseppe Verdi: a general overview

26.04.2019

Giuseppe Verdi - (full name Giuseppe Fortunato Francesco) - Italian composer. Master opera genre, who created high examples of psychological musical drama.

Operas: “Rigoletto” (1851), “Il Trovatore”, “La Traviata” (both 1853), “Un ballo in maschera” (1859), “ The power of destiny"(for the St. Petersburg Theater, 1861), "Don Carlos" (1867), "Aida" (1870), "Othello" (1886), "Falstaff" (1892), Requiem (1874).

Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10, 1813, Le Roncole, near Busseto, Duchy of Parma. Died on January 27, 1901, in Milan. Zodiac sign - Libra.

In art, as in love, first of all you need to be frank.

Verdi Giuseppe

Giuseppe's childhood

Giuseppe Verdi was born in the remote Italian village of Le Roncole in northern Lombardy into a peasant family. Extraordinary musical talent and a passionate desire to study music appeared in the child very early. Until the age of 10, Giuseppe studied at native village, then in the town of Busseto. Meeting the merchant and music lover Barezzi helped him receive a city scholarship to continue his musical education in Milan.

Shock of the thirties

However, Giuseppe Verdi was not accepted into the conservatory. He studied music privately with the teacher Lavigna, thanks to whom he attended La Scala performances for free. In 1836 he married his beloved Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his patron, from whose marriage he had a daughter and a son.

You can take the whole world for yourself, but leave Italy to me.

Verdi Giuseppe

A happy accident helped to receive an order for the opera “Lord Hamilton, or Rochester,” which was successfully staged in 1838 at La Scala under the title “Oberto, Count Bonifacio.” In the same year, 3 vocal works by Verdi were published. But the first creative success coincided with a number of tragic events in his personal life: in less than two years (1838-1840) his daughter, son and wife died. D. Verdi is left alone, and the comic opera “The King for an Hour, or the Imaginary Stanislav”, composed at this time by order, fails. Shocked by the tragedy, Verdi writes: “I... decided never to compose again.”

Way out of the crisis. First triumph

Giuseppe Verdi was brought out of a severe mental crisis by working on the opera “Nebuchadnezzar” (Italian title “Nabucco”).

The opera, staged in 1842, was a huge success, helped by the excellent performers (one of the main roles was sung by Giuseppina Strepponi, who later became Verdi’s wife). Success inspired the composer, bringing new compositions every year. In the 1840s, he created 13 operas, including “Ernani”, “Macbeth”, “Louise Miller” (based on F. Schiller’s drama “Cunning and Love”), etc. And if the opera “Nabucco” made Giuseppe Verdi popular in Italy, then “Ernani” brought him European fame. Many of the works written then are still staged on opera stages around the world.

The works of the 1840s belong to the historical-heroic genre. They are distinguished by impressive crowd scenes, heroic choirs, permeated with courageous marching rhythms. The characteristics of the characters are dominated by expressions not so much of temperament as of emotions. Verdi here creatively develops the achievements of his predecessors Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti. But in individual works (“Macbeth”, “Louise Miller”) the features of the composer’s own, unique style - an outstanding reformer of opera - mature.

In 1847, Giuseppe Verdi makes his first trip abroad. In Paris, he becomes close to G. Strepponi. Her idea of living in the countryside, doing art in the lap of nature, led upon her return to Italy to the purchase of a plot of land and the creation of the Sant'Agata estate.

"Three stars". "Don Carlos"

In 1851, “Rigoletto” appeared (based on Victor Hugo’s drama “The King Amuses himself”), and in 1853 “Il Trovatore” and “La Traviata” (based on A. Dumas’ play “The Lady of the Camellias”), which made up the composer’s famous “three stars.” In these works, Verdi moves away from heroic themes and images; ordinary people become his heroes: a jester, a gypsy, a woman of the demimonde. Giuseppe strives not only to show feelings, but also to reveal the characters’ personalities. The melodic language is marked by organic connections with Italian folk song.

In operas of the 1850-60s. Giuseppe Verdi turns to the historical-heroic genre. During this period, the operas “Sicilian Vespers” (staged in Paris in 1854), “Simon Boccanegra” (1875), “Un ballo in maschera” (1859), “Force of Destiny”, which was written by order, were created Mariinsky Theater; in connection with its production, Verdi visited Russia twice in 1861 and 1862. Don Carlos (1867) was commissioned by the Paris Opera.

New takeoff

In 1868, the Egyptian government approached the composer with a proposal to write an opera for the opening of a new theater in Cairo. D. Verdi refused. Negotiations lasted two years, and only the script of the Egyptologist Mariette Bey, based on an ancient Egyptian legend, changed the composer's decision. The opera "Aida" became one of his most innovative creations. It is marked by the brilliance of dramatic skill, melodic richness, and masterful command of the orchestra.

The death of the writer and Italian patriot Alessandro Manzoni prompted the creation of Requiem, a magnificent creation by the sixty-year-old maestro (1873-1874).

For eight years (1879-1887) the composer worked on the opera Othello. The premiere, which took place in February 1887, resulted in a national celebration. In the year of his eightieth birthday, Giuseppe Verdi creates another brilliant creation - “Falstaff” (1893, based on W. Shakespeare’s play “The Merry Wives of Windsor”), in which he, based on the principles of musical drama, carried out a reform of Italian comic opera. “Falstaff” is distinguished by the novelty of dramaturgy, built on extensive scenes, melodic inventiveness, bold and refined harmonies.

IN recent years During his life, Giuseppe Verdi wrote works for choir and orchestra, which in 1897 he combined into the cycle “Four Sacred Pieces.” In January 1901, he was struck by paralysis and a week later, on January 27, he died. The basis of Verdi's creative heritage was 26 operas, many of which were included in the world's musical treasury.

Giuseppe Verdi also wrote two choirs, a string quartet, and works of church and chamber vocal music. Since 1961, the vocal competition “Verdi Voices” has been held in Busseto.

Giuseppe Verdi - quotes

There is no need to hesitate, no need to give in when it comes to art.

In art, as in love, first of all you need to be frank.

