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The "Late Period", Part 1: 1862 to 1871

February 1862—August 1863: Verdi in Paris and London; returns to Sant'Agata

Boito as a young man

Franco Faccio around 1865

Verdi and Strepponi arrived in Paris from Russia on 24 February 1862, and soon met two young Italian writers, the twenty-year old Arrigo Boito and Franco Faccio, who were touring Europe and who bore a letter of introduction from Countess Clara Maffei. Verdi had been invited to write a piece of music for the 1862 International Exhibition in London when new works from composers who represented several countries would be performed. While he detested writing occasional works, personal pride and the chance to represent Italy at an international exhibition were the incentives for him to take on the commission, but he needed a libretto. After meeting Boito, the young man was charged with writing the text of the proposed work, which became the Inno delle nazioni. Initially, Verdi planned to write a march, changed it to an overture, and finally decided upon a cantata set to an Italian text. By early April the cantata was complete and Giuseppina Strepponi was dispatched to London with the manuscript.

Refusing to accept the work, the committee explained that it would be too large an undertaking, but when Verdi arrived in London on 20 April, he expected that cantata would be performed but, when the press received word of this and wrote that the problem was Verdi's inability to meet a deadline, he was furious. He wrote a letter to the London newspaper, The Times, denying the claim and stating that "[The commissioners] let it be known that twenty-five days (enough to learn a new opera) were not enough to learn this short cantata; and they refused it." Critical opinion sided with Verdi.

The composer was in the audience for the inaugural concert of the International Exhibition on 1 May 1862. It received only a lukewarm reception, while the first performance of the Inno took place at Her Majesty's Theatre on 24 May 1862. Verdi wrote to his publisher Ricordi: "The effect seemed good, and it was encored...Performance good on the whole, very good on the part of the orchestra." Franco Faccio wrote to Boito: "The effect of the piece is irresistible."

The Verdis returned to Paris for a few days and then went on to Turin where parliament had re-opened on 3 June and where Verdi saw a political crisis brewing due to Garibaldi's attempt to take control of the Trent Valley which was opposed by the King's forces. Strepponi left to see her mother and sister. Verdi returned to Piacenza by train, which by 1861 had connected Turin with Bologna, thus stopping in both Piacenza and Parma. He had been away for eight months, but was shortly to return to his parliamentary duties in late June. However, he soon returned to Sant'Agata for the summer. But as the year went on, he felt increasingly inclined to resign admitting that he lacked both the time and patience. However, he did not resign and returned to Turin when he could.

Late 1862: Return to St Petersburg for La forza del destino

Soprano
Caroline Barbot c1865, the first Leonora

As 1862 progressed, by the end of August plans were made to return to fulfill the contract to present Forza in St Petersburg. Verdi and Strepponi returned by the route they took the previous year, first stopping in Turin, then going on to Paris for a few days, and then arriving in the Russian city on 24 September. Instructions for necessary changes to the opera were given, and the Verdis traveled to Moscow for a performance of Il trovatore which was received with great acclaim towards the composer. Back in St Petersburg, Verdi began rehearsals. While he had been in London earlier in the year, one thing which he had accomplished was to engage the soprano, Caroline Barbot, who had been very successful in Un ballo in maschera, in the role of Amelia.

The opening performance was a triumph and the following seven had packed houses. The French-language Le Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg enthusiastically described the performance as a "brilliant success won by by this beautiful work...[which] we believe is the most complete of all Verdi's works, in the richness and inspiration of its melodies, as in its development and orchestration". Remaining in the Russian city for over a month beyond their planned time, the couple being entertained and attending soirées where they were given an enthusiastic reception and where Verdi had a good time. Before Christmas they were back in Paris and soon after New Year's Day, they were on the way to Madrid to oversee the first performances of Forza in that city. They arrived there by mid-January.

January 1863 to xxxx 186??: travels within Spain, to Paris for a Les Vêpres revival, finally back to Sant'Agata

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From 1867 forward: Verdi and Strepponi winter in Genoa

Villa del Principe, 1880s.
(photo: Alfred Noack)

A friend of Verdi's for over a dozen years, Angelo Mariani had become the head of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. The Verdis had already stayed in that city several times and, with Mariani's encouragement, they chose the city for their winter residence. In the Spring of 1866, Mariani found that the Palazzo Sauli Pallavicino, which belonged to his friend the Marchesa Luisa Sauli, would be available for the winter of 1867. It had views of the port as well as being close to the centre of the city. Additionally, Mariani proposed to occupy a portion of it himself as Verdi's sub-tenant. With the Verdis planning to be in Paris in late 1866 to prepare for the March 1867 premiere of Don Carlos, Mariani faithfully helped in furnishing of the two floors which the couple were to occupy. Then, between 1867 to 1874, they were to spend seven winters in the spacious quarters. However, after Mariani's death, the couple left the Palazzo and, on 13 November 1874, moved into one of Genoa's most sumptuous palaces, the Villa del Principe (now known as the Palazzo Doria). Verdi continued to stay at the del Principe after Strepponi's death, visiting it for the last time in 1900.

