Why did contemporaries call Verdi the maestro of the Italian revolution? Verdi - the singer of his era

So-v-re-men-ni-ki called Ver-di “ma-e-st-ro of the Italian-Yan-re-vo-lu-tion.” Ju-zep-pe Mad-zi-ni wrote to him: “The fact that I and Ga-ri-bal-di de-la-em in po-li-ti-ke, and our mutual friend Ales- san-d-ro Man-d-zo-ni de-la-et in po-e-zia, then you de-la-e-te in music and we all, as best we can, serve press on-ro-do." Both Rossi-si-ni and Ver-di always co-created music, ac-tu-al-nuyu and in tune with their time . Their pro-iz-ve-de-de-tions were full of s-li-lu-zis, but the censor-ra couldn’t do anything to do, but the pub-li-ka is not-is-to-st-vo-va-la from the delight. When using Verdi’s opera “At-ti-la”, watch this episode in particular: half -det Ae-tsiy says he knows the Gun-nu: “May you be the one to reap the All-Len-naya - Italy.” I don’t care!” and pub-li-ka with v-o-du-she-v-le-ni-em scream-cha-la - “Italy - to us!” The opera “Lombards in the First Cross in the Ho-de” has become a notable phenomenon in the cultural and political What kind of life does this country have? Especially if you consider that it was apo-gay Ri-sor-d-zhi-men-to.

Ver-di is not the same-go-tel to the op-re-de-len-nyh hu-do-same-st-ven-nym on-right-in-le-ni-yam (re-a-liz-mu or ro-man-tiz-mu), he did not associate himself with their es-te-ti-koy, he wrote in the style that we- s-lil in the given period. Life in all the many-o-ra-zia of kon-t-ra-stov and kon-fli-k-tov - there was such a creative cre-do of the car ra. In-tu-i-tiv-but Ver-di cha-go-tel to the soul-gar-mo-nii, living in the most complex so-ci-al-nyh shaking. He confirmed that he liked everything that was beautiful in art. He only said that “a boring theater is the worst of all possible” and strived to were there any islands of his operas dra-ma-ti-che-s-ki-mi si-tu-a-tsi-ya-mi, in which would be in-teaching and teaching . Is-to-riya pro-de-mon-st-ri-ro-va-la his special in-te-res to re-a-liz-mu. Ver-di didn’t chu-da-sha at the same time catchy af-fe-k-tov, an-ti-tez, manifestation of the bo-no-go temp-pe-ra-men- ta. He is compared either with Go-mer and Shek-spear, or with Dan-te, Ser-van-te-s or with Mi-kel-an-d-zhe-lo...

Verdi (1813-1901) composed 26 operas, including “Na-buk-ko” and “The Battle of Len-ya-no”, “Er- na-ni" and "Mac-beth", "Lu-i-za Mil-ler" (opera-ries of the 40s), "Ri-go-let-to", "Tra-vi-a- ta" and "Tru-ba-dur", "Si-qi-liy-skaya ve-cher-nya", "Si-mon Bok-ka-ne-gra" and "Bal-ma-s-ka-rad" (50s), “The Power of Fate” and “Don Carlos” (60s), “Ai-da” (70s), “Otel-lo "(80s), "Fal-staff" (90s).

The named pro-iz-ve-de-s are significant not only in the works of Verdi , but also in terms of the evolution of the opera genre and the entire history of music of the 19th century.

Among the many-chi-s-len-ny dr-ma-tur-gov and pi-sa-te-leys, with which Ver-di came together t-ru-no-chat or to whose work he always turned to Shakespeare, Schiller and Hugo, and also his hundred-yan-nye-b-ret-ti-sty Fr. Pya-ve and Ar-ri-go Boy. They knew his demands and passions. If you consider the musical hundred of Verdi's operas, then his style is ha-ra-k-te-ri-zu-et-sya lo-di-ya-mi shi-ro-ko-go-dy-ha-niya in the spirit of Belkan, you-ra-zi-tel-no-stuy me-lo-di-ki, psi-ho- lo-gi-che-s-ki right-di-you-mi si-tu-a-tsi-ya-mi, gran-di-oz-ny-mi ho-ro-you-mi kar-ti-na- Mi, by its va-zh-no-sti in drama, on-po-mi-nav-shi-mi functions of an-ti-h-no-go-ho-ra.

Verdi came into the musical life of Europe as an amateur. He began his work as a modest scientist with a co-bor-no-go or-ga-ni-sta. He was from a non-bo-ga-family of vi-no-trader-gov-ts in the village of Ron-ko-li, near the town of Bus-se-to under Par -mine (25 km.), which is in the north of Italy.