In music, as in love, you must first of all be sincere.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi(Italian: Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, October 10, 1813, in the Italian village of Le Roncole, located in the northern part of Lombardy, on a lower tributary of the Po River, near the city of Busseto, French Empire - January 27, 1901, Milan, Italy) - Italian composer , whose work is one of the greatest achievements of world opera art and the culmination of the development Italian opera XIX century.

The composer created 26 operas and one requiem. The composer's best operas: Un ballo in maschera, Rigoletto, Trovatore, La Traviata. The pinnacle of creativity is the latest operas: “Aida”, “Othello”, “Falstaff”.

Early period

Verdi was born into the family of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigi Uttini in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto in the department of Tarot, which at that time was part of the First French Empire after the annexation of the principalities of Parma and Piacenza. Thus, the future great Italian composer was officially born in France.

Verdi was born in 1813 (the same year as Richard Wagner, in the future his main rival and leading composer of the German opera school) in Le Roncole, near Busseto (Duchy of Parma). The composer's father, Carlo Verdi, ran a village tavern, and his mother, Luigia Uttini, was a spinner. The family lived poorly, and Giuseppe's childhood was difficult. He helped celebrate mass in the village church. Music literacy and studied organ playing with Pietro Baistrocchi. Noticing their son's passion for music, his parents gave Giuseppe a spinet. The composer kept this very imperfect instrument until the end of his life.

The musically gifted boy was noticed by Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant and music lover from the neighboring town of Busseto. He believed that Verdi would become not an innkeeper or a village organist, but a great composer. On the advice of Barezzi, ten-year-old Verdi moved to Busseto to study. Thus began a new, even more difficult period of life - the years of adolescence and youth. By Sundays Giuseppe went to Le Roncole, where he played the organ during mass. Verdi also got a composition teacher - Fernando Provesi, director of the Philharmonic Society of Busseto. Provesi was not only engaged in counterpoint, he awakened in Verdi a craving for serious reading. Giuseppe's attention is attracted by the classics of world literature - Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Schiller. One of his most beloved works is the novel “The Betrothed” by the great Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni.

In Milan, where Verdi went at the age of eighteen to continue his education, he was not accepted into the Conservatory (today named after Verdi) “due to the low level of piano playing; In addition, there were age restrictions at the conservatory.” Verdi began taking private counterpoint lessons, while attending opera performances, as well as just concerts. Communication with the Milanese elite convinced him to seriously think about a career as a theater composer.

Returning to Busseto, with the support of Antonio Barezzi (Antonio Barezzi - a local merchant and music lover who supported Verdi's musical ambitions), Verdi gave his first public performance at the Barezzi house in 1830.

Fascinated by Verdi's musical gift, Barezzi invites him to become a music teacher for his daughter Margherita. Soon the young people fell deeply in love with each other and on May 4, 1836, Verdi married Margherita Barezzi. Margherita soon gave birth to two children: Virginia Maria Louise (March 26, 1837 - August 12, 1838) and Icilio Romano (July 11, 1838 - October 22, 1839). While Verdi was working on his first opera, both children died in infancy. Some time later (June 18, 1840), at the age of 26, the composer’s wife Margarita died of encephalitis.

Initial recognition

First production of Verdi's opera (Oberto, Count Bonifacio) ( Oberto) at La Scala in Milan was acclaimed by critics, after which the theater impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli, offered Verdi a contract to write two operas. They became “King for an Hour” ( Un giorno di regno) and "Nabucco" ("Nebuchadnezzar"). Verdi's wife and two children died while he was working on the first of these two operas. After its failure, the composer wanted to stop writing opera music. However, the premiere of Nabucco on March 9, 1842 at La Scala was a great success and established Verdi's reputation as an opera composer. Over the next year, the opera was staged 65 times in Europe and has since occupied a strong place in the repertoire of the world's leading opera houses. Nabucco was followed by several operas, including Lombards on a Crusade ( I Lombardi alla prima crociata) and "Ernani" ( Ernani), which were staged and were successful in Italy.

In 1847, the opera "The Lombards", rewritten and renamed "Jerusalem" ( Jerusalem), was staged by the Paris Opera on November 26, 1847, becoming Verdi's first work in the style grand opera. To do this, the composer had to rework this opera somewhat and replace the Italian characters with French ones.

Master

At the age of thirty-eight, Verdi began an affair with Giuseppina Strepponi, a soprano singer who was by then finishing her career (they married only eleven years later, and their cohabitation before the wedding was considered scandalous in many of the places where they lived) . Soon Giuseppina stopped performing, and Verdi, following the example of Gioachino Rossini, decided to end his career with his wife. He was wealthy, famous and in love. It may have been Giuseppina who convinced him to continue writing operas. The first opera written by Verdi after his “retirement” became his first masterpiece - “Rigoletto”. The libretto of the opera, based on Victor Hugo's play The King Amuses himself, underwent significant changes to please censors, and the composer intended to quit work several times until the opera was finally completed. The first production took place in Venice in 1851 and was a great success.

Rigoletto is perhaps one of the best operas in history. musical theater. Verdi's artistic generosity is presented in full force. Beautiful melodies are scattered throughout the score, arias and ensembles that have become an integral part of the classical operatic repertoire follow each other, and the comic and tragic merge together.

La Traviata, Verdi's next great opera, was composed and staged two years after Rigoletto. The libretto is based on the play “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas.

Several more operas followed, among them the constantly performed “Sicilian Supper” ( Les vêpres siciliennes; written at the request of the Paris Opera), Il Trovatore ( Il Trovatore), "Masquerade Ball" ( Un ballo in maschera), "Force of Destiny" ( La forza del destino; 1862, written by order of the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theater of St. Petersburg), the second edition of the opera "Macbeth" ( Macbeth).

In 1869, Verdi composed "Libera Me" for the Requiem in memory of Gioachino Rossini (the remaining parts were written by now little-known Italian composers). In 1874, Verdi wrote his Requiem for the death of his revered writer Alessandro Manzoni, including a revised version of his previously written "Libera Me".

One of Verdi's last great operas, Aida, was commissioned by the Egyptian government to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. At first Verdi refused. While in Paris, he received a second offer through du Locle. This time Verdi met the opera script, which he liked, and agreed to write the opera.

