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Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the modern province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron named Antonio Barezzi.
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politics · Italian opera composer (1813–1901) · composer · conductor · writer · politician · also Giuseppe Verdi, Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, Verdi
Born 10 April 1813 · Died 27 January 1901 · Q7317
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La Donna E Mobile Rigoletto
Triumphal March from Aida
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From the ages of 13 to 18 I wrote a motley assortment of pieces: marches for band by the hundred, perhaps as many little sinfonie that were used in church, in the theatre and at concerts, five or six concertos and sets of variations for pianoforte, which I played myself at concerts, many serenades, cantatas (arias, duets, very many trios) and various pieces of church music, of which I remember only a Stabat Mater.
Copiare il vero può essere una buona cosa, ma inventare il vero è meglio, molto meglio.
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“From the ages of 13 to 18 I wrote a motley assortment of pieces: marches for band by the hundred, perhaps as many little sinfonie that were used in church, in the theatre and at concerts, five or six concertos and sets of variations for pianoforte, which I played myself at concerts, many serenades, cantatas (arias, duets, very many trios) and various pieces of church music, of which I remember only a Stabat Mater.”
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wvtf.org: Opera Roanoke Presents: GIUSEPPE VERDI'S LA TRAVIATA
The Guardian: Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra/Wilson review – white-hot intensity as Verdi Requiem shakes St Paul’s vast dome
NJArts.net: NJ Lyric Opera will present works by Verdi, Bizet, Rossini and Gounod at Kelsey Theatre festival
WHRO: Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Luisa Miller’ from Vienna State Opera
MondoSonoro: Verdi Macbeth 2-CD Box Set Leonard Warren Leinsdorf RCA Victor 4516-2-RG Opera
YouTube: R. MUTI conducts for the last time VERDI REQUIEM - SALZBURG 2026
elDiario.es: El Palacio de Festivales arrancará su nueva programación el 17 de septiembre con la ópera 'La Traviata' de Verdi
Filtración.es: ‘La Traviata’, de Giuseppe Verdi, abrirá el día 17 de septiembre esta nueva programación del Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria
WRTI: Opera on WRTI: Giuseppe Verdi's 'Luisa Miller'
Beckmesser: Critica: Riccardo Muti en plenitud, firma un inolvidable y telúrico "Requiem" de Verdi en Salzburgo
Gobierno de Guatemala: El Réquiem de Verdi llena de emoción la Gran Sala del CCMAA
La Nación: Otello: de las “famosas” puestas de José Cura y “la música en tres dimensiones” a la nueva y ambiciosa producción de la ópera de Verdi
The Oklahoman: Get a glimpse as Painted Sky Opera brings Verdi's 'La Traviata' back to OKC
Türkiye Today: Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival to open with Verdi's 'Attila' in September
Mshale: Andrea Bocelli, Pavarotti, Bryan Adams - Verdi La Traviata Savoia Scafatese (DiUS7J1rVK)
Mshale: Verdi: Rigoletto, Act III: La Donna è Mobile Moon (W2wBEe6k7b)
Gobierno de Guatemala: El Réquiem de Verdi llega a la Gran Sala
Faro de Vigo: Verdi toma Castrelos con la épica de ‘Nabucco’
lasprovincias.es: Coro Virtual 'A Piacere' en Rafelbunyol (Valencia) canta el Coro del Yunque (o de gitanos) de Il Trovatore de Verdi
Mshale: Verdi: Aida From Bregenz Festival Ufo Files (bhONBhIL2X)
Kinoafisha.info: Stills and Photos from The Verdi: Simon Boccanegra, 2019 at Kinoafisha
El Sol de México: María Li representa a Sonora en Sicilia, Italia, con su trabajo estelar en “La Traviata” de Giuseppe Verdi
Gobierno de Guatemala: El Coro Nacional se prepara para el Réquiem de Verdi
Diario de Centro América: Preparan la Messa da Requiem de Guiseppe Verdi
Victor DeRenzi finished a project known as "The Verdi Cycle
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The pop singer Katy Perry appeared at the Grammy Award wearing a dress designed by Valentino, embroidered with the music of "Dell'invito trascorsa è già l'ora" from the start of La traviata
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The bicentenary of his birth was widely celebrated around the world with television and radio broadcasts and live performances
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Was celebrated around the world, both in performances and broadcasts
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Anthony Tommasini ranked Verdi eighth on his list of the ten greatest composers of classical music: "That a new production of a Verdi opera, like Willy Decker’s spare, boldly reimagined staging of La Traviata at the Metr
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Of Un ballo in maschera as A Masked Ball, directed by Calixto Bieito, including "satanic sex rituals, homosexual rape, [and] a demonic dwarf", got a general critical thumbs down
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Released album “Requiem & Operatic Choruses”.
