Giuseppe Verdi, Italian Composer: Turning Tragedy into a Nation's Hope for Unification

Giuseppe Verdi started out as a humble Italian boy, but soon grew to be one of the greatest opera composers of all time. He was born Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi on October 10, 1813 into a family of small landowners and taverners. He started his study of music (mainly on the organ) at a very early age, with the help and support of his parents. By the age of seven, he had become the organist at San Michele Arcangelo, the parish church near his birthplace, where he also served as an alter boy. There is a famous myth (we still don’t know if it’s fact or fiction) that his mother saved him in this church in 1814 when French troops invaded the territory. In 1823 (at age ten), Verdi moved to the town of Busseto to study at the music school there under Antonio Provesi. He would walk the short distance from Busseto back to Roncole to continue playing organ at San Michele Arcangelo. By age fourteen, Verdi was teaching Provesi’s students. Under Provesi’s guidance, Verdi composed several marches and other types of music. 

After finishing music school in Busseto after four years, Verdi applied for admission to the well-known Milan Conservatory. Unfortunately, he was denied admission. Instead, he studied composition under Vincenzo Lavigna, a composer and maestro at La Scala opera house. After two years in Milan, Verdi returned to Busseto, believing he was going to be appointed head of the philharmonic. When things didn’t work out, he returned to Milan at the end of the year. Two year later, he again went back to Busseto, where he was named maestro di musica on March 5, 1836. Two months later, he was marred to Margherita Barezzi and they had two children by 1838. Verdi’s first opera, Oberto, Conte de San Bonifacio was finished in 1839, and was a huge success. He had also started writing his second opera, called Un Giorno di Regno. However, his happiness was to soon come to an unfortunate, though temporary, end.

In April of 1840, Verdi’s two children died within days of each other, followed by his wife’s death in June of the same year. This was a terrible blow to Verdi, and it sent him into a dreadful depression. He lost his job in Busseto and moved back to Milan. After the unsuccessful completion of his comic opera, Un Giorno di Regno in late 1840, Verdi realized that he could find no consolation in his music, and vowed to never compose again. Luckily for us, he didn’t keep that vow.

Bartolomeo Merelli, a member of the management at the La Scala opera house, gave Verdi a libretto to write music for. Verdi reluctantly agreed, and completed his third opera, Nabucco, in 1842. It was a great success, and was called “the most meaningful opera there was.” Nabucco was written during a time in Italy’s history when it was yearning to become a united nation. Many people saw the opera as a symbol of the people’s struggle with foreign captivity, and the characters representing political and religious leaders of the time. Nabucco was what gained Verdi his fame throughout Europe and the western world. It was followed by I Lombardi alla Prima Crociaata, another opera with heavy political overtones. Most of Verdi’s operas had elements such as a stirring melody and tragic and heroic situations that struck a chord with the Italian people struggling for freedom and unity. However, some critics could argue that many operas of this time period had political themes, and the involvement of Verdi’s operas in politics is highly exaggerated.

The following time in Verdi’s life was referred to as his “gallery years.” Verdi wrote twelve more operas in the years of 1844 to 1850. These include Ernani, I Due Foscari, Atilla, Macbeth, and Stiffelio. Verdi would often direct these operas in the major cities of Europe, including Paris, London, Rome, Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence, and Trieste. The works produced during his “gallery years” usually incorporated features such as strong, somber stories, a vigorous orchestral style that gradually grew fuller, and forceful vocal writing. The operas showed a seriousness in Verdi’s determination to convey the full force of the drama. He often modeled his musical style after the great composers Rossini, Mercadante, and Donizetti.

Verdi’s following three operas were Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), and La Traviata (1853), which were among his most famous. These were called the climax of his “gallery years.” The first two were successfully produced in Venice and Rome, respectively, but La Traviata was a failure in Venice. It was the most personal and intimate of Verdi’s operas, and a revision was favorably received the following year at a different Venetian theater. The most extraordinary thing about these three operas is that they showed Verdi’s capability to convey a wide range of emotions: Rigoletto was a dark drama, Il Trovatore was known for its heroics, and La Traviata had “grace and pathos” not seen in its predecessors.

Verdi’s later operas were opened with mild success, but he would never again attain the status of his younger years. Verdi himself was involved in politics during his time. He was a representative of Busseto in the provincial parliament, then was later elected to the national parliament, before ultimately becoming a senator. Verdi composed many more operas in his lifetime, including Don Carlos (1867), Aida (1871), Otello (1887), and Falstaff (1893). Verdi became a symbol of Italian patriotism, and the slogan “VIVA VERDI” was used to symbolize the people’s choice for their new king of united Italy – “Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia” (who later became King Vittorio Emanuele II).

At the time of his death, Verdi was rich, charitable, and a well-revered man. He died on January 27, 1901 at the age of eighty-seven, leaving behind a massive collection of twenty-eight operas, nine other choral works (including a requiem), and various instrumental works. All of Italy mourned his death, and 28,000 people lined the streets for his funeral in Milan.