Verdi and Wagner, each the leader of his own national opera school, always disliked each other. In their entire lives they had never met. Verdi's surviving comments about Wagner and his music are few and unkind (“He always chooses, in vain, the less traveled path, trying to fly where normal person he will simply walk, achieving much better results"). Nevertheless, upon learning that Wagner had died, Verdi said: “How sad! This name has left a huge mark on the history of art.” Only one statement by Wagner is known relating to the music of Verdi. After listening to the Requiem, the great German, always eloquent, always generous with (unflattering) comments in relation to many other composers, said: “It’s better not to say anything.”

Aida was staged in Cairo in 1871 with great success.

Last years and death

Over the next twelve years, Verdi worked very little, slowly editing some of his earlier works.

Opera "Othello" ( Othello), based on the play by William Shakespeare, was staged in Milan in 1887. The music of this opera is “continuous”; it does not contain the traditional Italian opera division into arias and recitatives - this innovation was introduced under the influence of opera reform Richard Wagner (after the latter's death). In addition, under the influence of the same Wagnerian reform, the style of the late Verdi acquired greater degree recitativeness, which gave the opera the effect of greater realism, although it scared off some fans of traditional Italian opera.

Verdi's last opera, Falstaff ( Falstaff), the libretto of which Arrigo Boito, librettist and composer, wrote based on Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor ( Merry Wives of Windsor) translated into French, made by Victor Hugo, developed the manner of “end-to-end development”. The brilliantly written score of this comedy is thus much closer to Wagner's Die Meistersinger than to the comic operas of Rossini and Mozart. The elusiveness and effervescence of the melodies makes it possible not to delay the development of the plot and creates a unique effect of confusion, so close to the spirit of this Shakespearean comedy. The opera ends with a seven-voice fugue, in which Verdi fully demonstrates his brilliant mastery of counterpoint.

On January 21, 1901, while staying at the Grand Et De Milan Hotel (Milan, Italy), Verdi suffered a stroke. Being stricken with paralysis, he could read with his inner ear the scores of the operas “La Bohème” and “Tosca” by Puccini, “Pagliacci” by Leoncavallo, “ Queen of Spades Tchaikovsky, but what he thought about these operas written by his immediate and worthy heirs remains unknown. Verdi grew weaker every day and six days later, early in the morning of January 27, 1901, he died.

Verdi was originally buried in the Monumental Cemetery in Milan. A month later, his body was transferred to Casa Di Riposo in Musicisti, also in Milan, a rest home for retired musicians that Verdi had created.

He was an agnostic. His second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, described him as "a man of little faith."

Style

Verdi's predecessors who influenced his work were Rossini, Bellini, Meyerbeer and, most importantly, Donizetti. The last two operas, Othello and Falstaff, show the influence of Richard Wagner. Respecting Gounod, whom contemporaries considered greatest composer era, Verdi nevertheless did not borrow anything from the great Frenchman. Some passages in Aida indicate the composer's familiarity with the works of Mikhail Glinka, whom Franz Liszt popularized in Western Europe, returning from a tour of Russia.

Throughout his career, Verdi refused to use high C in tenor parts, citing the fact that the opportunity to sing that particular note in front of a full audience distracted performers before, after, and while singing the note.

Although Verdi's orchestration is at times masterful, the composer relied mainly on his melodic gifts to express the emotions of the characters and the drama of the action. Indeed, very often in Verdi's operas, especially during solo vocal numbers, the harmony is deliberately ascetic, and the entire orchestra sounds like one accompanying instrument (Verdi is credited with the words: “The orchestra is a big guitar!” Some critics argue that Verdi paid attention to technical the aspect of the score lacks attention because it lacks school and sophistication. Verdi himself once said, “Of all composers, I am the least knowledgeable.” But he hastened to add, “I say this seriously, but by “knowledge” I do not mean knowledge of music at all.” "

However, it would be incorrect to say that Verdi underestimated the expressive power of the orchestra and did not know how to use it to the fullest when he needed it. Moreover, orchestral and contrapuntal innovation (for example, the strings soaring across the chromatic scale in the Monterone scene in Rigoletto, in order to emphasize the drama of the situation, or, also in Rigoletto, the chorus humming close notes offstage, depicting, quite effectively, the approaching storm) is characteristic of Verdi's work - so characteristic that other composers did not dare to borrow some of his bold techniques because of their instant recognition.

Verdi was the first composer to specifically search for a plot for a libretto that would best suit the characteristics of his talent as a composer. Working closely with librettists and knowing that dramatic expression is what main force his talent, he sought to eliminate “unnecessary” details and “superfluous” heroes from the plot, leaving only characters in which passions boil and scenes rich in drama.

Operas by Giuseppe Verdi

Vanity Fair, 1879

Oberto, Count of San Bonifacio - 1839
King for an Hour (Un Giorno di Regno) - 1840
Nabucco, or Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) - 1842
Lombards in the First Crusade (I Lombardi") - 1843
Ernani- 1844. Based on the play of the same name by Victor Hugo
Two Foscari (I due Foscari)- 1844. Based on the play by Lord Byron
Joan of Arc (Giovanna d'Arco)- 1845. Based on the play “The Maid of Orleans” by Schiller
Alzira- 1845. Based on Voltaire’s play of the same name
Attila- 1846. Based on the play “Attila, Leader of the Huns” by Zacharius Werner
Macbeth- 1847. Based on Shakespeare's play of the same name
Robbers (I masnadieri)- 1847. Based on the play of the same name by Schiller
Jerusalem- 1847 (Version Lombards)
Corsair- 1848. Based on the poem of the same name by Lord Byron
Battle of Legnano (La battaglia di Legnano)- 1849. Based on the play “The Battle of Toulouse” by Joseph Mery
Louisa Miller- 1849. Based on the play “Cunning and Love” by Schiller
Stiffelio- 1850. Based on the play “The Holy Father, or the Gospel and the Heart,” by Emile Souvestre and Eugene Bourgeois.
Rigoletto- 1851. Based on the play “The King Amuses himself” by Victor Hugo
The Troubadour (Il Trovatore)- 1853. Based on the play of the same name by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez
La Traviata- 1853. Based on the play “Lady with Camellias” by A. Dumas the son
Sicilian Vespers (Les vêpres siciliennes)- 1855. Based on the play “The Duke of Alba” by Eugene Scribe and Charles Devereux
Giovanna de Guzman(Version of "Sicilian Vespers").
Simon Boccanegra- 1857. Based on the play of the same name by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez.
Aroldo- 1857 (Version "Stiffelio")
Masquerade ball (Un ballo in maschera)- 1859. Based on the real murder of Gustav III, which formed the basis of the play by Eugene Scribe
The Power of Destiny (La forza del destino)- 1862. Based on the play “Don Alvaro, or the Force of Destiny” by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas. The premiere took place at the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theater in St. Petersburg
Macbeth ( Macbeth) - 1865. Second edition of the opera commissioned by the Parisian Grand Opera
Don Carlos- 1867. Based on the play of the same name by Schiller
Aida- 1871. Premiered at the Khedive Opera House in Cairo, Egypt
Othello- 1887. Based on Shakespeare's play of the same name
Falstaff- 1893. Based on “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and two parts of “Henry IV” by Shakespeare

