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Otello is a lyric drama in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto by Arrigo Boito after William Shakespeare’s play Othello, or The Moor of Venice. The Opera takes place in Cyprus, late 15th century.
Otello premiered on February 5, 1887 at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Random Factoid: Otello was Verdi's second to last opera and is considered by many to be his greatest masterpiece.
OTHELLO: FROM PLAY TO OPERA
For nearly four hundred years, the plays of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) have offered a source of inspiration to writers, painters, and musicians of many nationalities. Composers including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky have written impressive orchestral works inspired by Shakespearean subjects. His plays have been made into ballets, such as Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and innumerable operas, among the most successful of which are Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Thomas’ Hamlet, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Verdi’s Macbeth, and perhaps the greatest of all, Verdi’s Otello and Falstaff.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Not much is known about William Shakespeare beyond the bare facts of his life. He was born, baptized, and buried in the prosperous market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the heart of England, though he spent all of his professional life in London. His parents were respected local landowners. He attended school in Stratford. At the age of twenty-two he married Anne Hathaway; they had three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. It is not known exactly when Shakespeare moved to London, but he was established there both as a successful actor and playwright by 1592.
Most of Shakespeare’s plays were written for and performed by a repertory company called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later The King’s Men), of which Shakespeare was a member and shareholder. The company built their own theater, The Globe, in 1599. The theater burned to the ground in 1613, a year after Shakespeare had retired from the stage and returned to Stratford. He died in Stratford April 23, 1616, on or around his fifty-second birthday.
THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER
Shakespeare wrote his plays (thirty-eight in all) as popular entertainments, aiming for wide appeal and for the commercial rewards that come from a "packed house." People of all social classes attended the theater, and every winter special private performances of the best plays of the season were presented at court. New plays were in constant demand. When a play was a great success, it entered the permanent repertory of the theater company for which it had been written. Unsuccessful plays were quickly discarded.
The Elizabethan theaters were adaptations of the old inn theater where wagons placed at one end of an inn’s courtyard served as a makeshift stage. Shakespeare’s plays were first performed in theaters that could accommodate two to three thousand spectators. The buildings were round: a rind of thatch covered tiers of stalls along the walls, while the center of the theater, called the pit, was open to the sky. The stage thrust from one wall of the theater into the pit, creating a playing area surrounded on three sides by audience, much like inn theaters. At the back of the stage were doors for the actors’ entrances and exits and a balcony, which could be used for a variety of scenic purposes. Above the balcony might be a small gallery for musicians, who provided incidental music. Trap doors in the stage allowed for supernatural happenings. Scenery as we think of it was virtually nonexistent, but the actors were richly costumed and used elaborate props. The plays were performed during the afternoon, taking advantage of the natural light that came through the open roof.
A playwright such as Shakespeare knew how to please both the more sophisticated members of the audience seated in the stalls and the rabble, who for a penny gained admission to the pit. Audiences readily accepted improbable situations, and they were delighted by word play, interpolated songs and dances, and elaborately staged battles and sword fights. Popular actors were expected to be excellent singers, dancers, and swordsmen. Women were not allowed onstage, so the female parts were taken by young boy apprentices, who might one day join the company in male roles.
SHAKESPEARE'S OTHELLO
Shakespeare often derived the plots of his dramas from other, well-known, sources, which didn’t bother his audiences in the least. Othello, written around 1604, is taken from a story by an Italian writer named Giraldo Cinthio. In Cinthio’s crude tale a Moorish soldier, convinced of his wife’s infidelity, enlists a comrade to help him murder the hapless woman with a sandbag. It is a measure of Shakespeare’s greatness that from such material the playwright fashioned a timeless, universal tragedy of the human spirit destroyed by jealousy.
Shakespeare transforms his characters into flesh and blood. Othello, though a valiant general, falls prey to doubts that his wife, Desdemona, might not love him—he is older than she and of a different race. Iago, who believes Othello has slept with his wife Emilia, is jealous of his comrade Cassio, who has been promoted ahead of him. In revenge for these slights, he plants the doubt in Othello’s mind that perhaps Desdemona loves Cassio and has been unfaithful. Othello’s jealousy grows to monstrous proportions, until finally he kills Desdemona—even though he still loves her. Realizing too late that he has been the victim of his own jealousy, he kills himself.