From a young age, Verdi served as an accountant in the company of An-to-nio Barets-tsi. In the house of Barets-tsi, there were mu-zy-kan-you-love-bi-te-li, and Ver-di helped them to create steam -tii, re-pi-sy-val but-you, teaching-st-vo-val in re-pe-ti-tsi-yah. With the os-no-va-mi mu-zy-cal-noy gram-mo-you know-to-mil-you-shu and the co-bor-or-ga-nist of Fer-di-nan-do Pro-ve- zi, predicted by Ver-di, a brilliant future in the field of music. It was then that he began to compose, but still as an amateur. So that Verdi would get a pro-fes-si-o-nal education and be able to develop his talents, not-about-ho-di -we could have sent him to the Milan con-serv-va-to-rium. Money co-bi-ra-li with everyone Bus-se for under-pi-s-ke and active participation Bar-rets-tsi - for the ride and the first two of the year. So Verdi received from the ze-m-la-kov a modest stipend and a grant from Barets-tsi. But in the face of it, there was no pre-va-ri-tel-no pro-fes-si-o-nal-no-go-ra-zo- va-niya and Ver-di began to look for a re-pe-ti-to-ditch. Vin-chen-tso La-vi-nya (com-po-zi-tor at te-a-t-re La Scala) took up the full thread of pro-whites in the image -va-nii young man and besides, he encouraged him to visit for free. This would be the best school, just like in Fi-lar-mo-nii. He soon taught her to re-per-tu-ar na-and-zust and suddenly Ver-di had to replace di-ri-zhe-ra with re-pe-there ti-tion (and then at the concert) ora-to-rii “Co-creation of the world” by Joseph Haydn. Wasps-pan-nyy on-laugh-ka-mi pro-vin-tsi-al to the end of the re-pe-ti-tion sni-skal ra-soul-up-lo-dis-men-you and you- the s-neck society of Mi-la-na has come together with a new name - Ju-zep-pe Ver-di. Ru-ko-vo-di-tel Fi-lar-mo-ni-che-s-to-go society-st-va P. Ma-zi-ni for-ka-hall Ver-di opera-ru - “Ober, Count Bo-ni-fach-cho.” Upon returning home, Verdi was ready to start work. He got a job as a di-ri-zhe-ra in the city commu-not, began to run the or-ke-st-rum of Fi-lar-mo -nii, married my love de-vush-ke - before-che-ri Barets-tsi - Mar-ga-ri-te and became the father of Vir-d-zhi-nii and Ichi-lio. Ver-di did choirs and songs, marches and dances, but he put a lot of effort into the work on the opera. Having moved with his family to Mi-lan, by 1839 Verdi began to build a new establishment with the support of Ma-zi-ni. The prime minister was born on the 17th of November and had the necessary infantry - the opera began to be established in Mi-la-n and Tu-ri-n, Gen-nue and Ne-apo-le. But in the Ver-di-tsa-ri-la family there is not only joy and ecstasy for the sake of co-me- diyu “King-role for an hour” (“Imaginary Sta-ni-s-love”), but also woefully - one after another Verdi lost his wife, daughter and son. In such a si-tu-a-tion, he had to co-create a certain opera, the destiny of which was failure. Opera-ru os-vi-sta-li, and com-po-zi-to-ra slo-mi-la de-p-res-sia.

He wandered around Mi-la-nu, could not co-think and work, until someone forcibly lied to him. b-ret for the new opera “Na-vu-ho-do-no-sor” (in Italy, the name of the Va-vi-lon-king-rya so-kra-ti-li to Na-buk-ko). Little by little, the plot captivated the young com-po-zi-to-ra and he, without wanting it himself, got involved in the work . In the autumn of 1841, the par-ti-tu-ra was finished, and the prime-minister stood the next year on March 9- that with the participation of the best singers of La Scala.

film-opera "Nabucco" staged in 2007 by the Arena da Verona theater -http://youtu.be/Xz6GBsJltxE

or German production with Russian. subtitles 2001http://youtu.be/KjFFzL16rlk

Pub-li-ka ru-ko-ple-sk-la standing - storm-but, ec-tor-zhen-but, words-but and didn’t remember about-va-la in the past. In 9 months, the operation was used 65 times and this result would have been included in Gin-ne-sa’s book of re-cords, if- if only she would have been. The reason for the us-pe-ha was not so much a Biblical plot, but the talent of A. So-le-ry and skillful pro- reading whether-b-ret-to-com-po-zi-to-rum in pa-t-ri-o-ti-che-with-kom spirit-he-time. Ver-di osov-re-menil Biblical co-by-tia in the same spirit, how is it that the living scribes of the Florentine school ly 15th century. Since 1843, Italy has dreamed of having a choir of prisoners from “Na-buk-ko” as its na-tsi-o-nal anthem.

slave choir from "Nabucco" - fragment from the operahttp://youtu.be/2F4G5H_TTvU or a final performance from the Lund Choir Festival -http://youtu.be/kwyp0-PtRzc

And he still dreams about it, enjoying the “Mom-el-oh” Ju-zep-pe Ga-ri-bal-di.

Ver-di became a member of the circle of pa-t-ri-o-tov - the Maf-fay family. With Kla-ri-na he re-pi-sy-val-sya until her death, and with her husband, trans-d-father An-d-rea other lived and wrote two novels based on his poems. Vpo-s-ice-st-vii A. Maf-fai na-pi-sal for Ver-di li-b-ret-to according to “Raz-boy-ni-kam” Shil-le-ra.

The fourth of his opera “Lom-bards in the first cross-sto-vo-ho-de” Verdi co-chi-nyal on whether-b-ret-to So-le- ry po-e-me Tom-ma-zo Gras-si “Ji-zel-da.” In os-no-woo-we-we-we-were-on-the-work-of-one of the sections “Os-in-bo-zh-den- no-go Ie-ru-sa-li-ma” Tor-kva-to Tas-so. In the same way, as under captivity, Iu-de-ya-mi in Va-vi-lo-ne from “Na-buk-ko” were together with the re-men-nye Italian-Yans, and in the “Lom-bards” under the cross-nos-tsa-mi were in the form of car-bo-na-rii. This has established a grandiose us-infantry operation throughout the country, although the Aus-st-riy tsen-zu-ra and chi-ni-la at the -sta-new-kah no-little-not-pleased So-le-re and Ver-di. The premiership took place on February 11, 1843, 1843 and ended with the de-mon-st -ra-tsi-ey, on which mi-lan-tsev in-o-du-she-vi-li for-li-ga-tel-nye arias of the per-s-on-the-zhay opera, and especially the key choir of the cross-bearers is a call to fight for freedom. Three-umf-a-sta-no-vok “Lom-bard-tsev” to-ka-til-sya even to Russia. The name Verdi resounded throughout Italy, for which reason all the leading te-a-t-ry were sent to him to choose from.

