Italian Historical Society of Americanewsletter
Italian Historical Society of America Newsletter AUGUST 2015 BY JANICE THERESE MANCUSO VOLUME 11, NUMBER 8 Tutto Italiano Benvenuto a Tutto Italiano Aida, Don Carlo, Falstaff, La Traviata, Macbeth, Nabucco, Ortello, Rigoletto – some of the most popular operas in the world today – written, along with at least 20 others, by Giuseppe Verdi. Born in 1813 in the small village of Le Roncole (region of Emilia- Romagna), Verdi showed musical talent at a young age. When his family moved to the nearby town of Busseto, he gained support from the music director of the church and later, Antonio Barezzi, a local businessman. In 1932, Verdi applied to the Conservatorio di Milano but was rejected, with one reason being he was too old. (The school of music is now named Conservatorio G. Verdi di Milano.) With funding from Barezzi, Verdi stayed in Milan for three years, studying and attending performances at La Scala. Upon his return to Busseto, Verdi took the position of music director and married his childhood sweetheart, Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his benefactor. He stayed in Busseto for three years, and then, with a desire to seek a career as a composer of opera, moved back to Milan, taking his wife and two children with him. His first opera, Oberto, opened at La Scala with great success; and he was contracted to compose three more works. His second opera was not well received; Verdi had lost his children and wife to illnesses and it greatly affected his work. He was persuaded to write a third opera, and Nabucco premiered in 1842 to rave reviews.
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