Other writings

String quartet e-moll - 1873
Requiem (Messa da Requiem) - 1874
Four Sacred Pieces (Quattro Pezzi Sacri) - 1892

Literature

Bushen A., The Birth of Opera. (Young Verdi). Roman, M., 1958.
Gal G. Brahms. Wagner. Verdi. Three masters - three worlds. M., 1986.
Ordzhonikidze G. Verdi's operas based on Shakespeare's plots, M., 1967.
Solovtsova L. A. J. Verdi. M., Giuseppe Verdi. Vital and creative path, M. 1986.
Tarozzi Giuseppe Verdi. M., 1984.
Ese Laszlo. If Verdi kept a diary... - Budapest, 1966.

Films and TV series about the life and work of the composer

“Giuseppe Verdi” (in Russian known as “The Story of a Life”; 1938, Italy). Directed by Carmine Gallone. IN leading role- Fosco Giachetti.
"Giuseppe Verdi" (1953, Italy). Director: Raffaello Matarazzo. Starring Pierre Cressois.
“The Life of Giuseppe Verdi (Verdi)” (1982, Italy - France - Germany - Great Britain - Sweden). Director: Renato Castellani. Starring Ronald Pickup.

GIUSEPPE VERDI. VIVA, VERDI!

For some, the name means the whole world, while for others, perhaps, they were simply touched by one of his operas, say, "Rigoletto", and therefore there was a desire to find out a little more about the person who wrote this music. The life of Verdi, a non-musician, has been elevated to the level of myths and legends. It became national pride, a symbol of Italian unity. And as a musician and composer, Verdi became the unrivaled hero of Italian opera.

Giuseppe Verdi's childhood and first teachers

Life was full of historical events, amazing people, tragedy and incredible success. All this became the basis for the birth of myths, which are often difficult to separate from real facts. The date of birth of the great maestro is reliably known. In 1813, Carlo Verdi and Luigi Uttini had a son, who at birth received the name Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. The couple lived in Roncola, province of Parma, Italy. Giuseppe was the fourth child and was born in a turbulent time when Parma was shaking under the onslaught of Napoleon's army. It is known from history that immediately after the birth of the boy, Cossack detachments captured Ronkol. It is believed that Verdi's mother was forced to flee with the newborn. They took refuge in a church, and the village in which they lived was completely destroyed. Now it is almost impossible to determine whether this is true or not. Full biography Verdi decorated with near-tragic elements, so perhaps this is one of his tragic embellishments early childhood, which fell during wartime.

For many years, Verdi claimed that his parents were illiterate and poor people. However, there is evidence that his father was a landowner and innkeeper. He could be called uncultured, but by no means illiterate. Mother was a spinner. Another fact that can neither be proven nor disproved is that for many years in one of Roncola’s taverns there hung a memorial plaque stating that it was here that he was born great musician. According to new information, however, this inn became home to Verdi's parents when Giuseppe was already 17, and by this age he had already left his parents' home. Among these contradictory information regarding his birth, place of birth and some facts of his childhood, there are those that are not in doubt - how Verdi came to music. It is reliably known that the church organ brought ecstasy and poetic delight to the young man, and the village organist became his first teacher. However, the boy quickly surpassed his teacher and even replaced him with church service. When the boy turned seven, noticing his son’s interest in music, his father bought the young maestro an old, battered spinet, a keyboard instrument that is a type of harpsichord. A harpsichord maker named Cavalletti repaired the instrument without charging money for his work. He did this solely “so that the young talent could learn music.”

In 1823, Verdi's "talent" led him to music school Ferdinando Provesi, which was located near Busseto. And in 1825 he was already an assistant conductor of the orchestra in Busseto.

“Leave the thought of the conservatory”

merchant Antonio Barezzi

Having studied the basics of composition and mastered the basics of conducting technique, as well as improved his ability to play the organ, he left school. At this time, a major role in the fate of the composer was played by the merchant and chairman of the local Philharmonic Society Antonio Barezzi, in whose life music occupied great place. Antonio himself knew how to play several wind instruments. Verdi's dream was to enter the conservatory in Milan. Barezzi helped him get a scholarship to study at the conservatory in the amount of 600 lire. In addition, Barezzi supplemented this amount a little from personal funds. To the great regret of the future composer, he was not accepted into the conservatory (“due to the low level of piano playing”), in addition, the conservatory had age restrictions.

Instead of returning home, he decided to continue his music studies independently and for three years he took counterpoint lessons from Vincenzo Lavigna, former composer La Scala. And it was in Milan that he discovered opera. In addition to lessons, Lavigny gave Verdi the opportunity to attend musical performances and concerts, as well as rehearsals. He eagerly devoured every performance he could get his hands on. It was at this time that the foundations of the future musical theater in Italy and beyond were laid.

One day, none of the theater conductors came to the rehearsal, then they turned to Verdi, who was sitting in the hall, with a request to save the situation: “I quickly went to the piano and began the rehearsal. I remember very well the ironic ridicule with which I was greeted... When the rehearsal was over, I was complimented from all sides... As a result of this incident, conducting the Haydn concert was entrusted to me.”