Nearest-shim with-t-rud-no-com Ver-di from-now-not-sta-but-vit-xia ve-ne-tsi-an-skiy li-b-ret-tist Fran-che-s -ko Pya-ve. He told the com-po-si-to-ru the idea of ​​writing an opera based on the plot of the drama “Er-na-ni”, which had success-infantry in Pa-ri- same in 1830. Roman-ti-che-s-kay excitement and freedom-to-love Vi-k-to-ra Hu-go is not os-ta-vi-li Ver- di equal-hearted and in a few months he wrote his “Er-na-ni” in one breath (March 9, 1844 -yes for ve-ne-tsi-an-sko-go “La Fe-ni-che”). The good-natured image of the go-n-my hero is on-minal about the ones from the country pa-t-ri-o-tah, and in the chorus for the vor-schi-kov, a call was heard for co-pro-ti-v-le-niy, for-sla-v-le-sti-advance and from -va-gi. It’s not surprising that this opera has also become popular because of the Italians’ stud- ies about -tiv av-st-riy-sko-go pro-te-k-to-ra-ta.

recording of the opera 2010 -http://youtu.be/gcInGVq_ERw

In those years, Verdi developed a vigorous creativity: the prime minister followed the prime minister. In the Roman te-a-t-re “Ar-d-zhen-ti-na” there was a new version of his sixth opera - “Two Fo- s-ka-ri" (November 3, 1844) based on the tragedy of Bai-ro-na. After-the-s-le-do-va-la “Jo-van-na D*Ar-ko” according to “Or-le-an-skaya de-ve” Shil-le-ra with li-b-ret -that So-le-ry (Mi-lan, February 15, 1845) with participation in the main role of Er-mi-nii Fred-zo-li-ni. Ne-apol was given the opera "Al-zi-ra" based on the tragedy of Vol-te-ra (its success-in-the-hall appeared briefly -nym). Unexpectedly, but Ver-di turned to tra-ge-dia ma-lo-iz-ve-st-no-go ne-mets-ko-go dra-ma-tur-ga Tsa-ha-ri-a-sa Ver-ne-ra “At-ti-la - the king of the Gun-novs” and the premiere of the 9th opera Ver-di “At-ti-la” so-I-stood in “La Fe-ni-che” with bu-rey vo-torg-gov and pa-t-ri-o-ti-che-with-kim rise-e-mikh is -po-l-ni-te-ley (March 17, 1846).

recording of the opera "Attila" conducted by conductor Riccardo Muti -http://youtu.be/16rITL6x3Kg

But 34-year-old Verdi had a cherished dream - to use at least one Shak-spear plot, which -he created it for the co-composition of the opera. An opportunity arose - the 10th opera was “Macbeth” and its premiere took place in the city of Ver -di loved very much - in Florence (March 14, 1847). In the end, we reached the Ve-ne-tion and unexpectedly saw a powerful chorus under the words -va one of the per-so-na-zhey: “Ro-di-well, pre-da-li...”

In the summer of 1847, in Lon-do-not, the Prime Minister of “Raz-boy-ni-kov” went to Shil-le-ru and Verdi for the first time abroad. He lived in Lon-do-ne and Pa-ri-zhe, when the year 1848 arrived - Euro-po-po-po-lykh-well, not velvet-res -in-lu-tion, and Italy - the Pa-lerm-rebellion in Si-cy-lia. “Kor-sar” passed through Bai-ro-nu almost without any delay, unlike “Battle of Len-ya-no” and “Si-mo” -on Bok-ka-neg-ry.”

1978 recording from National Theater France - "Simon Boccanegra"

The Battle of Len-I-but-re-crea-sha-la in the memory of the co-by-tia so-long-past Italy: defeat-thunder scrap-bard- tsa-mi of the German army Fri-d-ri-ha Bar-ba-ros-sy in 1176. Ri-m-la-ne, pro-voz-g-la-si-shie in February 1849 Re-s-pub-li-ku, when-ho-di-li at the pre-mie -ru “Battle-you at Len-ya-no” with na-tsi-o-nal-ny-mi flag-ga-mi. And Verdi had already prepared for Neapolis “Ko-var-st-vo and love” after Shil-le-ru, later calling the opera “Lu-i- for Miller." Li-b-ret-it was on-right-in-le-but against the words of ne-ra-ven-st-va and de-s-po-tiz-ma. The opera was not g-ro-and-what-with-koy, but li-ri-ko-howl, and it was per-so-on-with-mi not heroes, but simple people.

Meanwhile, Verdi got married again and bought the estate “Sant-Aga-ta” near Buss, having moved there in the beginning of 1850. At the same time, he continued to travel around Europe, but until the end of his life he lived on the estate, except for winter, when Kur-si -ro-val between Ge-nu-ey and Mi-la-nom. He co-wrote “Stiff-fe-lio”, but there were three-a-year-olds in his work. The most striking operas are “Ri-go-let-to”, “Tru-ba-dur” (Tro-va-to-re) and “Tra-vi-a-ta”. He created them one after the other over the course of half a year.

Li-te-ra-tur-nym is-ch-no-com for “Ri-go-let-to” served as a drama in. Hu-go “Ko-role for-ba-la-et-sya”, presented in Pa-ri-zhe in November 1832 and right there removed from the re-per-tu-a-ra according to the dis-same government for the os-corruption of France Per-vo-go - one of the most famous races of the kings of France in the 16th century. Ver-di changed the si-tu-a-tion somewhat and the real face in the world became not the king, but Her- Tsog, whose song “The heart of a beauty is inclined to iz-me” has gone around the whole world. Opera Verdi co-chi-nil in 40 days according to the order of “La Fe-ni-che” (March 11, 1851). The final song was published immediately, it created a furore.

