Anyone who is even a little versed in classical music knows the name of D. Verdi. The operas (a list of them will be considered in this article) of the great Italian composer still go on the stages of world theaters. Verdi is often called the Italian Tchaikovsky.
Consider in more detail the art of this musician.
The youth of the composer
Verdi was born in a small Italian village in 1813, but at that time its territory was considered part of France. His parents were poor, so they could not let his son seriously study music, although they believed that Giuseppe would still succeed.
The boy’s childhood and youth passed in the struggle for the right to receive a musician’s education, but often in this field he was unsuccessful: for example, he was not accepted among the students of the Milan Conservatory (which today bears the name of this greatest composer).
Verdi was lucky: he found a patron in the person of the merchant Antonio Barezzi. Antonio asked the young musician to become the teacher of his daughter Margarita. Young people fell in love and got married. However, the fate of their marriage was sad: Margarita gave birth to two children who died in infancy, and soon she died.
At this time, the young composer was working on his first opera.
First operas
Milan La Scala staged the composer's first opera, which was called Oberto, Count of Bonifacio. The production was approved by both critics and the public. The theater management signed a contract with the composer to write two more operas. Verdi's operas, written thanks to this contract, were called King for an Hour and Nabucco. The first was taken coldly enough, which caused Verdi to have a bout of depression, but the second (her premiere took place in 1842), on the contrary, was again met with loud applause.
From the moment of the first show on the stage, the triumphal procession of this Verdi opera around the world began. It was staged about 65 times at various theater venues, which brought the young composer real fame and material wealth.
Subsequent creative work
Verdi hastened to start creating new operas. They were the operas Lombards in the Crusade (later renamed by the author to Jerusalem) and the opera Hernani.
"Jerusalem", first shown in 1847, is also widely known. After these two musical creations, Verdi's operas became popular all over the world, and the composer himself got what he dreamed of all his difficult childhood and youth: the ability to write music and find a response in the hearts of the public.
Masterpieces of Opera
The popularity of Verdi's works (operas, the list of which was growing) brought him honor and prosperity. At the age of 30, love came to him again. His chosen one was the singer Giuseppina Strepponi. Verdi decided to retire, but before that he wrote and staged an opera in the theater, which brought him worldwide fame.
This opera was called Rigoletto. Its plot was taken from the famous French writer V. Hugo.
Another work of the master was the work, which also brought him great success. It was called La Traviata and was created based on the works of A. Dumas.
The following operas became less popular, but the audience visited them with constant interest, since Verdi's name was already on everyone’s ears. These are such works as “Sicilian Supper”, “Troubadour”, “Masquerade Ball”.
Verdi's operas (the list of these works is very long) was even written by order of Russian theaters. So, the opera The Power of Fate, which premiered in 1862, was written for the Imperial Theater, located in St. Petersburg.
Shakespearean operas from Egyptian history
In the last years of his life, Verdi becomes not just a famous composer, whose name silences the leading musicians of the world, but also a recognized genius of musical art.
He creates works that are still considered unsurpassed classics. These words can be attributed to several of his later works - the opera Aida, which premiered in Cairo in 1871 (the opera was written in honor of the opening of the Suez Canal) and the opera Othello (1887).
Giuseppe Verdi's operas, the list of which is presented above, amazed contemporaries with the power of passion, love and faith in the possibilities of man. These creations talk about how difficult it is for heroes to be given the right to happiness and how often tragic circumstances make them lose everything that was once valued.
The last work of the composer
Among the maestro’s latest works is the 1893 Falstaff opera, based on Shakespeare’s play. 8 years after its premiere, Verdi died at a venerable age of a general stroke. He was buried in Milan with great honors. His students completed several more opera scores that he began.
The content of Verdi's operas has always been remembered by the audience. The composer tried to select such plots that from the very first minute of the show attracted attention and fueled the public's curiosity.
Briefly consider the plots of these operas.
Verdi's operas: a list based on literary works and their plot
Consider the plots of the most popular works of the composer.
- The opera Nabucco tells of biblical events: how the king of Babylon set free captive Jews.
- The opera Ernani was written based on the works of V. Hugo. In it, in a romantic vein, the story of the robber's love is retold.
- The opera “Joan of Arc” was created based on the play by Schiller's “Orleans Maiden”. Verdi's little-known work (operas, the list of which we are considering, include a total of 26 works by the composer).
- The opera Macbeth is also written based on a literary work. In this case, this is Shakespeare’s work about the Macbeth couple, who decided on a bloody and terrible crime for the sake of power and wealth.
- The opera Rigoletto tells about the tragic life story of the old and ugly jester of the Duke, with whom his master made a very cruel joke.
- The opera La Traviata conveys the plot of Ladies with Camellias by A. Dumas. The work tells about the fate of a fallen woman.
- The opera Aida is one of the composer's most powerful works. He talks about the love between the Ethiopian beauty princess and the commander of Pharaoh Ramses.
- "Otello" conveys the plot of the same name by Shakespeare.
Verdi's operas (a list with the contents of these creations was given above) still remain the standard of musical art. Centuries pass by. However, the works of the maestro, as they were popular, remain so. Scientists are still studying the composer's unique style. And ordinary viewers simply enjoy Verdi's music.
Verdi gave a lot of his work. The operas, the list of which we examined in this article, have become the hallmark of the maestro.