Paris and Don Carlos

Caricature of Verdi, March 1867

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1869 to 1871: From Aida to the Requiem

Verdi
about 1870

Aida: Later, in 1869/70, the organizers who were planning the inauguration of the new Cairo opera house approached Verdi with the idea of a special pierce for the occasion, but he turned them down. Again, with the idea of his writing an opera for the house, he was approached. Again, he turned them down, but when they warned him that they would ask Charles Gounod instead and then threatened to engage Richard Wagner's services, Verdi began to show considerable interest, and agreements were signed in June 1870.

EXPAND

Angelo Mariani
by Augusto Bedetti

The Requiem at La Scala, 25 May 1874, with Verdi conducting. The soloists were (left to right) Ormondo Maini, Giuseppe Capponi, Maria Waldmann, and Teresa Stolz

On 13 November 1868, Gioachino Rossini died in Paris, and during the following year, Verdi was asked to compose a section for a Messa per Rossini in the composer's memory. He began by submitting the concluding movement, the Libera me. During 1869, twelve other famous Italian composers of the time collaborated, the premiere scheduled for 13 November 1869 on the first anniversary of Rossini's death. But on 4 November, nine days beforehand, the organising committee abandoned it. Verdi blamed this on the scheduled conductor, his friend Angelo Mariani's lack of enthusiasm for the project, and this marked the beginning of the end of their friendship.

Five years later, Verdi adapted his own contribution, the concluding Libera me, as the basis for that section when composing his own Messa da Requiem honoring the famous novelist, poet, and patriot Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi had admired all his adult life and had met in 1868. Manzoni died in May 1873 and, upon hearing the news, Verdi resolved to complete a Requiem—this time entirely of his own writing—in honour of Manzoni. In addition to the Libera me music, he reused music removed from the original Paris Don Carlos for the lacrimosa section,

CHECK ON THIS

Verdi and Strepponi traveled to Paris in June, where he commenced work on the Requiem, giving it the form we know today. It included a revised version of the Libera me. In Milan, it was first performed in the church of San Marco on 22 May 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. Verdi himself conducted. The work was repeated at La Scala three days later on 25 May with the same soloists, with Verdi again conducting.

1872: After Aida Verdi retires to the Villa Verdi

Verdi at Sant'Agata-1878

The Villa Verdi, 1870 painting

After the completion and premiere of Aida in December 1871, Verdi decided that it was time for him to end his successful career as a composer of opera, much as Rossini had done after the completion of the opera William Tell, though he was easily the most popular, and possibly the wealthiest, composer in Italy at the time.

However, Verdi's sixties were not good years: as musicologist Julian Budden notes, "he seemed to have entered [those years] in a mood of gloom and depression [..and..] his letters at the time were full of complaints about the Italian theatre, Italian politics, and Italian music in general, [all] seen by him as sinking beneath a tide of Germanism".

expand on 60s years

The Late Period, Part 2: Ricordi's "plot" to convince Verdi to compose again

1870s to 1881: Revisions to Simon Boccanegra

Verdi in 1876
(Ferdinand Mulnier)

Giulio Ricordi, son of Verdi's publisher

Boito when working on Simon Boccanegra

Giulio Ricordi, the son of Verdi's publisher Tito Ricordi (until the younger man took over the company after Tito's death in 1888) maintained a strong personal relationship with Verdi. To Giulio, the composer's retirement seemed to be a waste of talent and possible profits but, when he tried to interest the composer in setting Boito's partly finished libretto of Nerone, Verdi ignored him. Ricordi persevered in various ways, stating "the whole salvation of the theatre and the art is in your hands". Verdi's response was: "I cannot take it as but a joke", adding "Oh no, never fear, composers for the theatre will never be lacking". Throughout the 1870s, Verdi continued to refuse all suggestions, so Ricordi wrote to Giuseppina to ask her to present the idea, but she soon confessed defeat. Clara Maffei tried in March 1878, but Verdi replied: "For what reason should I write? What would I succeed in doing?"

Taking another position, in May 1879 Ricordi tried to persuade the composer to revise Simon Boccanegra, but he shrugged this off, saying that the 1857 score would remain untouched "just as you sent it to me". However, once Verdi did finally begin to re-look at his earlier work in November 1880, objections—and new ideas— began to emerge: "the score is not possible as it stands", he realised, and he stated that the focus must be on the original version's second act "to give it more contrast and variety, more life and variety to the drama".