Dresden production of "Rigoletto" 2008 with a story by Belza and Russian. subtitles -

In Rome, to “Ri-go-let-to” the price-zu-ra began to come, and besides that, did-b-ret-tist die “Tru-ba-du-ra” - Kam-ma-ra-no, and hot-rya-cho love my mother com-po-zi-to-ra. Two years passed before “Trou-ba-dur” saw the light of the stage. On December 14, 1852, Verdi wrote to Rome: “It’s completely over: you’re all on the spot and I’m ready , I wish ri-m-la-wouldn’t be free!” The prime-minister was on-the-know on January 19, 1853, but in the morning the Tiber once-boomed and came out of the river -gov, barely missed the first spec.

recording of an opera featuring Pavarotti -http://youtu.be/dMJGM5cHIxE

And in March, the ve-ne-tsi-an-tsy already has a hundred unique psych-ho-lo-gi-che-s-s-opera from life with-in-re -men-ni-kov - “Tra-vi-a-tu.”For that time it was new, and those-a-t-ra-ly did not accept the opera - it was expected to fail, and even so -ro-vaya iz-ve-st-ness of Ver-di is not a spa-s-la sp-k-takl. A year later, the opera was put on by another ve-ne-tsi-an-sky theater - “San Be-ne-det-to” and then published ka her “ras-pro-bo-va-la”. The book market was already flooded with the -You're mature, you don't understand the plot and appreciate it.

recording of the opera with Russian subtitles performed by Anna Netrebko from the Salburg Festival 2005 -http://youtu.be/M57PfVGRR78

Verdi himself asked which of his operas he liked most, and replied that as a professional professor, he -vit above all “Ri-go-let-to”, and as a lover, before-the-chi-ta-et “Tra-vi-a-tu”.

In the 1850-1860s, Verdi's operas were performed on all European stages. For Peter-burg he composes “Si-lu of fate”, for Pa-ri-zha - “Si-ci-liy-su-cher-nyu” (following I’ll give pa-lerm-sko-go-go-sta-niya, but with-love-tre-u-go-l-no-kom), for Ne-apo-la “Bal-ma-s-ka-rad” "

audio recording "Forces of Destiny" 1957 -http://youtu.be/RoB86Ug0XkI

“Don Carlos” was also accepted in the same way - he was composed in a real wayman-ti-che-s-kom du-he, with that-my sa-mo-po-zher-t-vo-va-niya, ras-su-zh-de-ni-i-mi that there is friendship and its value.

recording of the opera from 1992 from La Scala (Milan) with the participation of Luciano Pavarotti

The proposal to write an opera from the Egyptian government of Udi-vi-lo Verdi. But Ev-ro-pa was already getting ready for the opening of Su-et-ko-ka-na-la, and us-pe-hi egi-p-to-log-gov from France and An-g-lii were stunned. Ver-di was far from ar-he-o-lo-gia, although he is one of the most right-of-the-nation in the Italian-Yan-li-te -ra-tu-re was ar-he-o-lo-gi-che-s-kiy (is-to-ri-che-s-kiy) novel. A few months later, Verdi read the scene before my opera - it was “Ai-da” on this -from the ancient life of this country. Av-rum li-b-ret was a pro-sla-in-linen Egy-p-to-log Auguste Ma-ri-ette.

Triumphal March from "Aida" from the 2010 Lund Choir Festival -http://youtu.be/ns_xsduwI-E

Unexpectedly, Ver-di grabbed the ve-st-vo-va-nie and he accepted the order, although he was a-new from -lived because of the Franco-Prussian war in the 1870s. But in the spring of 1872, “Ai-da” began to appear throughout Europe, and even those mus-cans who but-si-came to Ver-di with pre-du-be-z-de-no, did-know-no-with-m-ne-to-in-his-st-of like dra-ma-tur-ga and com-po-zi-to-ra. America and Russia became “Ai-du”, and Tchaikovsky called Ver-di a ge-ni-em.

recording of an opera from San Francisco with the participation of L. Pavarotti -http://youtu.be/b8rsOzPzYr8

In May 1873, Verdi learned about the death of pi-sa-te-la-pa-t-ri-o-ta 88-year-old Ales-san-d-ro Man-d -zo-ni and as a sign of respect in his years, he composed his famous “Re-k-vi-em”, pro-sound- first started on May 22, 1874 in the Milan village of St. Mark. The structure of the form, the quality of the ma-s-ter-st, the quality of the fineness and freshness gar-mo-nii and or-ke-st-rov-ki in-sta-vi-is this pro-iz-ve-de-nie ma-e-st-ro among the most significant-chi-tel- nykh pro-iz-ve-de-niy in the region of spiritual music.

The co-z-da-nie of a single Italian-yan-skogo-su-dar-st-va is not op-rav-da-lo on-dezhd pa-t-ri-o-tov. Ver-di was also ra-z-o-cha-ro-van. Also his ug-not-ta-lo blind pre-klon-ne-nie before Vag-ne-rum - the European ku-mi-rum of the 2nd po-lo-vi-ny 19th century. Verdi appreciated his work, considering at the same time that vag-non-rism is not the Italian way. Ogor-cha-lo com-po-zi-to-ra and pre-not-b-re-same on-tsi-o-nal-class-si-coy. At the age of 75, Verdi is about to compose a new opera based on the plot of Shakespeare's play "Othel-lo". With shocking psycho-ho-lo-gi-che-with-confidence, he conveyed love and passion for in-t-t- ri-gan-s-t-vu, that-mu ver-no-sti and co-var-st-va spod-vi-zh-ni-kov. “Otel-lo” contained everything that Verdi could create in the music of his entire life. The music world was in turmoil. But “Othel-lo” did not become Verdi’s le-ba-di-pe-with-her - when he was already 80 years old, he composed his masterpiece - co- mi-che-s-kuyu opera “Fal-staff” based on “Wind-sor Pro-Kaz-tsam” by Shakespear. This pro-from-ve-de-tion was immediately recognized by the best-of-the-world opera-but- go te-a-t-ra. And the com-po-zi-tor said for a long time, saying that his name already smelled like an epoch-hoy mu-miy. He wanted to see the dawn of the new 20th century and died pa-ra-li-cha in a Milan hotel on January 27 -Varya 1901 at the 88th year of life. Italy ob-i-vi-la na-tsi-o-nal-ny tra-ur. But Verdi could already call his do-with-that-pre-em-nik Ja-ko-mo Puch-chi-ni, whose talent dared to argue with vag- un-drov-sky...