Happiness and tragedy, first success and first failure

The inspired composer returned to Busseto, where he received the post of head of the city's musical life. He directed the brass and symphony orchestras, went to concerts with orchestras and performed as a pianist. He gives music lessons, among his students is the daughter of his patron Barezzi, Margherita. A romantic relationship began with a love of music, which grew into love for each other. In May 1836, the wedding of Giuseppe and Margherita took place. A year later, a son is born to the young couple, and a year later, a daughter. It was during this period of marital bliss that Verdi composed huge amount works - marches and dances, romances and songs. But, most importantly, he begins to work on his first opera. There is a version that the opera was originally called "Rochester", but then the name was changed to "Oberto"("Oberto"). The opera was well received enough that the composer was able to receive a contract for three more operas. Tragedy struck as he began work on his second opera "Un Giorno de Regno" ("King for an Hour"). Suddenly, due to an unknown illness, his little son died, and after him, his daughter died just as suddenly. And soon after the tragedy, Margarita was diagnosed with encephalitis, and a few months later she also died suddenly.

Ironically, "Un Giorno" was conceived as a comic opera, and Verdi wrote it after the death of his beloved children and wife. Not surprisingly, the opera was a disastrous failure. Having lost his entire family in a very short period, and finally finished off by a failed opera, the composer promises to end his barely begun career. But the La Scala impresario persuades him to try again. Verdi writes an opera "Nabucco" ("Nabucco"), the plot of which describes the plight of the Israelites under the yoke of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The opera's premiere was nothing short of a triumph. Italians living under Austrian rule saw themselves in opera and hope for freedom. Opera "Nabucco" became the starting point of the composer's fame.

After production "Nabucco" the unsociable, lonely Verdi returned to life and began to go out into the world. The leading Milanese intelligentsia often gathered in the house of Clarina Maffei, an ardent patriot of Italy. He struck up a friendship with Clarina that lasted for many years until her death. The composer wrote two romances based on the poems of Clarina’s husband, Andrea Maffei, and Andrea was also the author of the libretto for the opera “The Robbers” based on Schiller’s drama.

Scandals, masterpieces and “Viva, Verdi!”

The next decade after crazy success "Nabucco" writes a lot, fighting censorship in art imposed by the Austrians. The poem “Giselda” by the outstanding Italian poet Torquato Tasso Grossi became the basis for the opera "Lombards in the First Crusade". Just like in "Nabucco" Biblical Jews meant modern Italians, in "Lombards" the crusaders meant the patriots of modern Italy.

The fight against censorship was not the only scandal in which the composer was involved. At the end of the 40s, he began a close relationship with Giuseppina Strepponi, a soprano singer who was the leading performer in all of the composer's operas, starting with "Nabucco". Civil marriage was an incredible scandal for many at that time. Having lived together for more than 10 years, Strepponi and Strepponi finally got married in 1857. When Giuseppina decided to end her career as a singer, Verdi, following the example of Gioachino Rossini, decided to end his career as a composer. He was rich, famous and happy in love. It is not known for certain, but perhaps it was Giuseppina who convinced him to continue writing music. In happy times romantic relationships Verdi created with Giuzheppina "Rigoletto"– one of his most perfect masterpieces. The libretto was based on Hugo's play The King Amuses himself. The libretto of the opera was rewritten many times due to censorship, which infuriated the composer; he threatened to quit working on the opera altogether. Nevertheless, the opera was completed and was a great success. There is even an opinion that "Rigoletto" is the best opera ever written. Definitely, "Rigoletto"- the best opera written by. Inexpressibly beautiful melodies, passages of heavenly beauty, countless arias and ensembles follow each other, the comic and tragic merge together, incredible passions boil at this celebration of musical genius.

"Rigoletto" was the beginning new era in the works of Verdi. He creates one masterpiece after another. "La Traviata"(libretto based on the play by Alexandre Dumas son "Lady with Camellias") "Sicilian Supper", "Troubadour", "Masquerade Ball", "The Power of Destiny" "Macbeth"(second edition) - just some of them.

By this point, the composer has become so famous that a letter with only his name "D. Verdi" on the envelope could reach the addressee. Verdi's amazing music alone was enough to make him a real star of the century, but it was his unbending national pride that made him a true icon for all Italians, not only in musical world, but also politically. At the end of each performance of his operas, the theater shook with the audience's cries of “Viva, Verdi!” ( "Long live Verdi!") And it was not just admiration for the composer’s talent, and not just wishes for good health. "Viva, Verdi!" became the unspoken code of the anti-Austrian movement growing among Italians. They were actually chanting “Viva, V.E.R.D.I,” which was an acronym for “Vittorio Emanuel, King of Italy.”

Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner

One of the last great operas, he was commissioned by the Egyptian government. It was planned to build a theater in Cairo for the opening of the Suez Canal, and the composer was approached with a proposal to write an opera on an Egyptian theme. At first he refused, hoping that another composer would agree to take on this work. But when I learned that Richard Wagner would receive the order, he decided to accept the order.

performance of "Requiem"

Surprisingly, Verdi and Wagner always disliked each other and were considered competitors. Both composers were born in the same year, each of them is the leader of his own opera school in his country. They never met in their entire lives, and the Italian’s surviving comments about the great German and his music are critical and unkind (“He always chooses, in vain, the less traveled path, trying to fly where a normal person would simply walk, achieving much better results "). However, upon learning that Richard Wagner had died, Gesuppe Verdi said: “How sad! This name has left a huge mark on the history of art.” One statement by Wagner relating to the music of the great Italian is well known. After listening "Requiem", usually eloquent and generous with (unflattering) comments towards many other composers, Wagner said: "It is better not to say anything."