In discussions with Boito, the Council Chamber scene emerged as the focus for the new collaboration. Although he had confidence in the young librettist's abilities, Verdi warned Boito that he appeared to be "aiming at a perfection impossible here", expressing his unwillingness to re-write the opera as completely as Boito had proposed. Between late 1880 and January 1881, the composer in Genoa and the librettist in Milan—meeting together only once—planned for performances in Milan beginning on 24 March,although Verdi threatened to withdraw the opera on more than one occasion due to the suitability of the singers.

Work begins on Otello

Collaborations with Boito in the revision helped to convince Verdi of Boito's ability as a librettist. Musicologist Roger Parker speculates that Verdi's final agreement to revise Boccanegra was based on a desire to "test the possibility" of working with Boito before possibly embarking on the larger project. Frank Walker expresses much the same thought, noting that "some of the results, such as the magnificent scene in the Council Chamber and the villainous Paolo's Iago-like recitatives, foreshadow the later opera." The revised Simon Boccanegra appeared on 24 March 1881 at La Scala, and it is in this revised version that it is most commonly performed today.

Verdi finds a subject for a proposed new comedy which became Falstaff

Boito and Verdi at Sant'Agata. (Fotografia Ferrario, 1893)

Verdi acknowledges acclaim at premiere of Falstaff, 1893

Following the success of Otello in 1887 he commented, "After having relentlessly massacred so many heroes and heroines, I have at last the right to laugh a little", although he had looked into a variety of comic subjects, but had found none of them wholly suitable and confided his ambition to Arrigo Boito. The librettist said nothing at the time, but secretly began work on a libretto based on The Merry Wives of Windsor with additional material taken from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2.

Boito was pleased with The Merry Wives as a plot, but considerably trimmed it, halving the number of characters in the play, cutting extraneous ones, at the same time as giving the character of Falstaff more depth by incorporating dozens of passages from Henry IV. Verdi received the draft libretto probably in early July 1889 after he had just read Shakespeare's play: "Benissimo! Benissimo!... No one could have done better than you", he wrote back, adding on the following day "What a joy! To be able to say to the audience: "We are here again!! Come and see us!!" But he still had doubts which he immediately expressed: "the large number of years in my age", his health (which he admits to being good) and his ability to complete the project: "if I were not to finish the music?". If it failed, he saw it as a waste of Boito's time and distract him from completing his own new opera. Yet, as Phillips-Matz expresses it, "Verdi could not hide his delight at the idea of writing another opera". On 10 July 1889 he wrote again: "So be it! So let's do Falstaff! For now, let's not think of obstacles, of age, of illnesses!" Additionally, he emphasised the need for secrecy, but stated "If you are in the mood, then start to write".

The first performance of Falstaff took place was at La Scala on 9 February 1893. For the first night, official ticket prices were thirty times greater than usual. Royalty, aristocracy, critics and leading figures from the arts all over Europe were present. The performance was a huge success; numbers were encored, and at the end the applause for Verdi and the cast lasted an hour. That was followed by a tumultuous welcome when the composer, his wife and Boito arrived at the Grand Hotel de Milan.

The operas of the "Late Years" from La forza del destino to Falstaff

La forza del destino

Don Carlos, 1867: Death of Posa

Otello, act 1 set for Rome, 1887

La Forza del destino (10 November 1862, Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg) Beginning with La forza del destino (commissioned by the Imperial Theatre for an 1861 premiere, the opera was not performed there until 1862.

Macbeth. (21 April 1865, Paris Opéra; revised version in French). Verdi's librettist, Piave, was pressed into service to expand the opera and the composer exerted his usual pressures on him to produce a new aria for Lady Macbeth's, "La luce langue", the result of which came "Lady Macbeth's gripping scene". There were considerable revisions to act 3 with an added ballet and the ending of act 4 was also changed, Verdi being determined to drop Macbeth's final aria Mal per me che m'affidai ("Trusting in the prophecies of Hell") in favour of an off-stage death, to end with the triumphal chorus.

Don Carlos (11 March 1867, Paris Opéra). Written for Paris in 1867, this significant five-act and original grand opera was given in French; today, it is most frequently performed in Italian translation as Don Carlo in the four act Milan version or the five-act Modena version.

Aida (24 December 1871, Khedivial Opera House, Cairo) Verdi turned down the Khedive's invitation to write an "ode" for the new opera house because "I am not accustomed to compose morceaux de circonstance" and the house actually opened with a production of Rigoletto.

Simon Boccanegra (24 March 1881, La Scala, Milan. As revised). Parker describes the differences in this revision: "[Verdi] injected into the heart of the work an episode of enormous vividness and power, enriching the character of Boccanegra in such a way that his subsequent death scene gains considerably in impressiveness". And, as Budden puts it, "Simone [sic] rises to spiritual greatness. For the first time, his moral authority puts forth all its strength, ... positively as in the appeal for peace ..."

Otello (5 February 1887, La Scala, Milan). Based on William Shakespeare's play, with a libretto written by the younger composer of Mefistofele, Arrigo Boito, Otello premiered in Milan to great acclaim. Arturo Toscanini performed as cellist in the orchestra at the world premiere and began his association with Verdi (a composer he revered as highly as Beethoven).