EVOLUTION OF VERDI'S WORK FROM ROMANTICism TO REALISM IN THE FORTY YEARS . Verdi's operas of the 40s are usually classified as mature works and defined as heroic and patriotic. Of the fifteen works of the 40s, only three can be considered fully heroic and patriotic:"Joan of Arc" , "Attila" , "Battle of Legnano" . To a certain extent, they can be considered"Nabucco" And"Lombards" , but in these operas patriotic ideas do not occupy the only dominant position. The remaining ten works are completely far from narrowly national themes. Already in the first opera"Oberto" Verdi announced himself in full voice. The libretto, written by Piazza and revised by Solera, was not nearly as bad as it is sometimes portrayed, but, most importantly, it suited Verdi's dramatic talent, one of whose requirements was the presence of vivid stage situations. The main images of this early opera will be further developed in Rigoletto - the unfortunate Count Oberto, who died for the honor of his daughter, Count Scaliger, who seduced the girl. The duet of Oberto and Leonora, where the father, distraught with grief, threatens the young count with terrible revenge, anticipates a similar scene from Rigoletto. Failure of the second opera"Imaginary Stanislav" , the composition of which coincided with a tragic period in the composer’s life, predetermined for a long time the absence of the comic genre in his work. His third opera became evidence of the composer’s creative maturity."Nebuchadnezzar" (Nabucco). Taking up the baton of Rossini's "Moses", Verdi sent Italian opera in a new direction. The four acts of the opera reveal the stages of moral improvement of Nebuchadnezzar, whose troops captured the Jews. The opera takes an important step towards psychological deepening of character. A clear example of this is the scene of Nebuchadnezzar in prison. The orchestra runs through themes that characterize the state of mind of the captive king, reminiscent of the main stages of his journey from the moment of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the sounds of a military march until the moment of his fall and madness. The use of reminiscence themes in dramatic scenes will be widely developed in subsequent operas, and in a number of works will lead to the use of leitmotifs, as in the opera The Two Foscari. The opera has very strong religious and Christian motifs. Only turning to the true God helps the king regain his reason and regain power. Nebuchadnezzar destroys the idol of Baal and releases the Jews. The monumental chorus of Assyrians and Jews at the opera's finale praises the power of God. The pair of female characters outlined in Oberto takes on new meaning here. The conflict between the king’s two daughters, who love the same hero, will find its continuation in “Hades”. In the fourth opera -"Lombards" in more to a greater extent not only heroic-patriotic, but also Christian ideas and the closely related motive of atonement by death are emphasized. IN"Ernani" Verdi first encountered the type of romantic dramaturgy, the main provisions of which were formulated by Victor Hugo in the preface to the drama “Cromwell”. In Hugo's drama, the composer was attracted by strong human characters and genuine passions. In Ernani, the composer clearly outlined the types of images that are then found in a number of operas. Main character(tenor) - an exile, robber or pirate - will find its continuation in “Robbers”, “Alzira”, “Corsair” and “Troubadour”. The heroine (soprano) is in love with a courageous young robber (later Amelia, Medora, Leonora). The rival (baritone) - a ruling aristocrat - will appear in "Alzira", "The Robbers", "The Battle of Legnano", "Il Trovatore". Beginning with Ernani, Verdi writes an introduction to the opera, which exposes the key themes heard at the most important moments of the drama. In "Ernani" the typological features of romantic tragedy were formed, which would be developed in similar operas created later. Opera"Two Foscari" , written based on Byron's tragedy, opens a line of psychological operas without love intrigue. But nevertheless, this is one of Verdi’s most lyrical and melodically perfect operas. Here the composer first used leitmotifs. This circumstance (the opera was written in 1844) changes the idea that using leitmotifs in your later works, the composer succumbed to the influence of Wagner. With its psychological depth, real tragedy and especially the main plot lines, “The Two Foscari” anticipates the opera “Simon Boccanegra”, staged 13 years later."Joan of Arc" And"Attila" - two heroic-patriotic operas - turned out to be very uneven. This especially applies to the first, which was greatly facilitated by the extremely unsuccessful libretto, which does not contain a single real character. And, although individual scenes were good, for example, the scene of Jeanne’s death, which served as a prototype for the scene of Arrigo’s death from the wonderful patriotic opera “The Battle of Legnano,” the whole turned out much worse. The opera Attila, also a rather uneven work, nevertheless contained a number of passages that were impressive in their emotional impact. The scene in which the Hun leader recalls a terrible dream in which he is haunted by thoughts of retribution directly anticipates Macbeth's nightmares. During the feast, Attila suddenly has a vision of an old man, threatening him with death (a similar situation arises in the feast scene from Macbeth, at the moment of the appearance of Banquo’s shadow). "The Battle of Legnano" rises among the heroic-patriotic operas. If in “Joan of Arc” and “Attila” the difference in the quality of music sounding in standard heroic situations and in episodes imbued with real passion was sometimes very great, then in “Battle”, largely thanks to the successful libretto, this problem completely eliminated. The Battle of Legnano is directly related to the “Sicilian Vespers” created many years later. Verdi’s favorite opera"Macbeth" - one of the peaks of the composer's creativity. It would take about forty years before Verdi again created an opera based on a Shakespearean plot. The absence of an outwardly attractive love affair allowed the composer to reveal other mysteries more deeply in Macbeth human soul, identify the negative and make it dominant in the actions of the main characters. Opera is filled with dramatic passion, but this passion is a thirst for power and domination that stops at nothing. The operas written before Macbeth contain many profound psychological characteristics, but the clearly expressed demonic, as the fundamental basis of everything that happens, has not yet been encountered. Macbeth is one of Verdi's most interesting images. He is weak, psychologically unstable, strong only as long as he feels the support of otherworldly forces. The development of characters unusual for Italian opera led to the expansion of vocal and orchestral means. Vocal writing becomes more flexible and varied. Timbre dramaturgy takes on a qualitatively new sound. Opera"Robbers" , which appeared simultaneously with Macbeth, although it belongs to a different type of genre, is stylistically close to it. "Robbers", developing the principles of "Ernani", directly lead to"Troubadour" , not much inferior to this famous opera. Having paid tribute to religious-Christian themes, romantic tragedies with a love triangle, comprehending the dark depths of the human soul, glorifying his native Italy, Verdi turned away from these paths."Louise Miller" , "Stiffelio" far from the impressive images of the siege of Jerusalem, the dungeons of the Council of Ten, witches and ghosts. There are not even pirates and robbers in them. Almost for the first time, Verdi deliberately abandons external decorativeness in favor of a simple burgher tragedy. In "Louise" and "Stiffelio" the features of lyric opera are formed, which in many ways anticipated