"A Period of Silence" by Giuseppe Verdi

The death of another great Italian composer, Rossini, caused a short break in Verdi's operatic work. He worked on part of a requiem dedicated to Rossini, which premiered in May 1874. After a rather long “period of silence”, several more operas appeared from the composer’s pen, "Othello" and his last opera "Falstaff", which premiered in 1893. Having released "Falstaff" on the stages of opera houses, the great composer retires to a house in the village, where, together with Giuseppina, they spend 4 quiet happy year. After the death of his wife, shocked by the loss, he was never able to recover: “...My name smells of the era of mummies. I myself dry out when I just mutter this name to myself,” he admitted sadly. He outlived Dzuzeppina by 4 years and died of extensive paralysis in 1901 at the 88th year of life.

Italians did not just mourn the death of the great composer. They mourned the loss of a symbol that represented all of Italy. Two thousand people came to say goodbye to the composer, not counting the 800 people who performed "Va pensiero" ("Reflection"), chorus from the opera "Nabucco".

He was the first composer who selected the plot for the libretto in accordance with the characteristics of his compositional talent. And the main feature of his talent was the dramatic component, so he was attracted to scenes rich in drama, he looked for characters in which passions boil. Working closely with librettists, the composer removed “unnecessary” details and “superfluous” characters from the plot. For many years now, the composer's operas have confidently occupied the top twenty positions. If anyone had any fears that over time the great Italian would be forgotten, now there is no doubt that this will not happen. The masterpieces he wrote are the basis of any operatic repertoire a century and a half after they were written. Viva, Verdi!!

FACTS

He knew how to extract music from any sounds. He always carried a music notebook with him, where he wrote down everything he encountered during the day. The inviting cries of the ice cream seller, the cries of the boatman inviting you to take a ride, children's crying, construction workers' scolding - the composer was able to extract from everything musical theme. He once wrote a fugue inspired by a senator's temperamental speech.

When the nineteen-year-old came to the conductor of the Milan Conservatory, he received an unconditional refusal: “Leave the thought of the conservatory. And if you really want to study music, look for some private teacher among the city musicians...” This was in 1832, and a few decades later the Milan Conservatory considered it an honor to be named after the “mediocre” musician it had once rejected.

“Applause is an integral part of some types of music,” noted. “They should be included in the score.”

In Milan, opposite the famous La Scala theater, there is a tavern, a favorite place for people of art. There, for many years, a bottle of champagne has been stored under glass, which is intended for someone who can consistently and clearly retell the contents of the opera in their own words. "Troubadour".

Updated: November 25, 2017 by: Elena

Biography

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi is an Italian composer whose work is one of the greatest achievements of world opera and the culmination of the development of Italian opera of the 19th century.

Early period

Verdi was born into the family of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigi Uttini in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto in the department of Tarot, which at that time was part of the First French Empire after the annexation of the principalities of Parma and Piacenza. It so happened that Verdi was officially born in France.

Verdi was born in 1813 (the same year as Richard Wagner, his future main rival and leading composer of the German opera school) in Le Roncole, near Busseto (Duchy of Parma). The composer's father, Carlo Verdi, ran a village tavern, and his mother, Luigia Uttini, was a spinner. The family lived poorly, and Giuseppe's childhood was difficult. He helped celebrate mass in the village church. He studied musical literacy and playing the organ with Pietro Baistrocchi. Noticing their son's passion for music, his parents gave Giuseppe a spinet. The composer kept this very imperfect instrument until the end of his life.

The musically gifted boy was noticed by Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant and music lover from the neighboring town of Busseto. He believed that Verdi would become not an innkeeper or a village organist, but a great composer. On the advice of Barezzi, ten-year-old Verdi moved to Busseto to study. Thus began a new, even more difficult period of life - the years of adolescence and youth. On Sundays, Giuseppe went to Le Roncole, where he played the organ during mass. Verdi also got a composition teacher - Fernando Provesi, director of the Philharmonic Society of Busseto. Provesi was not only engaged in counterpoint, he awakened in Verdi a craving for serious reading. Giuseppe's attention is attracted by the classics of world literature - Shakespeare, Dante, Goethe, Schiller. One of his most beloved works is the novel “The Betrothed” by the great Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni.

Initial recognition

The first production of Verdi's opera Oberto, Count Bonifacio (Oberto) at Milan's La Scala was critically acclaimed, after which the theater's impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli, offered Verdi a contract to write two operas. They were “The King for an Hour” (Un giorno di regno) and “Nabucco” (“Nebuchadnezzar”). Verdi's wife and two children died while he was working on the first of these two operas. After its failure, the composer wanted to stop writing opera music. However, the premiere of Nabucco on March 9, 1842 at La Scala was a great success and established Verdi's reputation as an opera composer. Over the next year, the opera was staged 65 times in Europe and has since occupied a strong place in the repertoire of the world's leading opera houses. Nabucco was followed by several operas, including I Lombardi alla prima crociata and Ernani, which were staged and met with success in Italy.

In 1847, the opera Les Lombards, rewritten and retitled Jérusalem, was staged by the Paris Opera on November 26, 1847, becoming Verdi's first work in the grand opera style. To do this, the composer had to rework this opera somewhat and replace the Italian characters with French ones.

Master

Rigoletto is perhaps one of the best operas in the history of musical theater. Verdi's artistic generosity is presented in full force. Beautiful melodies are scattered throughout the score, arias and ensembles that have become an integral part of the classical operatic repertoire follow each other, and the comic and tragic merge together.

La Traviata, Verdi's next great opera, was composed and staged two years after Rigoletto. The libretto is based on the play “The Lady of the Camellias” by Alexandre Dumas.

Then several more operas followed, among them the constantly performed today “The Sicilian Supper” (Les vêpres siciliennes; written at the request of the Paris Opera), “Il Trovatore”, “Un ballo in maschera”, “Power” fate" (La forza del destino; 1862, commissioned by the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theater of St. Petersburg), second edition of the opera "Macbeth".

Verdi and Wagner, each the leader of his own national opera school, always disliked each other. In their entire lives they had never met. Verdi's surviving comments about Wagner and his music are few and unkind (“He always chooses, in vain, the path less traveled, trying to fly where a normal person would simply walk, achieving much better results”). Nevertheless, upon learning that Wagner had died, Verdi said: “How sad! This name has left a huge mark on the history of art.” Only one statement by Wagner is known relating to the music of Verdi. After listening to the Requiem, the great German, always eloquent, always generous with (unflattering) comments in relation to many other composers, said: “It’s better not to say anything.”

