Giuseppe Verdi left behind a legacy of operas that have stood the test of time and left an indelible mark on the world of western culture.

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONE OF
OPERA’S GREATS: GIUSEPPE VERDI

2. Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi
was born October 9th, 1813 and
died January 27th 1901.

3. He was an Italian Romantic
composer mainly recognized for his
operas.

4. Verdi is considered one of the
preeminent opera composers of the
nineteenth century.

5. His productions are regularly
performed in opera houses
throughout the world
and, surpassing the boundaries of
the genre,

6. and a couple of his themes have
long since been embodied in
popular culture.

7. Verdi was born the son of Carlo
Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in
Le Roncole.

8. As a child, Verdi and his parents
moved from Le Roncole to
Busseto, where the future
composer’s education was greatly
influenced by trips to the large
library belonging to the local Jesuit
school.

9. Busseto was where Verdi was given
his first lessons in composition.

10. When Verdi was twenty, he went to
Milan to continue his education.

11. Milan’s beaumonde association
convinced him that he should
pursue a career as a theatre
composer.

12. Verdi’s first production, Oberto, was
held in Milan’s La Scala in
Nobermber of 1839.

13. The production was received
favorably by theatergoers and
critics, after which Bartolomeo
Merelli, La Scala’s
impresario, offered Verdi his first
contract for three more works.

14. Thus starting his illustrious
career as a composer.

15. While he was working on his second
opera, Un giorno di regno, Verdi’s
wife passed away.

16. Along with his second opera
flopping, Verdi fell into a deep
depression and vowed to give up
musical composition forever.

17. However, Merelli convinced him to
write Nabucco, and its opening
performance in March of 1842 made
Verdi famous.

18. Verdi remarried a couple of years
later to a soprano by the name of
Giuseppina Strepponi.

19. Between 1855 and 1870 there was
an flood of prolific Verdi operas:

20. among them were such staples as
Un ballo in maschera (1859), La
forza del destino (1862), a revised
version of Macbeth (1865), and his
grand opera Aida (1869).

21. During the following years, Verdi
worked on revising a couple of his
earlier scores, which became new
versions of La forza del destino, Don
Carlos, and Simon Boccanegra.

22. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONE OF
OPERA’S GREATS: GIUSEPPE VERDI