Falstaff (9 February 1893, La Scala, Milan). Falstaff, with a libretto also written by Boito, was based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Part 1 using Victor Hugo's subsequent translation. It was an international success and is one of the supreme comic operas which show Verdi's genius as a contrapuntist.

1893 to 1901: Verdi in retirement at Sant'Agata

Verdi with friends and family at Sant'Agata, 1890.
Sitting: l. to r: Maria Filomena Cararra-Verdi, Barbarina Strepponi, Verdi, Giuditta Ricordi. Standing: l. to r.: Teresa Stoltz, the lawyer Campanari, Giulio Ricordi, the artist Leopoldo Metlicovich

Giuseppina Strepponi, last portrait, 1897

Verdi at Sant'Agata on his 88th birthday, October 1899

Teresa Stolz-c. 1890

After Giuseppina Strepponi's death, Teresa Stolz became a close companion of Verdi until his own death.

Teresa Stolz was associated with both Aida and the Requiem (as well as a number of other Verdi roles). The role of Aida was written for her, and although she did not appear in the world premiere in 1871, she created Aida for the opera's European premiere in Milan in February 1872. She was also the soprano soloist in the first and many later performances of the Requiem.

Death

Verdi outside La Scala, 1899

Verdi State Funeral procession1901

On 29 July 1900, King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated by Gaetano Bresci, a deed that horrified the aged composer.

While staying at the Grand Hotel et de Milan in Milan, Verdi suffered a stroke on 21 January 1901. He gradually grew more feeble and died nearly a week later, on 27 January. Arturo Toscanini conducted the vast forces of combined orchestras and choirs composed of musicians from throughout Italy at Verdi's funeral service in Milan. To date, it remains the largest public assembly of any event in the history of Italy.

Verdi's grave at Casa di Riposa, Milan

Verdi was initially buried in Milan's Cimitero Monumentale. A month later, his body was moved to the "crypt" of the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a rest home for retired musicians that Verdi had recently established.

It has not been determined as to whether Verdi was an agnostic or an atheist; different opinions have emerged from those who knew him. One writer states:

Verdi sustained his artistic reputation and his personal image in the last years of his life. He never relinquished his anticlerical stance, and his religious belief verged on atheism. Strepponi described him as not much of a believer and complained that he mocked her religious faith. Yet he summoned the creative strength to write the Messa da Requiem (1874) to honor Manzoni, his "secular saint," and conduct its world premiere.

Toscanini, in a taped interview, described Verdi as "an atheist", His second wife, Giuseppina Strepponi, described him as "a man of little faith".

Verdi's role in the Risorgimento

SEE: Garibaldi and the Thousand - PM pp. 422-423

Painting "Viva VERDI" slogans

Music historians have long perpetuated a myth about the famous "Va, pensiero" chorus sung in the third act of Nabucco. The myth claims that, when the "Va, pensiero" chorus was sung in Milan, then belonging to the large part of Italy under Austrian domination, the audience, responding with nationalistic fervor to the exiled slaves' lament for their lost homeland, demanded an encore of the piece. As encores were expressly forbidden by the government at the time, such a gesture would have been extremely significant. However, recent scholarship puts this to rest. Although the audience did indeed demand an encore, it was not for "Va, pensiero" but rather for the hymn Immenso Jehova, sung by the Hebrew slaves to thank God for saving His people. In light of these new revelations, Verdi's position as the musical figurehead of the Risorgimento has been correspondingly downplayed. It is interesting to note in this context that all but seven (his last operas) were created by Verdi whilst Milan, the capital of Lombardo Veneto, was an integral part of the Austrian Empire.

On the other hand, during rehearsals, workmen in the theater stopped what they were doing during "Va, pensiero" and applauded at the conclusion of this haunting melody while the growth of the "identification of Verdi's music with Italian nationalist politics" is judged to have begun in the summer of 1846 in relation to a chorus from Ernani in which the name of one of its characters, "Carlo", was changed to "Pio", a reference to Pope Pius IX's grant of an amnesty to political prisoners.

Verdi's 14th opera, La battaglia di Legnano, written while Verdi was living in Paris in 1848 (though he quickly traveled to Milan after news of the "Cinque Giornate" arrived there) seems to have been composed specifically as "an opera with a purpose" (as opera historian Charles Osborne describes it), but Osborne continues: "while parts of Verdi's earlier operas had frequently been taken up by the fighters of the Risorgimento ... this time the composer had given the movement its own opera".

After Italy was unified in 1861, many of Verdi's early operas were re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden Revolutionary messages that probably had not been intended by either the composer or librettist. Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan "Viva VERDI" was used as an acronym for Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia (Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy), referring to Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Sardinia.

