JUZEPPE VERDI. VIVA, VERDI!

For some, the name of Giuseppe Verdi means the whole world, and someone, perhaps, was simply touched by one of his operas, say, Rigoletto, and therefore there was a desire to learn a little more about the person who wrote this music. The life of Verdi is not a musician – lifted to the level of myths and legends. He became a national pride, a symbol of the unity of Italy. And as a musician and composer, Verdi became the unsurpassed hero of Italian opera.

Childhood Giuseppe Verdi and the first teachers
Life of Giuseppe Verdi was full of historical events, amazing people, tragedy and incredible success. All this has become the basis for the birth of myths that are often difficult to separate from real facts. The date of birth of the great maestro is known for certain. On October 10, 1813, Carlo Verdi and Luigi Uttini gave birth to a son, who at birth was the composer Giuseppe Verdipol received the name Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi. The family couple lived in Roncole, province of Parma, Italy. Giuseppe was the fourth child and was born in a hectic time, when Parma shuddered under the pressure of Napoleon’s army. From history it is known that immediately after the birth of the boy, the Cossack detachments captured Ronkol. It is believed that Verdi’s mother was forced to flee with a newborn. They took refuge in the chapel, and the village in which they lived was completely destroyed. Now it is almost impossible to determine whether it is true or not. Verdi’s entire biography is embellished with near-tragic elements, so perhaps this is one of the tragic embellishments of his early childhood who fell out of wartime.

For many years, Verdi claimed that his parents were illiterate poor. However, there is evidence that his father was a landowner and owner of the tavern. It could be called uncultured, but by no means illiterate. Mother was spinning. Another fact that cannot be proved or disproved – for many years a memorial tablet hung in one of the taverns of Roncol, saying that it was here that the great musician was born. According to new information, however, this tavern became home to Verdi’s parents when Giuseppe was already 17, and by this age he had already left his parental home. Composer Giuseppe Verdi Among these contradictory information about birth itself, place of birth and some facts of his childhood, those that are not in doubt – as Verdi came to music. It is reliably known that the young organ of Giuseppe Verdi delighted in the poetic delight of the church organ, and the village teacher was the first teacher. However, the boy quickly surpassed his teacher and even replaced him in the church service. When the boy was seven, noticing his son’s interest in music, his father bought an old battered spinet for the young maestro, a keyboard instrument, a kind of harpsichord. The master-manufacturer of harpsichords named Kavaletti repaired the instrument, without taking money for his work. He did this exclusively “so that the young talent could learn music.”

In 1823, Verdi’s “talent” led him to the Ferdinando Provesi music school, which was located near Busseto. And in 1825 he was already an assistant conductor of the orchestra in Busseto.

“Leave the thought of the conservatory”
composer Giuseppe Verdikupets Antonio Barezzi
Having studied the basics of composition and having mastered the basics of conductor technology, as well as having improved the ability to play the organ, he left school. At this time, the merchant and chairman of the local Philharmonic Society, Antonio Barezzi, played a large role in the fate of the composer, in whose life music occupied a large place. Antonio himself was able to play several wind instruments. Verdi’s dream was to enter the Conservatory in Milan. Barezzi helped him get a scholarship to study at the conservatory in the amount of 600 liras. In addition, Barezzi replenished this amount from personal funds. Unfortunately, the future composer was not accepted to the conservatory (“because of the low level of the piano game”), and the conservatory also had age restrictions.

Instead of returning home, Giuseppe Verdi decided to continue studying music independently, and for three years he took lessons from the counterpoint from Vincenzo Lavigny, the former composer of La Scala. And it was in Milan that he discovered opera. In addition to lessons, Lavigny gave Verdi the opportunity to attend musical performances and concerts, as well as rehearsals. He eagerly absorbed every show he could get. It was at this time that the foundations of the future musical theater in Italy and beyond were laid.

One day, none of the theater conductors came to the rehearsal, then they asked the person sitting in the Verdi Hall to save the situation: “I quickly went to the piano and began the rehearsal. I remember very well the ironic mockery with which I was met … When the rehearsal was over, I was given compliments from all sides … As a result of this incident, the conducting of the Haydn concert was entrusted to me. ”