ARRIGO BOITO
The man largely responsible for Verdi’s decision to write an opera based on Othello was Arrigo Boito (1842-1918). The son of an Italian painter and a Polish countess, Boito was a composer, librettist, poet, and journalist. Boito was a controversial figure. Educated at the Milan Conservatory, he was considered among the most "advanced" of the younger generation of Italian composers and an outspoken advocate of new artistic theories coming from Germany.
Verdi and Boito were at first antagonists. Verdi, always extremely sensitive to criticism, had been deeply offended by remarks that Verdi felt Boito had directed against Italian music in general and his own music in particular. Thanks to the efforts of Giulio Ricordi, publisher and businessman, the two men eventually became collaborators. Ricordi was anxious to have another opera from the pen of the great Verdi. He knew that Boito possessed both the musical understanding and the literary talent necessary to produce a libretto good enough to interest the composer. Verdi, who claimed to be retired, hadn’t written a major work in several years. Almost a decade had passed since his last opera, Aida, had premiered. In the summer of 1880 Ricordi slyly brought up the subject of Shakespeare’s Othello. He knew the perfect librettist, someone who loved the play and could provide the composer with the perfect adaptation: Boito. Boito submitted a draft, but Verdi remained noncommittal. It was only after the pair worked together on a rewrite of Verdi’s earlier opera, Simon Boccanegra, that Verdi agreed they should collaborate on Othello.
OTHELLO BECOMES AN OPERA
Boito knew that a libretto is not simply a play. Singing takes longer than speaking, so a libretto must contain far fewer words than a play; the libretto must be divided into sections that move the action along and sections that allow more time for a character (or characters) to reflect upon the action; and because music allows different characters to express emotions simultaneously, sections of ensemble (duets, trios, etc.) must be considered in the adaptation. In the end, the libretto (literally "little book") must incorporate all of these requirements into an almost skeletal condensation of the story.
This was no easy task for Boito. The richness, beauty, and descriptive power of Shakespeare’s language are a major feature of his plays. Boito had to capture those Shakespearean qualities in few words, and Italian words at that. But Boito had a great ally—Verdi’s music. The music could convey all the power and emotion of Shakespeare’s original. Boito knew this, and his libretto represents a translation not just into another language but into another medium, one that allows the composer to greatly amplify the power of the words.
OTELLO THE OPERA vs. OTHELLO THE PLAY
Boito condensed Shakespeare’s five acts to four, omitting the play’s first act, which is set in Venice, and with it the character of Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. (Boito also omits the minor role of Bianca; and the roles of Cassio and Roderigo are severely pruned.). Shakespeare’s Act II becomes Boito’s Act I. To show the depth of Otello’s and Desdemona’s love for each other, Boito added a love duet, that summarizes much of the dialogue from Shakespeare’s first act, to the end of his first act. Not only does this fill a dramatic purpose—to show the heights from which Otello falls—it allows the composer the opportunity to express with music an intensity of feeling no words can convey. In his Act II Boito added the famous Credo for Iago. This aria, the operatic equivalent of a monologue, was Boito’s own inspiration and draws limited material from the Shakespeare. In it Iago reveals his evil character fully, and Verdi clothes it in music of great power. Perhaps the greatest transformation comes in Boito’s Act III. In the play, Othello, overcome with jealousy, strikes Desdemona in the presence of her cousin, Ludovico, an important Venetian emissary. In the opera, Boito takes this moment as the motivation for a tremendous concertante that forms one of the opera’s finest climaxes and creates overwhelming dramatic emphasis as Otello publicly denounces the woman he loves so deeply. Seven major and minor characters plus full chorus participate. Only in opera can so many individuals express contrasting feelings simultaneously. This would be impossible in the spoken theater, where many characters speaking simultaneously would produce only the effect of chaos.
Otello premiered on February 5, 1887 at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Random Factoid: Otello was Verdi's second to last opera and is considered by many to be his greatest masterpiece.
OTHELLO: FROM PLAY TO OPERA
For nearly four hundred years, the plays of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) have offered a source of inspiration to writers, painters, and musicians of many nationalities. Composers including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky have written impressive orchestral works inspired by Shakespearean subjects. His plays have been made into ballets, such as Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, and innumerable operas, among the most successful of which are Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Thomas’ Hamlet, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Verdi’s Macbeth, and perhaps the greatest of all, Verdi’s Otello and Falstaff.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Not much is known about William Shakespeare beyond the bare facts of his life. He was born, baptized, and buried in the prosperous market town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the heart of England, though he spent all of his professional life in London. His parents were respected local landowners. He attended school in Stratford. At the age of twenty-two he married Anne Hathaway; they had three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. It is not known exactly when Shakespeare moved to London, but he was established there both as a successful actor and playwright by 1592.
