« Copiare il vero può essere una buona cosa, ma inventare il
vero è meglio, molto meglio. »
Giuseppe
Verdi was born in 1813 in
Roncole a small fraction of
Busseto located in the province of
Parma when that
territory was still under French control.
As a child shows interest and talent for music and he could start
his studies thanks to the benevolence of the Roncole organist,
Pietro Baistrocchi and later thanks to
Antonio
Barezzi, director of the local philharmonic society, who acts
as his patron and introduced him to the teacher
Ferdinando
Provesi. When he was only 15 years old he composes a symphony
that was used, in the theater of Busseto, as an opening in the
representation of "
Il Barbiere di Siviglia".
he married
margherita Barezzi , daughter of his benefactor,
and he moved to Milan. In 1839 he managed to represent his work
"
Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio" in the prestigious temple
of the music, that is
La Scala.
Very sad family events (the death of his wife and his two children)
threatened to interrupt his career until a manager of "
La
Scala,
Bartolomeo Merelli has commissioned the opera
"
Nabucco" which turned out to be a triumphant success, and
the beginning of a brilliant career. Verdi begins to create a
series of works, including "
Macbeth", and culminating in the
three works "
Rigoletto", "
Il Trovatore" and "
La
Traviata", together considered the "
Trilogy of the
people". His career continued abroad (including "
Les Vepres
siciliennes" and its italian version of "
I Vespri
siciliani") and culminates with the "
Aida", the
"
Otello" and the "
Falstaff ".
During his 'not opera' carreer, Verdi wrote the "
Inno delle
Nazioni" for the Universal Exhibition in London in 1862 and a
special "
Messa di Requiem" for the death of
Alessandro
Manzoni in 1874.
In the last years of life Verdi instituted in 1899 the "
Opera
Pia - Casa di riposo per i Musicisti" ("
Charity - Retirement
Home for Musicians"). In 1901 he died after 6 days of agony. In
those days, via Manzoni and the streets adjacent to the hotel where
he was, were strewn with straw, so the sound of horses and
carriages was attenuated as not to disturb the repose of the
master.
" where there is also a statue
that represents him.