Aida was staged in Cairo in 1871 with great success.

Last years and death

Over the next twelve years, Verdi worked very little, slowly editing some of his earlier works.

The opera Othello, based on the play by William Shakespeare, was staged in Milan in 1887. The music of this opera is “continuous”; it does not contain the traditional Italian opera division into arias and recitatives - this innovation was introduced under the influence of the operatic reform of Richard Wagner (after the death of the latter). In addition, under the influence of the same Wagnerian reform, the style of the late Verdi acquired a greater degree of recitativeness, which gave the opera the effect of greater realism, although it scared off some fans of traditional Italian opera.

Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, the libretto of which Arrigo Boito, the librettist and composer, wrote based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and translated into French by Victor Hugo, developed the style of "through development" " The brilliantly written score of this comedy is thus much closer to Wagner's Die Meistersinger than to the comic operas of Rossini and Mozart. The elusiveness and effervescence of the melodies makes it possible not to delay the development of the plot and creates a unique effect of confusion, so close to the spirit of this Shakespearean comedy. The opera ends with a seven-voice fugue, in which Verdi fully demonstrates his brilliant mastery of counterpoint.

On January 21, 1901, while staying at the Grand Et De Milan Hotel (Milan, Italy), Verdi suffered a stroke. Being stricken with paralysis, he could read with his inner ear the scores of the operas “La Bohème” and “Tosca” by Puccini, “Pagliacci” by Leoncavallo, “The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky, but what he thought about these operas written by his immediate and worthy heirs remained unknown . Verdi grew weaker every day and six days later, early in the morning of January 27, 1901, he died.

Verdi was originally buried in the Monumental Cemetery in Milan. A month later, his body was transferred to Casa Di Riposo in Musicisti, a holiday home for retired musicians that Verdi created.

He was an agnostic. His second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, described him as "a man of little faith."

Style

Verdi's predecessors who influenced his work were Rossini, Bellini, Meyerbeer and, most importantly, Donizetti. The last two operas, Othello and Falstaff, show the influence of Richard Wagner. Respecting Gounod, whom his contemporaries considered the greatest composer of the era, Verdi nevertheless did not borrow anything from the great Frenchman. Some passages in Aida indicate the composer's familiarity with the works of Mikhail Glinka, whom Franz Liszt popularized in Western Europe after returning from a tour of Russia.

Verdi was the first composer to specifically search for a plot for a libretto that would best suit the characteristics of his talent as a composer. Working in close collaboration with librettists and knowing that dramatic expression was the main strength of his talent, he sought to eliminate “unnecessary” details and “superfluous” characters from the plot, leaving only characters in which passions boil and scenes rich in drama.

Operas by Giuseppe Verdi

Oberto, Count di San Bonifacio (Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio) - 1839
The King for an Hour (Un Giorno di Regno) - 1840
Nabucco, or Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco) - 1842
Lombards in the First Crusade (I Lombardi") - 1843
Ernani - 1844. Based on the play of the same name by Victor Hugo
The Two Foscari (I due Foscari) - 1844. Based on the play by Lord Byron
Joan of Arc (Giovanna d’Arco) - 1845. Based on the play “The Maid of Orleans” by Schiller
Alzira - 1845. Based on the play of the same name by Voltaire
Attila - 1846. Based on the play “Attila, Leader of the Huns” by Zacharius Werner
Macbeth - 1847. Based on Shakespeare's play of the same name
The Robbers (I masnadieri) - 1847. Based on the play of the same name by Schiller
Jerusalem (Jérusalem) - 1847 (Lombard Version)
The Corsair (Il corsaro) - 1848. Based on the poem of the same name by Lord Byron
The Battle of Legnano (La battaglia di Legnano) - 1849. Based on the play “The Battle of Toulouse” by Joseph Mery
Louisa Miller - 1849. Based on the play “Cunning and Love” by Schiller
Stiffelio - 1850. Based on the play “The Holy Father, or the Gospel and the Heart,” by Emile Souvestre and Eugene Bourgeois.
Rigoletto - 1851. Based on the play “The King Amuses himself” by Victor Hugo
The Troubadour (Il Trovatore) - 1853. Based on the play of the same name by Antonio García Gutierrez
La Traviata - 1853. Based on the play “The Lady of the Camellias” by A. Dumas the Son
Sicilian Vespers (Les vêpres siciliennes) - 1855. Based on the play “The Duke of Alba” by Eugene Scribe and Charles Devereux
Giovanna de Guzman (Version of "Sicilian Vespers").
Simon Boccanegra - 1857. Based on the play of the same name by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez.
Aroldo - 1857 ("Stiffelio" version)
Masquerade Ball (Un ballo in maschera) - 1859.

The Force of Destiny (La forza del destino) - 1862. Based on the play “Don Alvaro, or the Force of Destiny” by Angel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas. The premiere took place at the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theater in St. Petersburg

Don Carlos - 1867. Based on the play of the same name by Schiller
Aida - 1871. Premiered at the Khedive's Opera House in Cairo, Egypt
Othello - 1887. Based on Shakespeare's play of the same name
Falstaff - 1893. Based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor

Other writings

Requiem (Messa da Requiem) - 1874
Four Sacred Pieces (Quattro Pezzi Sacri) - 1892

Literature

Bushen A., The Birth of Opera. (Young Verdi). Roman, M., 1958.
Gal G. Brahms. Wagner. Verdi. Three masters - three worlds. M., 1986.
Ordzhonikidze G. Verdi's operas based on Shakespeare's plots, M., 1967.
Solovtsova L. A. J. Verdi. M., Giuseppe Verdi. Life and creative path, M. 1986.
Tarozzi Giuseppe Verdi. M., 1984.
Ese Laszlo. If Verdi kept a diary... - Budapest, 1966. A crater on Mercury is named after Giuseppe Verdi.

The feature film "The Twentieth Century" (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci) begins on the day of the death of Giuseppe Verdi, when the two main characters are born.

One of the colors of the flag of the Italian Republic is green, verde, verdi... Amazing providence chose a man with a consonant name, Giuseppe Verdi, to become a symbol of the unification of Italy and a composer, without whom opera would never have been as we know it.