Most of Shakespeare’s plays were written for and performed by a repertory company called The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later The King’s Men), of which Shakespeare was a member and shareholder. The company built their own theater, The Globe, in 1599. The theater burned to the ground in 1613, a year after Shakespeare had retired from the stage and returned to Stratford. He died in Stratford April 23, 1616, on or around his fifty-second birthday.
THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER
Shakespeare wrote his plays (thirty-eight in all) as popular entertainments, aiming for wide appeal and for the commercial rewards that come from a "packed house." People of all social classes attended the theater, and every winter special private performances of the best plays of the season were presented at court. New plays were in constant demand. When a play was a great success, it entered the permanent repertory of the theater company for which it had been written. Unsuccessful plays were quickly discarded.
The Elizabethan theaters were adaptations of the old inn theater where wagons placed at one end of an inn’s courtyard served as a makeshift stage. Shakespeare’s plays were first performed in theaters that could accommodate two to three thousand spectators. The buildings were round: a rind of thatch covered tiers of stalls along the walls, while the center of the theater, called the pit, was open to the sky. The stage thrust from one wall of the theater into the pit, creating a playing area surrounded on three sides by audience, much like inn theaters. At the back of the stage were doors for the actors’ entrances and exits and a balcony, which could be used for a variety of scenic purposes. Above the balcony might be a small gallery for musicians, who provided incidental music. Trap doors in the stage allowed for supernatural happenings. Scenery as we think of it was virtually nonexistent, but the actors were richly costumed and used elaborate props. The plays were performed during the afternoon, taking advantage of the natural light that came through the open roof.
A playwright such as Shakespeare knew how to please both the more sophisticated members of the audience seated in the stalls and the rabble, who for a penny gained admission to the pit. Audiences readily accepted improbable situations, and they were delighted by word play, interpolated songs and dances, and elaborately staged battles and sword fights. Popular actors were expected to be excellent singers, dancers, and swordsmen. Women were not allowed onstage, so the female parts were taken by young boy apprentices, who might one day join the company in male roles.
SHAKESPEARE'S OTHELLO
Shakespeare often derived the plots of his dramas from other, well-known, sources, which didn’t bother his audiences in the least. Othello, written around 1604, is taken from a story by an Italian writer named Giraldo Cinthio. In Cinthio’s crude tale a Moorish soldier, convinced of his wife’s infidelity, enlists a comrade to help him murder the hapless woman with a sandbag. It is a measure of Shakespeare’s greatness that from such material the playwright fashioned a timeless, universal tragedy of the human spirit destroyed by jealousy.
Shakespeare transforms his characters into flesh and blood. Othello, though a valiant general, falls prey to doubts that his wife, Desdemona, might not love him—he is older than she and of a different race. Iago, who believes Othello has slept with his wife Emilia, is jealous of his comrade Cassio, who has been promoted ahead of him. In revenge for these slights, he plants the doubt in Othello’s mind that perhaps Desdemona loves Cassio and has been unfaithful. Othello’s jealousy grows to monstrous proportions, until finally he kills Desdemona—even though he still loves her. Realizing too late that he has been the victim of his own jealousy, he kills himself.
ARRIGO BOITO
The man largely responsible for Verdi’s decision to write an opera based on Othello was Arrigo Boito (1842-1918). The son of an Italian painter and a Polish countess, Boito was a composer, librettist, poet, and journalist. Boito was a controversial figure. Educated at the Milan Conservatory, he was considered among the most "advanced" of the younger generation of Italian composers and an outspoken advocate of new artistic theories coming from Germany.