Released album “Verdi, Borodin: String Quartets”.
Released album “Arias and Duets”.
Released album “La forza del destino”.
Released album “Bel Canto Arias”.
Released album “Il trovatore (Highlights)”.
Released album “Attila”.
Released album “Il trovatore”.
Released album “Simon Boccanegra”.
Released album “Don Carlos”.
Released album “Aida: Highlights”.
Released album “Verdi Opera Choruses”.
Released album “Rigoletto”.
Released album “Streichquartett Nr. 10 Es-dur, op. 51 / Streichquartett e-moll”.
Released album “Beverly Sills Sings Verdi”.
Released album “Falstaff”.
Released album “Oberto”.
Released album “Opernchöre”.
Released album “Macbeth”.
Released album “Verdi Overtures”.
Released album “Kiri Te Kanawa: Verdi & Puccini”.
Released album “Favorite Arias and Love Duets”.
Released album “Verdi Ouvertures”.
Released album “Alzira”.
Released album “Aida”.
Released album “La traviata”.
Released album “José Carreras: Verdi · Donizetti · Rossini”.
Released album “Prologue to Mefistofele / Te Deum”.
Released album “Nabucco”.
Released album “Dramatic Coloratura”.
Released album “Sullivan: Pineapple Poll / Verdi: The Lady and the Fool”.
Released album “Der Troubadour”.
Released album “Requiem”.
Released album “José Carreras canta Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Mercadante, Ponchielli”.
Released album “Messa da Requiem”.
Released album “Presenting Sylvia Sass (Opera's Sensational New Star)”.
Released album “Opernchöre · Opera Choruses · Choeurs d’opéra”.
Released album “31 Tenor Arias”.
Released album “The Great Verdi Ballets”.
Released album “Maria Chiara Sings Verdi Arias”.
Released album “Giovanna d’Arco”.
Released album “I Lombardi”.
Released album “Ernani”.
Released album “Arien und Szenen aus Opern von Verdi”.
Released album “Don Carlo”.
Released album “Great Scenes from Verdi”.
Released album “Verdi · Bellini · Donizetti”.
Released album “Scenes from Verdi”.
Released album “String Quartets”.
Released album “Requiem / Quattro Pezzi Sacri”.
Released album “Un ballo in maschera”.
Released album “Luisa Miller”.
Released album “Callas Sings Verdi Arias”.
Released album “A Verdi Collaboration”.
Released album “Nilsson Sings Verdi”.
Released album “Otello”.
Released album “Operatic Arias”.
Released album “Overtures”.
The Instituto di Studi Verdiani (from 1989 the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani) was founded in Parma and became a leading centre for research and publication of Verdi studies, and in the 1970s the American Institute
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Released album “Aïda”.
Next to the Teatro Verdi built in his honour in the 1850s
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Died 1901-01-27.
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“Io non posso ammettere, né nei cantanti, né nei direttori la facoltà di creare, che come dissi prima, è un principio che conduce all'abisso.”
“Copiare il vero può essere una buona cosa, ma inventare il vero è meglio, molto meglio.”
“Gli artisti veramente superiori giudicano senza pregiudizi di scuole, di nazionalità, di tempo. Se gli artisti del Nord e del Sud hanno tendenze diverse, è bene siano diverse.”
“Si rinunci per moda, per smania di novità, per affettazione di scienza, si rinneghi l'arte nostra, il nostro istinto, quel nostro fare sicuro spontaneo naturale sensibile abbagliante di luce, è assurdo e stupido.”
“Não sou um compositor culto, mas sou experiente.”