The "Chorus of the Hebrews" (the English title for "Va, pensiero") has another appearance in Verdi folklore. Prior to Verdi's body's being driven from the cemetery to the official memorial service and its final resting place at the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, Arturo Toscanini conducted a chorus of 820 singers in "Va, pensiero". At the Casa, the "Miserere" from Il trovatore was sung.

Verdi was elected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1861 following a request of Prime Minister Cavour but in 1865 he resigned from the office. In 1874 he was named Senator of the Kingdom by King Victor Emmanuel II.

Musical style

Verdi's predecessors who influenced his music were Rossini, Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer and, most notably, Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante. Some strains in Aida suggest at least a superficial familiarity with the works of the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, whom Franz Liszt, after his tour of the Russian Empire as a pianist, popularized in Western Europe.

Throughout his career, Verdi rarely utilized the high C in his tenor arias, citing the fact that the opportunity to sing that particular note in front of an audience distracts the performer before and after the note appears. However, he did provide high Cs to Duprez in Jérusalem and to Tamberlick in the original version of La forza del destino. The high C, often-heard in the aria "Di quella pira" from Il trovatore, does not appear in Verdi's score.

Verdi himself once said, "Of all composers, past and present, I am the least learned." He hastened to add, however, "I mean that in all seriousness, and by learning I do not mean knowledge of music."

However, it would be incorrect to assume that Verdi underestimated the expressive power of the orchestra or failed to use it to its full capacity where necessary. Moreover, orchestral and contrapuntal innovation is characteristic of his style: for instance, the strings producing a rapid ascending scale in Monterone's scene in Rigoletto accentuate the drama, and, in the same opera, the chorus humming six closely grouped notes backstage portrays, very effectively, the brief ominous wails of the approaching tempest. Verdi's innovations are so distinctive that other composers do not use them; they remain, to this day, some of Verdi's signatures.

Verdi was one of the first composers who insisted on patiently seeking out plots to suit his particular talents. Working closely with his librettists and well aware that dramatic expression was his forte, he made certain that the initial work upon which the libretto was based was stripped of all "unnecessary" detail and "superfluous" participants, and only characters brimming with passion and scenes rich in drama remained.

Many of his operas, especially the later ones from 1851 onward, are a staple of the standard repertoire. With the possible exception of Giacomo Puccini, no composer of Italian opera has managed to match Verdi's popularity.

Legacy

The final scene of the opera Risorgimento!

Giuseppe Verdi Monument, New York-detail (photo:Paul Klenk)

Verdi has been the subject of a number of cultural works. These include the 1938 film directed by Carmine Gallone, Giuseppe Verdi, starring Fosco Giachetti; the 1982 miniseries, The Life of Verdi, directed by Renato Castellani, where Verdi was played by Ronald Pickup, with narration by Burt Lancaster in the English version; and the 1985 play After Aida (a play-with-music similar to Amadeus). He is a character in the 2011 opera Risorgimento! by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero, written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification of 1861.

There are three music conservatories, the Milan Conservatory and those in Turin and Como, and many theatres named after Verdi in Italy. There is a Giuseppe Verdi Monument in Verdi Square in Manhattan, in the USA.

The towns of Verdi, Nevada and Verdi, California which straddle the state line were named after Verdi by Charles Crocker, founder of the Central Pacific Railroad, when he pulled a slip of paper from a hat and read the name of the Italian opera composer in 1868. Verdi, Minnesota is named both for the composer and the green fields surrounding the town.

A relatively young impact crater on the planet Mercury was named after Verdi in 1979 by the International Astronomical Union and sometimes called "Joe Green" by NASA.

Verdi's name literally translates as "Joseph Green" in English (although verdi is the plural form of "green"). Musical comedian Victor Borge often referred to the famous composer as "Joe Green" in his act, saying that "Giuseppe Verdi" was merely his "stage name". The same joke-translation is mentioned in Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun by Patrick Redfern to Hercule Poirot – a prank which inadvertently gives Poirot the answer to the murder.