Verdi and Boito were at first antagonists. Verdi, always extremely sensitive to criticism, had been deeply offended by remarks that Verdi felt Boito had directed against Italian music in general and his own music in particular. Thanks to the efforts of Giulio Ricordi, publisher and businessman, the two men eventually became collaborators. Ricordi was anxious to have another opera from the pen of the great Verdi. He knew that Boito possessed both the musical understanding and the literary talent necessary to produce a libretto good enough to interest the composer. Verdi, who claimed to be retired, hadn’t written a major work in several years. Almost a decade had passed since his last opera, Aida, had premiered. In the summer of 1880 Ricordi slyly brought up the subject of Shakespeare’s Othello. He knew the perfect librettist, someone who loved the play and could provide the composer with the perfect adaptation: Boito. Boito submitted a draft, but Verdi remained noncommittal. It was only after the pair worked together on a rewrite of Verdi’s earlier opera, Simon Boccanegra, that Verdi agreed they should collaborate on Othello.
OTHELLO BECOMES AN OPERA
Boito knew that a libretto is not simply a play. Singing takes longer than speaking, so a libretto must contain far fewer words than a play; the libretto must be divided into sections that move the action along and sections that allow more time for a character (or characters) to reflect upon the action; and because music allows different characters to express emotions simultaneously, sections of ensemble (duets, trios, etc.) must be considered in the adaptation. In the end, the libretto (literally "little book") must incorporate all of these requirements into an almost skeletal condensation of the story.
This was no easy task for Boito. The richness, beauty, and descriptive power of Shakespeare’s language are a major feature of his plays. Boito had to capture those Shakespearean qualities in few words, and Italian words at that. But Boito had a great ally—Verdi’s music. The music could convey all the power and emotion of Shakespeare’s original. Boito knew this, and his libretto represents a translation not just into another language but into another medium, one that allows the composer to greatly amplify the power of the words.
OTELLO THE OPERA vs. OTHELLO THE PLAY
Boito condensed Shakespeare’s five acts to four, omitting the play’s first act, which is set in Venice, and with it the character of Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. (Boito also omits the minor role of Bianca; and the roles of Cassio and Roderigo are severely pruned.). Shakespeare’s Act II becomes Boito’s Act I. To show the depth of Otello’s and Desdemona’s love for each other, Boito added a love duet, that summarizes much of the dialogue from Shakespeare’s first act, to the end of his first act. Not only does this fill a dramatic purpose—to show the heights from which Otello falls—it allows the composer the opportunity to express with music an intensity of feeling no words can convey. In his Act II Boito added the famous Credo for Iago. This aria, the operatic equivalent of a monologue, was Boito’s own inspiration and draws limited material from the Shakespeare. In it Iago reveals his evil character fully, and Verdi clothes it in music of great power. Perhaps the greatest transformation comes in Boito’s Act III. In the play, Othello, overcome with jealousy, strikes Desdemona in the presence of her cousin, Ludovico, an important Venetian emissary. In the opera, Boito takes this moment as the motivation for a tremendous concertante that forms one of the opera’s finest climaxes and creates overwhelming dramatic emphasis as Otello publicly denounces the woman he loves so deeply. Seven major and minor characters plus full chorus participate. Only in opera can so many individuals express contrasting feelings simultaneously. This would be impossible in the spoken theater, where many characters speaking simultaneously would produce only the effect of chaos.
ACT I
Cypriots watch anxiously from shore as a storm batters the Venetian fleet sent to defend their island from the invading Turks. The Moor Otello, a Venetian general and newly-appointed governor of Cyprus, lands his flagship safely in the port and announces the destruction of the Turkish fleet (“Esultate!”). Iago, confers with the wealthy Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, Othello’s new wife. Promising to help him, Iago assures Roderigo that Desdemona will soon tire of her husband. He reveals his hatred for Othello, who he believes slept with his wife, Emilia, and who just promoted Cassio to be his captain, instead of Iago. While the citizens celebrate the victory, Iago proposes a toast. Cassio declines to drink, but Iago argues he cannot refuse to toast Othello’s new wife. Cassio acquiesces and grows tipsy. Iago provokes Roderigo to fight with Cassio. When swords are drawn, Montano tries to separate them and is wounded. The alarm is sounded. Othello appears from the castle to restore order. Furious, he demotes Cassio and charges Iago to restore order. Desdemona enters, disturbed by the commotion. Othello orders everyone to to their homes. Alone, Desdemona and Othello recall their courtship and assure each other of their love (Duet: “Già nella notte densa”).