Brief biography

Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10, 1813 into a poor family of an innkeeper and a spinner who lived in the village of Roncole near the town of Busetto (now in the Emilia-Romagna region). At the age of five, the boy begins to study musical notation and play the organ in the local church. Already in 1823, the young talent was noticed by a wealthy businessman, and at the same time a member of Busetto’s Philharmonic Society, Antonio Barezzi, who would support the composer until his death. Thanks to his help, Giuseppe moved to Busetto to study at the gymnasium, and two years later began taking counterpoint lessons. Fifteen-year-old Verdi is already the author of a symphony. After graduating from high school in 1830, the young man settled in the house of his benefactor, where he gave vocal and piano lessons to Margherita, Barezzi’s daughter. In 1836, the girl became his wife.

An attempt to enter the Milan Conservatory was unsuccessful. But Giuseppe cannot return to Busetto with his head bowed. Staying in Milan, he takes private lessons from one of the best teachers and head of the La Scala theater orchestra, Vincenzo Lavigna. Thanks to lucky coincidence circumstances, he receives an order from La Scala for his first opera. In subsequent years, the composer had children. However, happiness is deceptive. Not having lived even a year and a half, my daughter dies. Verdi and his family move to Milan. This city was destined to witness both the loud glory of the maestro and his most bitter losses. In 1839, a small son died suddenly, and less than a year later Margherita also died. So, by the age of twenty-six, Verdi had lost his entire family.

For almost two years, Verdi could barely make ends meet and wanted to quit music. But chance intervened again, thanks to which Nabucco was born, after the premiere of which in 1842 it received resounding success and pan-European recognition. The 40-50 years were the most productive in terms of creativity: Verdi wrote 20 of his 26 operas. Since 1847, Giuseppina Strepponi, the singer who performed the part of Abigail at the premiere of Nabucco, became the composer's de facto wife. Verdi affectionately called her Peppina, but married her only 12 years later. Giuseppina had a dubious past from the moral point of view of the era and three children from different men. The couple had no children together, and in 1867 they took in a little niece. Since 1851, Verdi has lived in Sant'Agata, his own estate near Busetto, working agriculture and horse breeding. The composer actively participated in political life his country: in 1860 he became a member of the first Italian parliament, and in 1874 - a senator in Rome. In 1899, a boarding house for elderly musicians, built with his funds, was opened in Milan. Verdi, who died in Milan on January 27, 1901, was buried in the crypt of this institution. He outlived his Peppina by as much as 13 years... His funeral grew into a large procession to see off the composer in last path More than 200,000 people came.

Interesting facts

G. Verdi's main opera opponent, Richard Wagner, was born the same year as him, but died 18 years earlier. It is noteworthy that over the years Verdi wrote only two operas - “ Othello" And " Falstaff" The composers have never met, but there are many intersections in their destinies. One of them is Venice. There were premieres in this city " Traviatas" And " Rigoletto", and Wagner died in the Palazzo Vendramin Calergi. F. Werfel’s book “Verdi. A novel of the opera."

The composer's native village is now officially called Roncole Verdi; the Milan Conservatory, which the musician was never able to enter, is also named after him.
The composer's fifth opera, Ernani, brought Verdi a record fee, which allowed him to think about buying his own estate.
Britain's Queen Victoria, attending the premiere of The Highwaymen, wrote in her diary that the music was "noisy and banal."
The maestro rightly called Rigoletto an opera of duets, almost completely devoid of arias and traditional choral finales.
It is believed that not everyone opera house can afford to put " Troubadour" or " Masquerade ball”, since both require four magnificent voices at once - soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and baritone.
Statistics show that Verdi is the most performed opera composer, and La Traviata is the most opera performed on the planet.
“Viva VERDI” is both a celebration of the composer and an acronym for supporters of the unification of Italy, where VERDI stood for: Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia (Victor Emmanuel - King of Italy).
There are two Don Carlos» - French and Italian. They differ not only in the language of the libretto, in fact they are two different versions of the opera. So which is considered the “authentic” “Don Carlos”? It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, since there are differences even between the version presented at the Paris premiere and the one performed at the second performance two days later. There is not one, but at least three Italian versions: the first, created for production in Naples in 1872, a four-act version in 1884 for La Scala, a five-act version without a ballet in 1886 for a performance in Modena. The most famous, performed and published on discs today are the classic French version and the “Milanese” Italian version.
Since 1913, the annual opera festival Arena di Verona has been held in the ancient Roman amphitheater of Verona. The first production was “ Aida"in honor of Verdi's centenary. In 2013, “Aida” was also the center of the anniversary festival program.

Music by Verdi in cinema

The list of films featuring Verdi’s music is endless; there are more than a thousand of them, the newest and most popular:

La La Land (2016)
007: SPECTER (2015)
I am the beginning (2014)
Django Unchained (2012)
Madagascar 3 (2012)
Twilight (2008)

Let's look at several interesting film adaptations of Verdi's operas:

Sophia Loren played Aida in the 1953 film of the same name; Renata Tebaldi sang for her.
In 1982, Franco Zeffirelli’s amazing film “La Traviata” with Teresa Stratas and Placido Domingo was released - beautiful, stylish, with incredibly reliable characters, devoid of operatic pretentiousness.
The creative union of Domingo and Zeffirelli continued in the work four years later on the film adaptation of Othello.
Domingo’s transformation in the baritone role of Rigoletto in the 2010 film “Rigoletto in Mantua,” filmed in historical interiors, is interesting.

On the contrary, there are not many biographical films about the life of the great Italian. The most famous of these is the 1982 Italian miniseries Verdi, in which British actor Ronald Pickup played the title role and Giuseppina Strepponi famous ballerina Carla Fracci. This painting gives a broad view of Verdi's personality and historical events of that time, inextricably linked not only with the life of the composer, but also with the fate of all of Europe. Renato Castellani created a three-dimensional film portrait of Verdi; the film contains the original words of the maestro from his letters and the memoirs of his contemporaries. Ronald Pickup accurately conveyed the explosive, often gloomy, but simple and sincere character of the frantic genius.