Giuseppe Verdi - Famous Composers in History

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was a 19th century opera composer. He began performing concerts at the age of 13. He is famously remembered for his many masterful operas.

Early Life

Verdi was born on October 9th, 1813, in Le Roncole, a village neighboring Busseto in Italy. A local patron helped him peruse his musical education. Verdi joined a local school and learned how to play organ which made his parents give him a spinet, the musical organ at the age of around eight. He even joined the church choir as an altar boy while taking lessons about the organ. Verdi progressed and played his music and concerts at the age of 13. Barezzi saw that Verdi’s music was promising, and made him a private student of Vincenzo Lavigna where he learned a lot about music.

Career

Verdi acquired his music certificate in the year 1835 and was made a leader of Busseto school for three years. His musical career and performance rejuvenated between 1842-1849 when he composed 20 operas. Verdi obeyed his contracts making him more famous in Milan. His excellent performance made him be recognized in Parma as one of the talented composers in the music industry. He later negotiated with the impresario from La Fenice to compose a new opera after his 25 successful performances between 1842 to 1843. When he signed another house and land contract in 1848, he built his own house, the Villa Verdi where he lived until his death in 1901.

Major Contributions

Verdi took an interest in active Italian politics in 1859 after gaining popularity from the music industry. Giuseppe Mazzini, who was a leader, advised Verdi to compose a patriotic hymn which aimed at uniting the Italians politically. The Verdi’s earlier operas were thought to have a hidden revolutionary messages to Risorgimento works while in fact and indeed was not the intention of the writer. It was just misinterpretation of the message contained in the play. He was voted as an affiliate of the provincial council and given responsibility to lead an assembly of five members who would see King Vittorio Emanuele in Turin. In 1861 he was voted to be a member of parliament for the city of Borgo San Donnino and chosen as the affiliate of Italian Senate in 1874.

Challenges

Verdi faced a lot of challenges despite his great performance. The new composers were demoralizing him to the extent of claiming to exit music industry, but due to his dedication and determination in performance and music production, he was rejuvenated. He struggled and overcame the challenges.

Legacy

The publication of Groove’s dictionary declared Verdi as one of the highest and famous opera writers in Italy of the 19th century. He had his style of music performance, and no school of writers decided to follow his style. The Instituto di Studi Verdiani was started in 1959 in Parma and turn out to be the topping center for Verdi studies’ exploration and publications. There is also an Institute in America which was started at New York University for Verdi studies in the 1970s. Verdi was featured on the 1000 lire Italian notes produced between 1962 to 1976 and also in different stamps.