See also

• The Life of Verdi, a 1982 television miniseries

References

Notes

Sources

• Baldini, Gabriele, (trans. Roger Parker) (1980), The Story of Giuseppe Verdi: Oberto to Un Ballo in Maschera. Cambridge, et al: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29712-5
• Balthazar, Scott E. (ed.) (2004), The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-63535-6
• Black, John (1984), The Italian Romantic Libretto: A Study of Salvadore Cammarano, Edinburgh University Press, 1984 ISBN 978-0-85224-463-0 ISBN 0-85224-463-0
• Budden, Julian (1984), The Operas of Verdi, Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-31058-1.
• Budden, Julian (1984). The Operas of Verdi, Volume 2 (3rd ed.). London: Cassell. ISBN 0-19-816262-6.
• Budden, Julian (1984). The Operas of Verdi, Volume 3 (3rd ed.). London: Cassell. ISBN 0-19-816263-4.
• Budden, Julian (1996), Verdi. New York: Schirmer Books (Master Musicians Series). ISBN 0028646169 ISBN 9780028646169
• Casini, Claudio (1985), Verdi, Milan: Rusconi, 1982 ISBN 978-88-18-70061-9 (in Italian); Königstein: Athenäum, 1985 ISBN 3-7610-8377-7 (in German)
• Chusid, Martin, (Ed.) (1997), Verdi’s Middle Period, 1849 to 1859, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-10658-6 ISBN 0-226-10659-4
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• De Van, Gilles (trans. Gilda Roberts) (1998), Verdi's Theater: Creating Drama Through Music. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1998 ISBN 0-226-14369-4 (hardback), ISBN 0-226-14370-8
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• Hunt, Lynn (2009). The Making of the West (3rd ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN 978-0-312-46510-0.
• Martin, George (1984), Verdi: His Music, Life and Times, New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1986 ISBN 0-396-08196-7
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• Osborne, Charles (1969) , The Complete Opera of Verdi, New York: Da Capo Press, Inc. ISBN 0-306-80072-1
• Parker, Roger (1998), "Verdi, Giuseppe" in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Four. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• Parker, Roger (1998), "Due Foscari, I" in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. 1. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
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• Polo, Claudia (2004), Immaginari verdiani. Opera, media e industria culturale nell'Italia del XX secolo, Milano: BMG/Ricordi. (in Italian)
• Rosen, David (1995), Verdi: Requiem, Cambridge: Cambridge Music Handbooks. ISBN 978-0-521-39767-4
• Schonberg, Harold C. (1997). The Lives of the Great Composers. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-03857-2. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
• Tintori, Giampiero (1983), Guida all'ascolto di Giuseppe Verdi, Milano: Mursia. (in Italian)
• Toscanini, Arturo (Ed. Harvey Sachs) (2002), The letters of Arturo Toscanini, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-40405-4
• Walker, Frank (1982), The Man Verdi, New York: Knopf, 1962, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-87132-0 (link to full text)
• Werfel, Franz and Stefan, Paul (1973), Verdi: The Man and His Letters, New York: Vienna House. ISBN 0-8443-0088-8

Verdi's life in and around Busseto

• Associazione Amici di Verdi (ed.), Con Verdi nella sua terra, Busseto, 1997 (en icon}}
• "Busetto. Terra di Verdi": website of the Comune di Busetto, with information on many aspects of local life and events taking place.
• Maestrelli, Maurizio, Guida alla Villa e al Parco (in Italian), publication of Villa Verdi, 2001
• Mordacci, Alessandra, An Itinerary of the History and Art in the Places of Verdi, Busseto: Busseto Tourist Office, 2001 (in English)
• Villa Verdi: the Visit and Villa Verdi: The Park; the Villa; the Room, publications of the Villa Verdi. (in English)
• Villa Verdi: Offical website (in English)

Verdi's bust outside the Teatro Massimo in Palermo

Giuseppe Verdi in Vanity Fair (1879)

Other refs-sources== Viva VERDI slogan

• < r e f >Parker 1998, p. 942</ref>
• < r e f >Budden 1973, Vol. 3, p. 80</ref>

Antonio Cagnoni

Antonio Cagnoni (Godiasco, February 8, 1828 - Bergamo, April 30, 1896) was an Italian composer. Son of John, medical, and Serafina Nobili, "gentle woman and cultured", known for the works, his works are characterized by the use of leitmotifs and mildly dissonant harmonies. Besides music for the stage, he wrote a small amount of sacred music, in particular a Requiem in 1888. He also produced the third movement, Quid sum miser, the Messa per Rossini, a collective made up of thirteen composers in honor of Gioacchino Rossini. [1]

Contents [hide] 1 Life and works 2 Compositions 3 Notes 4 Bibliography 5 External links Life and Works [edit | edit wikitext]

He studied composition at first privately in Voghera, then at the Milan Conservatory, where his first three works, Rosalia San Miniato (1845), The two ladyfingers (1846), and Don Bucephalus (1847), were represented while still a student. The latest work, in particular, was very well received and had productions in various theaters, including the Teatro Regio di Parma and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. [2]

Compose later other 16 works and a pastiche, achieving success especially with Michael Perrin (1864), Claudia (1866), A whim of a Woman (1870), Father Martin (1871) and Francesca da Rimini (1878). The latest work, King Lear, was completed in 1895 but was performed only in 2009 at the Festival della Valle d'Itria. [3]

As well as composer, Cagnoni was choirmaster at the cathedral before Vigevano, from 1852 to 1879, and later at the Cathedral of Novara, from 1879 to 1888. In 1888 he became director of the Civic Musical Institute of Bergamo, retaining this office until to death.

