Verdi, Giuseppe

Verdi, Giuseppe (1813-1901), Italian composer.

Giuseppe Verdi was the son of a poor village inn-keeper.

A rich merchant paid for him to have music lessons and later friends collected enough money to send him to Milan.

The Academy of Music there would not have him as a student but he received lessons at the famous opera house, La Scala.

Afterwards, Verdi began writing operas and Nabucco, performed in 1842, made him famous.

His most popular works are Rigoletto (1851), 77 Trovatore (1852) and La Traviata (1853).

His later works include Aida (1871) and his two masterpieces, Otello (1887), and Falstaff (1893) which was written when he was eighty years old.

His Requiem Mass is widely known and frequently performed.

See Verdi With a Vengeance: An Energetic Guide to the Life and Complete Works of the King of Opera ~ William Berger