ACT II
Iago advises a dispondent Cassio to present his case to Desdemona. He argues that her influence on the general will certainly get Cassio reinstated. As soon as Cassio is out of sight, Iago declares his belief that a cruel God created man wicked, and life has no meaning (“Credo in un Dio crudel”). He watches as Cassio approaches Desdemona in the garden. When Othello enters, Iago casually remarks about Desdemona’s fidelity. Othello greets her lovingly, but when she brings up the question of Cassio’s demotion, he remembers Iago’s comments and is angered. He complains of a headache. Knowing he is afflicted with epilepsy, she offers the handkerchief he gave her as a wedding present to cool his forehead. Out of control, he throws it to the ground. Her attendant, Emilia, who is Iago’s wife, picks it up. As Desdemona tries to calm Othello, Iago secretly takes the handkerchief from Emilia (Quartet: “Se inconscia contro te, sposo”). Othello sends everybody out, except for Iago, who remains to observe Otello’s growing suspicion. To fan the flames, he invents a story of how Cassio spoke of Desdemona in his sleep; he mentions that he saw her handkerchief in Cassio’s hand. Exploding with rage and jealousy, Othello swears vengeance, and Iago joins in taking an oath of revenge (Duet: “Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro”).
ACT III
A herald informs Othello of the imminent arrival of an ambassador from Venice. Iago tells Othello that soon he will have further proof of his wife and Cassio’s betrayal. Desdemona enters, and Othello speaks calmly until she revives the subject of Cassio (Duet: “Dio ti giocondi, o sposo”). When Othello demands the handkerchief he gave her, she again pleads for Cassio. Othello accuses her of infidelity and dismisses her. Left alone, he suffers a fit of desperation (“Dio! mi potevi scagliar”), then hides as Iago returns with Cassio. Iago flashes the handkerchief he stole and leads the conversation with Cassio in such a way that Othello overhears only fragments and incorrectly assumes that they are talking about Desdemona. As trumpets announce the dignitaries from Venice, Othello vows to kill his wife that very night. He then greets the ambassador Lodovico, who recalls him to Venice and appoints Cassio to govern Cyprus. Losing control at this news, Othello pushes his wife to the floor, hurling insults. He orders everyone out and collapses in a seizure, while Iago gloats over him.
ACT IV
Preparing for bed, the frightened Desdemona sings of a maiden forsaken by her lover (“Piangea cantando”). Startled by the wind, she says an emotional goodnight to Emilia and recites her prayers (“Ave Maria”). As soon as she has fallen asleep, Othello enters and kisses her. Desdemona awakens and insists on her innocence, but Othello strangles her. Emilia knocks, bearing news that Cassio has killed Roderigo. Entering, she is horrified to find the dying Desdemona and summons help. When she reveals that Iago took the handerkerchief from her, Othello realizes what he has done. He pulls his dagger and warns everyone stand back (“Niun mi tema”). Othello stabs himself and with his last breath, he gives his wife a final kiss.
Cypriots watch anxiously from shore as a storm batters the Venetian fleet sent to defend their island from the invading Turks. The Moor Otello, a Venetian general and newly-appointed governor of Cyprus, lands his flagship safely in the port and announces the destruction of the Turkish fleet (“Esultate!”). Iago, confers with the wealthy Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, Othello’s new wife. Promising to help him, Iago assures Roderigo that Desdemona will soon tire of her husband. He reveals his hatred for Othello, who he believes slept with his wife, Emilia, and who just promoted Cassio to be his captain, instead of Iago. While the citizens celebrate the victory, Iago proposes a toast. Cassio declines to drink, but Iago argues he cannot refuse to toast Othello’s new wife. Cassio acquiesces and grows tipsy. Iago provokes Roderigo to fight with Cassio. When swords are drawn, Montano tries to separate them and is wounded. The alarm is sounded. Othello appears from the castle to restore order. Furious, he demotes Cassio and charges Iago to restore order. Desdemona enters, disturbed by the commotion. Othello orders everyone to to their homes. Alone, Desdemona and Othello recall their courtship and assure each other of their love (Duet: “Già nella notte densa”).