GIUSEPPE VERDI AND THE CULTURE OF THE RISORGIMENTO

Contemporaries nicknamed Verdi "maestro of the Italian revolution." Giuseppe Mazzini wrote to him: “What Garibaldi and I do in politics, and our mutual friend Alessandro Manzoni does in poetry, you do in music and we all serve the people as best we can.” Both Rossini and Verdi always composed music that was relevant and in tune with their time. Their works were full of political allusions, but the censorship could not do anything, and the public went wild with delight. During the performance of Verdi’s opera “Attila,” the audience especially noted the following episode: the commander Aetius says to the famous Hun: “Let the Universe belong to you - Italy will remain mine!” and the audience shouted with enthusiasm - “Italy for us!” The opera “Lombards in the First Crusade” became a notable phenomenon in the cultural and political life of the country. Especially considering that this was the apogee of the Risorgimento.

Verdi did not gravitate towards certain artistic movements (realism or romanticism), he did not commit himself to their aesthetics, he simply wrote in the style in which he thought at a given period. Life in all its diversity of contrasts and conflicts - this was the author’s creative credo. Intuitively, Verdi gravitated toward spiritual harmony, living at a time of severe social upheaval. He claimed that he liked everything that was Beautiful in art. He only repeated that “boring theater is the worst possible” and strove to ensure that the librettos of his operas were saturated with acute dramatic situations in which human beings would be revealed in an interesting and instructive way. characters.The story demonstrated his special interest in realism. Verdi did not shy away from flashy affects, antitheses, and manifestations of violent temperament. He was compared either to Homer and Shakespeare, then to Dante, Cervantes or Michelangelo...

Verdi (1813-1901) left 26 operas, including “Nabucco” and “The Battle of Legnano”, “Ernani” and “Macbeth”, “Louise Miller” (operas of the 40s), “Rigoletto”, “La Traviata” and “Il Trovatore”, “Sicilian Vespers”, “Simon Boccanegra” and “Un ballo in maschera” (50s), “Force of Destiny” and “Don Carlos” (60s), “Aida” (70s gg.), “Othello” (80s), “Falstaff” (90s).

These works are significant milestones not only in the work of Verdi, but also in terms of the evolution of the opera genre and the entire history of music of the 19th century.

Among the many playwrights and writers with whom Verdi had to collaborate or whose work he constantly turned to were Shakespeare, Schiller and Hugo, as well as his regular librettists Fr. Piave and Arrigo Boito. They knew his requirements and preferences. If we consider the musical side of Verdi’s operas, then his style is characterized by broad breathing melodies in the spirit of bel canto, expressive melodicism, psychologically truthful situations, grandiose choral scenes, whose importance in drama resembled the functions of the ancient choir.

Verdi came to the musical life of Europe as an amateur. He began his career as a humble student of the cathedral organist. He came from a poor family of a wine merchant in the village of Roncoli, near the town of Busseto near Parma (25 km), in northern Italy.

From a young age, Verdi served as an accountant in the merchant firm of Antonio Barezzi. Amateur musicians gathered in Barezzi's house, and Verdi helped them learn parts, copied notes, and participated in rehearsals. The cathedral organist Ferdinando Provesi introduced the young man to the basics of musical literacy, and predicted Verdi a brilliant future in the field of music. It was then that he began to compose, but still as an amateur. In order for Verdi to receive a professional education and be able to develop his talents, it was necessary to send him to the Milan Conservatory. Money was collected by all Busseto through subscription and active participation of Barezzi - for the trip and the first two years. So Verdi received a modest scholarship from his fellow countrymen and a grant from Barezzi. But he was refused admission - there was no prior professional education and Verdi began to look for tutors. Vincenzo Lavigna (composer at the Teatro alla Scala) undertook to fill the gaps in the young man’s education and, moreover, he allowed him to attend performances for free. It was the best school, just like the Philharmonic. He soon learned her repertoire by heart and suddenly Verdi had to replace the conductor there at the rehearsal (and then at the concert) of the oratorio “The Creation of the World” by Joseph Haydn. The provincial, showered with ridicule, received hearty applause by the end of the rehearsal, and Milan's high society became acquainted with a new name - Giuseppe Verdi. The head of the Philharmonic Society, P. Masini, commissioned Verdi to perform the opera “Oberto, Count Bogifaccio.” Upon returning home, Verdi had to work out his scholarship. He received a position as a conductor in the city commune, began to lead the Philharmonic orchestra, married his beloved girl, Barezzi’s daughter, Margherita, and became the father of Virginia Icilio. Verdi composed choruses and songs, marches and dances, but he spent a lot of energy working on the opera. Having moved with his family to Milan, by 1839 Verdi began preparing the production with the support of Masini. The premiere took place on November 17 and was a success - the opera was staged in Milan and Turin, Genoa and Naples. But in the Verdic family there was not only joy and enthusiasm about the order for the comedy “The King for an Hour” (“The Imaginary Stanislav”), but also grief - one after another, Verdi lost his wife, daughter and son. In such a situation, he had to compose a comic opera, the fate of which was failure. The opera was booed, and the composer was overcome by depression. He wandered around Milan, unable to compose or work, until at the theater he was forcibly given the libretto for the new opera “Nebuchadnezzar” (in Italy the name of the Babylonian king was shortened to Nabucco). Little by little, the plot captivated the young composer and he, unwillingly, got involved in the work. In the autumn of 1841, the score was completed, and the premiere took place the following year on March 9 with the participation of the best singers of La Scala. The audience applauded while standing - vigorously, enthusiastically, as if they did not remember the failure in the past. In 9 months the opera was performed 65 times and this result would have been included in the Guinness Book of Records if it had existed then. The reason for the success was not so much the biblical plot, but the talent of the librettist A. Solera and the composer’s skillful reading of the libretto in the patriotic spirit of the times. Verdi modernized biblical events in the same spirit as the painters of the Florentine school of the 15th century did. Since 1843, Italy has dreamed of having the choir of prisoners from Nabucco as its national anthem - and still dreams of it, being content with Giuseppe Garibaldi's "Mamela" for now.

