Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi
(10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901)
This preeminent Italian romantic composer was renowned for his political operas, many of which were censored. Born in Le Roncole in what was at the time a part of Napoleon's First French Empire, he was studying music by the age of seven. At the age of sixteen and was already composing and was made assistant organist at a nearby church. He took private lessons in Milan and later became the town music master in Busseto, where he married Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his patron. She died while he was composing his second opera, which was such a failure that he fell into depression and determined to give up composing. He was eventually convinced to return to it by impresario Bartolomeo Merelli for 'Nabucco' which became a massive success. His relationship with soprano Giuseppina Strepponi caused a scandal until they were married after living together for more than a decade. It was during this period that Verdi produced fourteen operas. He reflected in a letter to Countess Clara Maffei: "From Nabucco, you may say, I have never had one hour of peace. Sixteen years in the galleys."
Often his operas were censored. He would rewrite them and they would be huge successes. As Italian city states struggled with unification (le Risorgimento), Verdi's music was embraced for its inspirational qualities. Verdi became a member of his town's parliament and was later elected to the national parliament, eventually becoming a senator. He was one of a few composers to finish his life rich and famous. He would consider: "Of all composers, past and present, I am the least learned...I mean that in all seriousness, and by learning I do not mean knowledge of music."
"La donna è mobile" (The woman is fickle) from Rigoletto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCFEk6Y8TmM
"Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate", meaning "Fly, thought, on wings of gold" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcI7ecnUrU
"Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La Traviata (The Strayed Woman)
"Coro di zingari" from Il Trovatore (The Troubadour)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphAU7ubhqc
"Grand March" from Aida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjNMT9oKVJQ
La battaglia di Legnano
Messa da Requiem
Othello
Falstaff