Carafa

French WP

Second son of Giovanni Carafa, Prince of Colobrano and Duke of Alvito, Michele Carafa received a solid musical education. In 1802, he composed his first opera, Il Fantasma, which is given in 1805 in the theater of his stepfather, Prince Caramanico. In 1806 he moved to Paris, where he took lessons in composition of Luigi Cherubini and Friedrich Kalkbrenner piano lessons.

Nevertheless, it is warned by his father to give up music for a military career and became lieutenant of hussars in the French army. Captured at Campotenese in 1806, he was released and participated in the expedition to Sicily, where he became captain.

Back in 1808 in Naples, he married Antoinette Aubenton (or Daubenton) and resumed his musical studies under the direction of Fenaroli. Still under paternal pressure it follows Joachim Murat in the Russian campaign. After the battle of Ostrovno, he was awarded the Legion of Honour by Napoleon himself and made a baron of the Kingdom of Italy.

The restoration of the Bourbons of Naples result in forfeiture of the property of Carafa and the end of the military career of Michele Enrico. In 1814, he gives the Teatro del Fondo Il Vascello of occidente and Gabriella di Vergy in 1816 on a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. The work won equal success to that of Rossini's Otello, given the same year in the same theater.

His music is characterized by a certain ease in a few melodies and brilliant orchestration, in an era dominated by Rossini, Bellini, Auber, Halévy, he is also a friend. Dedicated now as an opera composer, he returned in 1821 to Paris, where he triumphed with Joan of Arc in Orleans, and The Valet Chamber in 1823.

It ends in Venice with his Italian career he bet and settled permanently in Paris where, despite setbacks, he had success with Masaniello (Moreau booklet and Lafortelle), taken 136 times at the Opera-Comique. This is the peak of his career: the confrontation with the works of Rossini and Donizetti is not made in his favor.

He obtained French citizenship in 1834. He was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts at the Institute at the headquarters of Lesueur in 1837 and appointed Director of Military Music Gymnasium in 1838. From 1840 to 1858 he taught counterpoint and composition at the Paris Conservatoire. His latest work is represented Thérèse, in 1838, when he was already dedicated exclusively to teaching. One of his last contributions to the Opera is the French adaptation of Rossini's Semiramide, for which Rossini abandons her copyright in recognition of their long friendship.

Paralyzed in 1867, he died in Paris on July 26, 1872, at the age of 84.

Italian

Born as Michael Henry Francis Aloisio Vincent de Paul Carafa Colobrano, was the second son of John Carafa, Prince of Colobrano and Duke of Alvito. Michele received a solid musical education and in 1802 he composed his first opera, The Phantom, which was performed in 1805 in the theater of his stepfather, Prince of Caramanico. In these years, he attended as a student of the Military Academy of the Nunziatella of Naples. In 1806 he moved to Paris, where he took lessons in composition by Luigi Cherubini and piano lessons with Friedrich Kalkbrenner.

However, his father asked him to give up music for a military career and became a lieutenant in the French army of the Hussars. Taken prisoner in Campotenese in 1806, he was released and took part in the expedition to Sicily, where he became captain.

He returned to Naples in 1808, he married Antoinette d'Aubenton (or Daubenton) and resumed his musical studies under the direction of Fedele Fenaroli. Even under the pressure of parents, followed Joachim Murat in the Russian campaign. After the Battle of Ostrovno was decorated with the Legion of Honor by Napoleon who also made Baron of the Kingdom of Italy.

The restoration of the Bourbons in Naples led to the decline of the Carafa and the end of his military career. In 1814, the Theatre Fund was performed his work The vessel of the West and in 1816 Gabriella Vergy libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. The work won a success equal to that of Rossini's Otello, represented in that year in the same theater.

His music is characterized by a certain ease in the melodies and orchestration monotonous in an era dominated by Rossini, Bellini, Auber, Halévy who was also a friend of his. Consecrated as an opera composer, he returned to Paris in 1821, where he triumphed with Jeanne d'Arc à Orléans and Le Valet de Chambre in 1823. He closed his career in Venice Italian Peerage and moved permanently to Paris, where despite some failures , got a full success with Masaniello ( libretto by Moreau and Lafortelle ) repeated 136 times at the Opéra - Comique . This was the culmination of his career : the comparison with the works of Rossini and Donizetti is however not in his favor .

