Giuseppe Verdi Suggest updates
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi.
Born Le Roncole, nr Busseto, 10 October 1813.
Died Milan, 27 January 1901.
Italian composer.
Few would argue against Verdi being the greatest Italian composer of opera, though he claimed to be only a very experienced one. He is also one of a handful of composers whose major works have consistently formed the backbone of the repertoire ever since they were composed. Of the 28 operas, two (Jérusalem and Aroldo) are radical reworkings of earlier pieces (I lombardi and Stiffelio), while some other works, most notably Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlos, were revised to varying degrees. Several operas arrived here rapidly, while others took a surprisingly long time to reach Scotland. There are still a few which have yet to appear here even in concert form.
British literature forms the source of five of the operas, three from Shakespeare - Macbeth, Otello and Falstaff; two from Byron - I due Foscari and Il corsaro. In addition to Macbeth, one has a Scottish connection - Aroldo, with three acts set in 11th century Kent, mysteriously moves to the shores of Loch Lomond for the finale.
Although it is clearly not an opera, we have decided to include some performances of his spectularly dramatic Requiem Mass of 1874, if only because many of the important artists who have performed the work in Scotland would not otherwise be listed.
Operas performed in Scotland appear in bold. The list at the bottom gives a link to each of those operas, from which individual performances may be reached.
01 Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (Milan 1839) (Piazza, rev Solera)
02 Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao (Milan 1840) (Romani)
03 Nabucco (Milan 1842) (Solera)
04 I Lombardi alla prima Crociata (Milan 1843) (Solera)
05 Ernani (Venice 1844) (Piave)
06 I due Foscari (Rome 1844) (Piave)
07 Giovanna d’Arco (Milan 1845) (Solera)
08 Alzira (Naples 1845) (Cammarano)
09 Attila (Venice 1846) (Solera)
10 Macbeth (Florence 1847, rev Paris 1865) (Piave)
11 I masnadieri (London 1847) (Maffei)
12 Jérusalem (Paris 1847) (Royer & Vaëz)
13 Il corsaro (Trieste 1848) (Piave)
14 La battaglia di Legnano (Rome 1849) (Cammarano)
15 Luisa Miller (Naples 1849) (Cammarano)
16 Stiffelio (Trieste 1850) (Piave)
17 Rigoletto (Venice 1851) (Piave)
18 Il trovatore (Rome 1852) (Cammarano & Bardare)
19 La traviata (Venice 1853) (Piave)
20 Les Vêpres siciliennes (Paris 1855) (Duveyrier & Scribe)
21 Simon Boccanegra (Venice 1857, rev Milan 1881) (Piave, rev Boito)
22 Aroldo (Rimini 1857) (Piave)
23 Un ballo in maschera (Rome 1859) (Somma)
24 La forza del destino (St Petersburg 1862, rev Milan 1869) (Piave)
25 Don Carlos (Paris 1867, rev Milan 1884) (Méry & du Locle)
26 Aïda (Cairo 1871) (Ghislanzoni)
27 Messa da Requiem (Milan 1874) (Liturgy)
28 Otello (Milan 1887) (Boito)
29 Falstaff (Milan 1893) (Boito)
