Giuseppe Verdi (1 gen 1813 anni – 1 gen 1901 anni)

Descrizione:

an Italian opera composer. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Gioachino Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him.

Verdi: Upholding the Italian Tradition
1. Wagner’s influence has made him seem the more important composer according to the
way music history has been written, but that does not mean he is better.
2. During his lifetime, Verdi was generally the more famous composer.
3. Verdi saw a major distinction between the North (“sons of Bach”) and South (“sons of Palestrina).
4. Germans had dominated instrumental music and Italians vocal, but Wagner changed that.
a. Verdi was concerned about the decline of Italian music.

Early Verdi: The Galley Years
1. Verdi worked as a staff composer in major Italian opera house 1839–53.
2. Because he was at the beck and call of others, writing on commission, Verdi likened
these years to being in the galley of a Roman ship.
3. Italian opera was pretty much standardized, but each had its own style called a tinta.
4. Nabucco (1842) brought him to national prominence, and in 1844–47 he composed
eight operas.

“Viva Verdi!”: Risorgimento Politics
1. Verdi became the most performed Italian opera composer in the mid-century, during
the Risorgimento—the period when Italy struggled for national unity.
2. One author, Giuseppe Mazzini, argued that the long-suffering Romantic hero was
wretched, and the proper role of literature was “to soothe the suffering soul by teaching it to rise up toward God through Humanity.”
3. Opera could inspire the educated classes to action by providing a political conscience.
4. Verdi’s style enforced these ideals because it sought to make tangible cruelty, strife, force, and aggression.

The Popular Style: “Va, Pensiero”
1. Verdi’s operas included large choral numbers that were to rouse the listener.
2. The characteristic example of this type of chorus is “Va, Pensiero” from the third act of
Nabucco (aka the "Hebrew Chorus").
3. Rossini said it was a “grand aria” for multiple singers.
4. A new type of singer developed during these years, one with a much larger voice.
a. The tenor voice in particular changed, becoming the tenore di forza with the
entire strength of the full voice carried throughout the entire range.

Tragicomedy in the Shakespearean Manner
1. Verdi dominated the librettist of Ernani, Piave, which was a reversal of the typical
relationship.
2. Verdi sought dramatic realism in his operas.
a. Like Shakespeare, Verdi merged elements of all existing dramatic genres into a single idiom known as “tragicomedy.”
b. In this regard, Verdi differs significantly from Wagner, who sought to align with Greek aesthetics with epic subjects.
3. Verdi’s final operas were based on Shakespeare plays Otello and Falstaff.

Il Trovatore and La Traviata
1. Verdi wrote three masterpieces in three years: Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata.
2. Il trovatore is the most conventional of the three.
3. More info under "La Traviata" tab.

A Job Becomes a Calling
1. After these operas, Verdi turned away from the cantabile/cabaletta pairing into a more
realistic flow.
2. Pathos became a major factor in Italian opera.
3. He wrote two operas in the French grand-opera tradition.
4. He received a commission from the tsar for La forza del destino and wrote Aida for the
opening of the Suez Canal, performed in Cairo.
5. After being accused of imitating Wagner, Verdi retired and became a farmer.
6. He was lured out of retirement to compose operas based on Shakespeare, with the librettist Boito (with whom he revised Simon Boccanegra).



KEY TERMS:

tinta - "tint" or "color;" a term which Verdi used for characterising elements of an individual opera score

Risorgimento - period when Italy was struggling for national unity

tenore di forza - a sturdier voice than the lyric tenor, but not as powerful or baritonal as the tenore robusto

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