ACT II
Iago advises a dispondent Cassio to present his case to Desdemona. He argues that her influence on the general will certainly get Cassio reinstated. As soon as Cassio is out of sight, Iago declares his belief that a cruel God created man wicked, and life has no meaning (“Credo in un Dio crudel”). He watches as Cassio approaches Desdemona in the garden. When Othello enters, Iago casually remarks about Desdemona’s fidelity. Othello greets her lovingly, but when she brings up the question of Cassio’s demotion, he remembers Iago’s comments and is angered. He complains of a headache. Knowing he is afflicted with epilepsy, she offers the handkerchief he gave her as a wedding present to cool his forehead. Out of control, he throws it to the ground. Her attendant, Emilia, who is Iago’s wife, picks it up. As Desdemona tries to calm Othello, Iago secretly takes the handkerchief from Emilia (Quartet: “Se inconscia contro te, sposo”). Othello sends everybody out, except for Iago, who remains to observe Otello’s growing suspicion. To fan the flames, he invents a story of how Cassio spoke of Desdemona in his sleep; he mentions that he saw her handkerchief in Cassio’s hand. Exploding with rage and jealousy, Othello swears vengeance, and Iago joins in taking an oath of revenge (Duet: “Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro”).
ACT III
A herald informs Othello of the imminent arrival of an ambassador from Venice. Iago tells Othello that soon he will have further proof of his wife and Cassio’s betrayal. Desdemona enters, and Othello speaks calmly until she revives the subject of Cassio (Duet: “Dio ti giocondi, o sposo”). When Othello demands the handkerchief he gave her, she again pleads for Cassio. Othello accuses her of infidelity and dismisses her. Left alone, he suffers a fit of desperation (“Dio! mi potevi scagliar”), then hides as Iago returns with Cassio. Iago flashes the handkerchief he stole and leads the conversation with Cassio in such a way that Othello overhears only fragments and incorrectly assumes that they are talking about Desdemona. As trumpets announce the dignitaries from Venice, Othello vows to kill his wife that very night. He then greets the ambassador Lodovico, who recalls him to Venice and appoints Cassio to govern Cyprus. Losing control at this news, Othello pushes his wife to the floor, hurling insults. He orders everyone out and collapses in a seizure, while Iago gloats over him.
ACT IV
Preparing for bed, the frightened Desdemona sings of a maiden forsaken by her lover (“Piangea cantando”). Startled by the wind, she says an emotional goodnight to Emilia and recites her prayers (“Ave Maria”). As soon as she has fallen asleep, Othello enters and kisses her. Desdemona awakens and insists on her innocence, but Othello strangles her. Emilia knocks, bearing news that Cassio has killed Roderigo. Entering, she is horrified to find the dying Desdemona and summons help. When she reveals that Iago took the handerkerchief from her, Othello realizes what he has done. He pulls his dagger and warns everyone stand back (“Niun mi tema”). Othello stabs himself and with his last breath, he gives his wife a final kiss.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)As one of the most internationally acclaimed Italian composers of his time, Giuseppe Verdi has dominated the standard repertoire for over a century. Born in Busseto to Carlo Guiseppe Verdi, and innkeeper, Verdi attended the local Jesuit school where he as first introduced to music. By the age of 10, he was the assistant organist at his local church; at the age of 13, Verdi was already an assistant conductor of the Busseto Orchestra.
Later, Verdi moved to Milan but was unable to enroll in the conservatory because he exceeded to age limit. Instead, he took private lessons from Vincenzo Lavigna, the harpsichordist at the Scala Theater. In 1837, he composed his first opera, Oberto, which enjoy moderate success. It was Nabucco (1842), however, that Verdi became a legend.
During the "galley years" from 1843 to 1853, Verdi continued to compose operas under the patronage of Bartolomeo Merelli, one of Milan's most important impresarios. Some of his more notable works from this period include I Lombardi (1843), Ernani (1844), and Rigoletto (1851). His production of Macbeth (1847), an adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece, became one of the first operas without a love story.
At 49, Verdi had been elected deputy to the first Italian parliament and, at Cavour's request, composed a national hymn to promote feelings of solidarity within the new nation. With the death of Rossini in 1868, Verdi composed the nationalistic Requiem Mass in homage to his illustrious colleague modeled on Rossini's overture for Guglielmo Tell.
In 1871, Verdi composed Aida, intended to be Egypt's national opera. With its premiere in Cairo, the opera became an immediate success and has remained one of Verdi's greatest artistic achievements.
Verdi died of a stroke in Milan on January 27, 1901.
No Language Barrier!
Enjoy the beauty of the original language and understand it all with English translations. The English text is projected on a screen above the stage for each opera. Easy to follow, and easy to understand every twist and turn of the plot!
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