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    Opera 101 Part III
    Opera 101 Part III
    Opera 101 Part III
    Ebook100 pages3 hours

    Opera 101 Part III

    By Arthur W. Ritchie

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    About this ebook

    Part III of the series of introductory works on opera deals exclusively with Verdi and his works:Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera, Aida, Otello, and Falstaff.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArthur W. Ritchie
    Release dateSep 5, 2013
    ISBN9781301032938
    Opera 101 Part III

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      Book preview

      Opera 101 Part III - Arthur W. Ritchie

      Giuseppe Verdi

      Rigoletto

      Il Trovatore

      La Traviata

      Un Ballo in Maschera

      Aïda

      Otello

      Falstaff

      Born: After almost nine years of marriage, the first of Carlo and Luigia [née Uttini] Verdi’s two children was born in Le Roncole, Italy, on October 10, 1813, and named, Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. But, as the town was under French occupation, his baptismal certificate reads: Joseph Fortunin Francois Verdi. And while he carried a passport from the age of 18 that prominently displayed his birth date, in old age he told Countess Clara Maffei that, until he was 63, he’d believed his mother who had told him he was born on October 9, 1814.

      As his biographer, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz wrote: Because so much of what Verdi said to Lessona and Giulio Ricordi is questionable, little indeed is known about …

      His only sibling, a sister, Giuseppa Francesca, died at 16. [1816-1833]

      ‘Verdi’ is the Italian word for ‘green,’ the same Latin root give us the word ‘verdant.’ Aïda was composed by Joe Green. Nah. Loses something in the translation. But after Nabucco, the story of Nebuchadnezzar with its grand slaves’ chorus, Va pensiero, his name took on political significance as the acronym: V-E-R-D-I: Vittorio Emmanuele Re d’Italia — Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy!

      Death: Unable to bear living at his estate, Sant’ Agata, after the death of his beloved second wife, Giuseppina, he moved into Milan’s, Albergo Milano, hotel where he simply lost his will to live. At his bedside when he died was his beloved librettist, Arrigo Boito.

      On January 21, 1901, a housekeeper mentioned that he was fastening the buttons of his waistcoat in the wrong holes. What’s a button here or there? he replied. Then he fell back on his bed in a coma from which he never recovered. Officially, he suffered a stroke and died six days later about 2:45 AM on January 27 at age 87. In fact, he had died years earlier of a broken heart. Out of respect during his final days, the Milanese placed straw on the streets around his hotel that the sound of wagon wheels might not disturb him.

      As he specified in his will, I wish my funeral to be extremely simple and to take place either at daybreak or at the hour of the ‘Ave Maria,’ without either music or song. I do not desire publication of any of the conventional death announcements. On the day after my death, 1000 lire should be distributed to the poor of the village of Sant’ Agata. He also ordered that the score of his Te Deum of April 1895, be buried with him. He rests in Milan at the retirement home he established for musicians, the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti.

      His will stipulates that the ratio of the residents be 60 men to 40 women and that they be Italian citizens 65 or older who had been professional musicians before coming to poverty in their old age. Composers were given preference followed by singers, conductors and orchestral musicians

      His will left the balance of his vast fortune — he died one of the richest composers of his age — to the grand-daughter of his Uncle Marco, Filomena Maria Verdi, [Fifao] who had entered his household toward the end of his life.

      His tomb was designed by Camillo Boito, the brother of his librettist, Arrigo Boito.

      Nicknames: The librettist, Piave, addressed letters to him as: Adorable Bear. Others wrote of him as, The Bear of Busseto. While Verdi was living in Paris and pasting together another opera, his wife, Peppina, wrote letters to him as My Dear Pasticcio. He mocked those calling him The Swan of Busseto by naming his huge dog, Leda.

      Physical Characteristics: His passport of 1832, when he was 19, describes him as: ‘… tall; high forehead, gray eyes, black eyebrows, chestnut brown hair; a small mouth, thick beard, [He sported a Republican beard from puberty to the end of his life] aquiline nose, and pale skin pitted with smallpox scars.’

      His biographer, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, has changed his eye color to ‘intense blue-green’ and added that his chestnut-brown hair was course and wavy, and that his complexion was very light.

      Personality: Verdi was an equal opportunity hater, although in a painfully shy way. [His piano playing amazed some considering that his hand seemed to be missing fingers when he waved at them.]

      … my mind is black, he wrote while in his 20’s after his first wife’s death, always black, and will be so until I have finished with this career which I abhor … It will always be black. Happiness does not exist for me. And time didn’t mellow him. Years later he’d be too busy to meet England’s Queen Victoria. [They later shared newspaper headlines by dying on the same day, January 21, 1901.]

      This ultimate bundle of contradictions kept a huge picture labeled Verdi’s Birthplace on prominent display in his home — while denying he’d been born there. He disowned his parents at an early age; considered all honors ridiculous; wrote the church off as superstition; never voted for anything but always voted against; he was a totally political animal not only cognizant of his significance, but demanding respect for his humility.

      Financially unable to apply for admission to the Milan Conservatory until four years over their age limit, he asked for a competence waiver [allowed under Article 10 of the school’s bylaws] only to be rejected as not being gifted within the style of the school. Years later this same school asked if they might name their new conservatory after him. They would not have me young, he told a friend, they cannot have me old.

      Across the envelope containing this rejection, he wrote, In the year 1832 — 22 June Giuseppe Verdi’s request to be admitted to the Milan Conservatory was rejected. He kept this in his desk next to his writing paper for the rest of his life.

      There is little music in my house. he wrote when he was 55, I never go to a music library, never visit a publisher to examine a piece. I keep abreast of the better contemporary works by attending the theater occasionally. I am the least erudite of composers, past or present. Musically, he was his own man.

      Hobbies: Verdi’s temporary passion for collecting the autographs of famous men reached its peak in 1858. He was also a lifelong aficionado of cigars. A postscript

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