Verdi became a member of the circle of patriots - the Maffei family. He corresponded with Clarina until her death, and he was friends with her husband, translator Andrea, and composed two romances based on his poems. Subsequently, A. Maffei wrote a libretto for Verdi based on Schiller’s “The Robbers.”

Verdi composed his fourth opera, “The Lombards in the First Crusade,” to a libretto by Solera based on the poem “Giselda” by Tommaso Grassi. The poem was based on an adaptation of one of the sections of “Liberated Jerusalem” by Torquato Tasso. Just as the captive Jews in Babylon from “Nabucco” meant modern Italians, so in “Lombards” the crusaders meant the Carbonari. This led to the enormous success of the opera throughout the country, although the Austrian censorship caused a lot of trouble for Solera and Verdi during productions. The premiere took place on February 11, 1843, 1843 and ended with a political demonstration, to which the Milanese were inspired by the fiery arias of the opera's characters, and especially the final chorus of the crusaders - a call to fight for freedom. The triumph of the productions of “The Lombards” even reached Russia. The name of Verdi sounded throughout Italy, orders were sent to him by all the leading theaters - to choose from. From now on, Venetian librettist Francesco Piave becomes Verdi's closest collaborator. He gave the composer the idea to write an opera based on the drama Ernani, which was successful in Paris in 1830. The romantic excitement and love of freedom of Victor Hugo did not leave Verdi indifferent, and in a few months he composed his “Ernani” in one breath (March 9, 1844 for the Venetian “La Fenice”). The noble appearance of the persecuted hero was reminiscent of the patriots expelled from the country, and in the chorus of conspirators there was a call for resistance, glorification of valor and courage. It is not surprising that this opera also became the reason for the political protests of the Italians against the Austrian protectorate.

In those years, Verdi developed a vigorous creative activity: premiere followed premiere. His sixth opera, “The Two Foscari” (November 3, 1844) based on Byron’s tragedy, was staged at the Argentina Theater in Rome. This was followed by “Giovanna D*Arco” based on “The Maid of Orleans” by Schiller with a libretto by Solera (Milan, February 15, 1845) with Erminia Fredzolini in the title role. Naples enjoyed the opera Alzira based on Voltaire's tragedy (its success was short-lived). Unexpectedly, Verdi turned to the tragedy of the little-known German playwright Tsacharias Werner “Attila - King of the Huns” and the premiere of Verdi’s 9th opera “Attila” took place in “La Fenice” with a storm of enthusiasm and patriotic enthusiasm of the performers themselves (March 17, 1846).

But 34-year-old Verdi had a cherished dream - to use at least one plot from Shakespeare, whom he idolized, to compose an opera. The opportunity presented itself - the 10th opera was “Macbeth” and its premiere took place in the city that Verdi loved very much - in Florence (March 14, 1847). The wave of success reached Venice and suddenly the audience in a powerful chorus picked up the words of one of the characters: “They betrayed their homeland...”

In the summer of 1847, the premiere of Schiller's The Robbers took place in London and Verdi traveled abroad for the first time. He lived in London and Paris when 1848 came - Europe was rocked not by the Velvet Revolutions, but by Italy - by the Palermo uprising in Sicily. Byron's "Corsair" went almost unnoticed, unlike "The Battle of Legnano" and "Simon Boccanegra". The Battle of Legnano revived the events of Italy's distant past: the defeat of the German army of Frederick Barbarossa by the Lombards in 1176. The Romans, who proclaimed the Republic in February 1849, came to the premiere of “The Battle of Legnano” with their national flags. And Verdi was already preparing “Cunning and Love” based on Schiller for Naples, later calling the opera “Louise Miller.” The libretto was directed against class inequality and despotism. The opera turned out to be not heroic, but lyrical and everyday, and the characters were not heroes, but ordinary people.

Meanwhile, Verdi remarried and bought the Sant'Agata estate near Busseto, moving there at the beginning of 1850. At the same time, he continued to travel around Europe, but until the end of his life he lived on the estate, except for the winter, when he shuttled between Genoa and Milan. He composed Stiffelio, but the middle of the century was marked in his work by a triad of the most striking operas - Rigoletto, Trovatore (Trovatore) and La Traviata. He created them one after another over the course of a year and a half.

The literary source for “Rigoletto” was the drama. Hugo’s “The King Amuses himself,” presented in Paris in November 1832 and immediately removed from the repertoire by order of the government for insulting Francis the First, one of the kings of France known for debauchery in the 16th century. Verdi changed the situation somewhat and the protagonist in the libretto became not the king, but the Duke, whose song “The Heart of a Beauty Is Prone to Treason” went around the whole world. Verdi composed the opera in 40 days, commissioned by La Fenice (March 11, 1851). The audience remembered the final song immediately; it created a sensation. In Rome, censorship began to find fault with “Rigoletto”, and in addition, the librettist of “Il Trovatore”, Cammarano, and the composer’s beloved mother died. Two years passed before Troubadour saw the light of the stage. On December 14, 1852, Verdi wrote to Rome: “It’s completely finished: all the notes are in place and I’m happy, I would like the Romans to be happy too!” The premiere was scheduled for January 19, 1853, but in the morning the Tiber raged and overflowed its banks, almost disrupting the first performance. And in March, the Venetians were already staging a unique psychological opera from the lives of their contemporaries - La Traviata. For that time, this was new, and theatergoers did not accept the opera - it was expected to fail, and even Verdi’s world fame did not save the performance. A year later, the opera was staged by another Venetian theater, San Benedetto, and then the public “tasted” it. The book market was already flooded with relevant fiction, tastes had matured, the plot was understood and appreciated. Verdi himself, when asked which of his operas he liked best, replied that as a professional, he puts Rigoletto above all, and as an amateur he prefers La Traviata.