He obtained French citizenship in 1834 and was elected a member of the Académie des beaux -arts which took the lead , instead of Lesueur , in 1837. He was then appointed director of the Gymnasium of military music in 1838. From 1840 to 1858, he taught counterpoint and composition at the Paris Conservatoire . His last work was Therese, in 1838 , when it was already dedicated exclusively to teaching . One of his last contributions to the work was the French adaptation of Rossini's Semiramide , as the latter had given its copyright in recognition of their long friendship

Covent Garden Cinema

BP big screen - http://www.roh.org.uk/about/bp-big-screens

1,500+ cinemas | 35+ countries http://www.roh.org.uk/cinemas

BP Big Screen at Trafalgar Square

http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/press/press-releases/bp-big-screens-2013---free-ballet-and-opera-beamed-live-to-22-lo.html

BP have supported the Big Screen live relays of opera and ballet performances direct from Covent Garden since 2000 and last year announced their commitment to a further five years of sponsorship. The generous ongoing support of BP has enabled the Royal Opera House to reach as many people as possible around the country with live performances, allowing them to experience the very best of opera and ballet in their home town, for free. As always, BP has combined support for the screenings with studies and analysis of the benefits of the screenings and associated education work.

locations

Trafalgar Square, London | High House Production Park, Purfleet | Canary Wharf, London | Duthie Park, Aberdeen | City Hall, Donegall Square, Belfast | Centenary Square, Bradford | Millennium Square, Bristol | The Hayes, Cardiff | Transport Museum, Hales St, Coventry | Talaton House, East Devon | Lyric Square, Hammersmith | Millennium Square, Leeds | Exchange Square, Manchester | Centre Square, Middlesbrough | The Piazza, Plymouth | Guildhall Square, Portsmouth | MediaCityUK, Salford | Castle Square, Swansea | Wharf Green, Swindon | General Gordon Square, Woolwich | Walthamstow Town Square, Waltham Forest

Collab with exhibs

The Royal Opera House presents more than 400 performances at the iconic Covent Garden theatre in London each year and reaches an audience of more than 710,000. Beyond that, people around the world enjoy our work through our ROH Live Cinema Season, Royal Ballet Live, Royal Opera Live, BP Big Screens and other online and interactive projects. The Royal Opera House also plays a leading role in education, community engagement, skills development, professional training and cultural regeneration in the UK.

"Cinemark and Arts Alliance Present the Royal Opera House in Cinemark Theatres across Latin America", investors.cinemark.com

Anouncement 2008

Nigel Reynolds, "Live opera and ballet to be shown at cinemas', The Telegraph (London), 20 March 2008 on telegraph.co.uk

Live opera and ballet performances from Covent Garden are to be shown in muliplex cinemas across the country from later this year for as little as £12 a ticket.

In a move to shake off its "elitist" champagne-and-dinner-jackets image, live and recorded productions by the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet are to be shown regularly in 60 or more cinemas. The deal comes at the conclusion of almost five years of talks with performing unions to give singers and dancers extra payments for the recordings Covent Garden has signed contracts with two cinema chains in this country, Odeon, which has 106 cinemas, and Cityscreen Picturehouse, with 16. Related Articles £10 for best seats in the House 07 Apr 2004 Royal Opera House embraces downloads 31 May 2007 A number of independent cinemas are also expected to sign up and separate deals have also been struck to show Covent Garden's productions in Europe and America. The opera house, which plans to film 14 productions a year, said the transmissions would be of the highest quality with High Definition digital technology and Surround Sound. The first release will be a recording of The Marriage of Figaro, starring Erwin Schrott and Miah Persson, shot in 2006 and which will be followed by the Covent Garden favourite Darcey Bussell in the ballet, Sylvia. Live cinematic transmissions are expected to start in the autumn. "I think it's going to be big," said Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House. "I want to get opera out there. For people who can't come here it's a good thing. they are paying their taxes (to us) in part." The long negotiations with trade unions - Covent Garden refused to disclose the cost of the payments or the amount it will also have to pay the big-name singers and dancers - meant that it was pipped at the post on opera transmissions. Odeon has recently shown three performances from Glyndebourne at a limited number of screens and the Picturehouse chain has been carrying live transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York for the past two years. Both companies reported 90 per cent capacity and said they thought there was big demand for more. Ballet productions, likely to bring in family audiences, have never been shown in cinemas before. Ticket prices for live transmissions may prove a bone of contention. Mr Hall hoped they could be kept down to £12 but Picturehouse, which says satellite time must be booked, said they be nearer £25. It comes as top price seats for regular performances at Covent Garden have broken the £200 barrier for the first time. In a deal to provide more cheap seats in the house, top priced seats for three opera performances next year - La Traviata, Tosca and The Flying Dutchman - will rise from £195 to £210. The hike means that a night out for couple having dinner and best seats would leave little change from £600. The Royal Ballet also said that it planned to go ahead with performances in Beijing as part of the run-up to the Olympics this summer despite the call by Tibetan militants to boycott the games. The Royal Ballet has been invited to give the showpiece opening performance in the cultural olympiad immediately before the games start at Beijing's new National Centre for Performing Arts close to Tiananman Square. Last month, the Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg quit as the unpaid artistic director to the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing because of China's backing for the regime in Sudan. Monica Mason, director of the Royal Ballet, said that there had been discussions inside the company about its visit but it had been decided that it was important to maintain artistic links with China despite the violence in Tibet.

3D presentations

Vanessa Thorpe, "Cinemas open their screens to opera and ballet", The Guardian (London), 4 March 2012 on theguardian.com