Giuseppe
Fortunino
Francesco Verdi was born in
Le Roncole October 10, 1813,
son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi
and Luigia Uttini; the town
was then part of the Duchy
of Parma (which in turn was
part of France). There he
received his first music
lessons. He continued his
studies in Busseto, under
the
supervision
of
Ferdinando Provesi.
It soon becomes the
organist of the Church of
his people. Attempts to
enter the Conservatory of
the city of Milan but fails.
We can say that their early
hits are related to the
political situation that
existed in Italy. Apart from
its artistic quality, his
operas also served to exalt
the nationalist character of
the Italian people.
Perhaps the Va pensiero (chorus of
slaves from the opera Nabucco) is
one of the most famous choirs of
Italy for this reason. In this way,
Verdi triumphs in Milan.
Thanks to the successes achieved,
Verdi can bet on a style more
personal in his operas and pressure
librettists and entrepreneurs to they
risk and experiment a little more. It
is notable, in this sense, the way in
which begat the opera Macbeth,
with arduous, and even despotic,
testing to make the text most widely
spoken that Sung.
Verdi achieves its mission
and the success of these
operas is also noticeable.
Follows a period of personal
difficulties, with the death of
his first wife and his
daughter, which contrasts
with the creation of his most
popular and beloved operas,
the
aforementioned
Rigoletto, La Traviata and Il
Trovatore.
Many consider the maturity of
the composer is seen in the
works that follow this period;
for example, Don Carlos, which
was composed for the Paris
Grand Opera; Aida, composed
for the Opera of Cairo; Otello
and Falstaff, with a libretto by
Arrigo
Boito
based
on
Shakespeare. Some of these
works are not well received by
the public or critics, who
described as too Wagnerian,
critical that the author always
rejected.
In his later years, Verdi
composed some works not
operatic. Despite not being
particularly
religious,
he
composed works liturgical, as
the mass of Requiem (1874)
and the Te Deum. He also
composed the anthem of
Nations, which includes the
melodies of the hymns Italian,
French, English and American,
on text of the poet Arrigo Boito
(1862) and a String Quartet in e
minor (1873).
He died in Milan, on 27 January
1901, due to a stroke. He left his
fortune to the establishment of a
nursing home for retired
musicians that would bear his
name: "Casa Verdi" in Milan,
where he is buried. His funeral
drew great popular commotion
and to the passage of the funeral
procession
the
audience
spontaneously sang the chorus
of slaves from Nabucco ("Va
pensiero, sull'ali dorate").