“Tornate all'antico e sarà un progresso.”
“[A noi italiani la musica vocale; quella strumentale ai tedeschi]”
Was deeply upset at the assassination of King Umberto and sketched a setting of a poem in his memory, but was unable to complete it
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Awarded Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (1894).
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A song for the benefit of earthquake victims in Sicily, and from 1895 onwards planning, building and endowing a rest home for retired musicians in Milan, the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, and building a hospital at Villa
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Awarded Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1887).
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Is recorded as saying that, whilst "there was much to be admired in [Wagner's operas] Tannhäuser and Lohengrin
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More than 15 years after Aida, the operas of Verdi's (predeceased) contemporary Richard Wagner had begun their ascendancy in popular taste, and many sought or identified Wagnerian aspects in Verdi's latest composition
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Awarded Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (1880).
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Now known as the Villa Verdi, where he lived from 1851 until his death
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And remains the leading source for his early life and career
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The son of Verdi's friend and lawyer Angelo Carrara and her family became eventually the heirs of Verdi's estate
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Career landmark: senator of the Kingdom of Italy (1874–1876).
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Verdi was appointed a member of the Italian Senate, but did not participate in its activities
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Was his Requiem, scored for operatic forces but by no means an "opera in ecclesiastical dress" (the words in which Hans von Bülow condemned it before even hearing it)
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"I won't say [Verdi] is an atheist, but he is not much of a believer
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Verdi had been asked to compose a section for a Requiem mass in memory of Rossini
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That Rossini and his followers missed "the golden thread that binds all the parts together and, rather than a set of numbers without coherence, makes an opera"
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Both Verdi's father Carlo, with whom he had restored good relations, and his early patron and father-in-law Antonio Barezzi, died
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Was not a success, but he obtained a commission for a new work, Don Carlos, based on the play Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller
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Awarded Order of Saint Stanislaus (1862).
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Which deeply distressed him, he scarcely attended
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Many of Verdi's early operas were increasingly re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden revolutionary messages that perhaps had not been originally intended by either the composer or his librettists
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Career landmark: member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1865).
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The office of provincial council member to which he had been elected in absentia
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“[Since completing Ballo] I have not made any more music, I have not seen any more music, I have not thought anymore about music. I don”
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And spreading throughout Italy, the slogan "Viva VERDI" was used as an acronym for Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia (Long live Victor Emmanuel King of Italy), referring to Victor Emmanuel II
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Verdi was elected as a member of the new provincial council, and was appointed to head a group of five who would meet with King Vittorio Emanuele II in Turin
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Having achieved some fame and prosperity, Verdi began in 1859 to take an active interest in Italian politics.
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To take an active interest in Italian politics
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By the Italian critic Abramo Basevi, already distinguished four periods in Verdi's music
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Verdi complained: "Since Nabucco, you may say, I have never had one hour of peace
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“Was the fault mine or the singers”
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The nationalist leader Giuseppe Mazzini (whom Verdi had met in London the previous year) requested Verdi (who complied) to write a patriotic hymn
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It was heard in New York, in 1850 in Buenos Aires
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Awarded Knight of the Legion of Honour (1847).
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Were very specific about the amounts he was to receive for new works, first productions, musical arrangements, and so on
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In the chorus "Si ridesti il Leon di Castiglia" in Ernani, the battle hymn of the conspirators seeking freedom
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Purchased "Il Pulgaro", 62 acres (23 hectares) of farmland with a farmhouse and outbuildings, providing a home for his parents from May 1844
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And within six months had been performed at twenty other theatres in Italy, and also in Vienna
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At La Scala where it received a run of fifty-seven performances, and this led to a commission from Merelli for a new opera for the 1843 season
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The young composer asked for Massini's assistance to stage his opera in Milan
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Verdi became director of the Busseto school with a three-year contract
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Verdi soon found himself functioning as rehearsal director (for Rossini's La Cenerentola) and continuo player
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When he was 10, Verdi's parents arranged for the boy to attend school in Busseto, enrolling him in a Ginnasio—an upper school for boys—run by Don Pietro Seletti, while they continued to run their inn at Le Roncole
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Born 1813-04-10.
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