Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813 – 1901) was
an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was
born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate
means, receiving a musical education with the help of a
local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera
scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo
Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti, whose works
significantly influenced him.
In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with
the Risorgimento movement which sough...(+)
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813 – 1901) was
an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was
born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate
means, receiving a musical education with the help of a
local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera
scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo
Bellini, and Gaetano Donizetti, whose works
significantly influenced him.
In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with
the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification
of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected
politician. The chorus "Va, pensiero" from his early
opera Nabucco (1842), and similar choruses in later
operas, were much in the spirit of the unification
movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a
representative of these ideals. An intensely private
person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with
popular movements. As he became professionally
successful, he was able to reduce his operatic workload
and sought to establish himself as a landowner in his
native region. He surprised the musical world by
returning, after his success with the opera Aida
(1871), with three late masterpieces: his Requiem
(1874), and the operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff
(1893). His operas remain extremely popular, especially
the three peaks of his 'middle period': Rigoletto, Il
trovatore and La traviata. The bicentenary of his birth
in 2013 was widely celebrated in broadcasts and
performances.
La traviata (The Fallen Woman) is an opera in three
acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by
Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux
camélias (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas fils
adapted from his own 1848 novel. The opera was
originally titled Violetta, after the main character.
It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at La Fenice
opera house in Venice. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow
Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but
the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in
the past, "c. 1700". It was not until the 1880s that
the composer's and librettist's original wishes were
carried out and "realistic" productions were staged. La
traviata has become immensely popular and is among the
most frequently performed of all operas.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_traviata).
Although originally created for Orchestra, I created
this Arrangement of Ah no severo scrito ("Grief has not
the power to kill" Mvt. 8) from La Traviata for String
Quartet (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