In the 1850-1860s, Verdi's operas were performed on all European stages. For St. Petersburg he composes “Force of Destiny”, for Paris - “Sicilian Vespers” (in the wake of the Palermo uprising, but with a love triangle), for Naples “Un ballo in maschera”. “Don Carlos” was also enthusiastically received - it was composed in an authentic romantic spirit, with the theme of self-sacrifice, discussions about what friendship is and what its value is.

The offer to write an opera from the Egyptian government surprised Verdi. But Europe was already preparing for the opening of the Suez Canal, and the successes of Egyptologists from France and England were stunning. Verdi was far from archaeology, although one of the most important trends in Italian literature was the archaeological (historical) novel. A few months later, Verdi read the script for the proposed opera - it was “Aida” based on a plot from the ancient life of this country. The author of the libretto was the famous Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Suddenly, Verdi was captivated by the story and accepted the commission, although the production was delayed due to the Franco-Prussian War in the early 1870s. But in the spring of 1872, Aida began to be staged throughout Europe, and even those musicians who were prejudiced against Verdi recognized his undoubted merit as a playwright and composer. America and Russia staged Aida, and Tchaikovsky called Verdi a genius.

In May 1873, Verdi learned of the death of the patriotic writer, 88-year-old Alessandro Manzoni, and as a mark of respect on the anniversary, he composed his famous “Requiem,” which was performed for the first time on May 22, 1874 in Milan’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. The harmony of form, polyphonic mastery, expressiveness of melody and freshness of harmony and orchestration placed this work by the maestro among the most significant works in the field of sacred music.

The creation of a unified Italian state did not live up to the hopes of the patriots. Verdi was also disappointed. He was also oppressed by his blind admiration for Wagner, the European idol of the 2nd half of the 19th century. Verdi appreciated his work, although he believed that Wagnerism was not the Italian way. The composer was also upset by the neglect of national classics. At the age of 75, Verdi begins to compose a new opera based on the plot of Shakespeare's play Othello. With stunning psychological authenticity, he conveyed the love and passion for intrigue, the theme of loyalty and deceit of his associates. “Othello” combined everything that Verdi could create new in music throughout his life. The music world was shocked. But "Othello" did not become Verdi's swan song - when he was already 80 years old, he composed his masterpiece - the comic opera "Falstaff" based on Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor". This work was immediately recognized as the highest achievement of the world opera theater. And the composer faded away for a long time, repeating that his name already smells of the era of mummies. He wanted to see the dawn of the new 20th century and, after paralysis, died in a Milan hotel on January 27, 1901, at the age of 88. Italy declared national mourning. But Verdi could already name his worthy successor Giacomo Puccini, whose talent dared to argue with Wagner’s...

THE EVOLUTION OF VERDI'S WORK FROM ROMANTICism TO REALISM THE FORTY YEARS. ABOUT Verdi's pens of the 40s are usually classified as mature works and defined as heroic and patriotic. Of the fifteen works of the 40s, only three can be considered fully heroic and patriotic:"Joan of Arc", "Attila", "Battle of Legnano" . To a certain extent, they can be considered"Nabucco" and "Lombards" , but in these operas patriotic ideas do not occupy the only dominant position. The remaining ten works are completely far from narrowly national themes. Already in the first opera"Oberto" Verdi declared himself loudly. The libretto, written by Piazza and revised by Solera, was not nearly as bad as it is sometimes portrayed, but, most importantly, it suited Verdi's dramatic talent, one of whose requirements was the presence of vivid stage situations. The main images of this early opera will be further developed in Rigoletto - the unfortunate Count Oberto, who died for the honor of his daughter, Count Scaliger, who seduced the girl. The duet of Oberto and Leonora, where the father, distraught with grief, threatens the young count with terrible revenge, anticipates a similar scene from Rigoletto. Failure of the second opera"Imaginary Stanislav" , the composition of which coincided with a tragic period in the composer’s life, predetermined for a long time the absence of the comic genre in his work. His third opera became evidence of the composer’s creative maturity."Nebuchadnezzar" (Nabucco). Taking up the baton of Rossini's "Moses", Verdi sent Italian opera in a new direction. The four acts of the opera reveal the stages of moral improvement of Nebuchadnezzar, whose troops captured the Jews. The opera takes an important step towards psychological deepening of character. A clear example of this is the scene of Nebuchadnezzar in prison. The orchestra runs through themes that characterize the state of mind of the captive king, reminiscent of the main stages of his journey from the moment of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the sounds of a military march until the moment of his fall and madness. The use of reminiscence themes in dramatic scenes will be widely developed in subsequent operas, and in a number of works will lead to the use of leitmotifs, as in the opera The Two Foscari. The opera has very strong religious and Christian motifs. Only turning to the true God helps the king regain his reason and regain power. Nebuchadnezzar destroys the idol of Baal and releases the Jews. The monumental chorus of Assyrians and Jews at the opera's finale praises the power of God. The pair of female characters outlined in Oberto takes on new meaning here. The conflict between the king’s two daughters, who love the same hero, will find its continuation in “Hades”. In the fourth opera -"Lombards" Not only heroic-patriotic, but also Christian ideas and the closely related motif of redemption by death are emphasized even more. IN"Ernani" Verdi first encountered the type of romantic dramaturgy, the main provisions of which were formulated by Victor Hugo in the preface to the drama “Cromwell”. In Hugo's drama, the composer was attracted by strong human characters and genuine passions. In Ernani, the composer clearly outlined the types of images that are then found in a number of operas. The main character (tenor) - an exile, robber or pirate - will find his continuation in "Robbers", "Alzira", "Corsair" and "Troubadour". The heroine (soprano) is in love with a courageous young robber (later Amelia, Medora, Leonora). The rival (baritone) - a ruling aristocrat - will appear in "Alzira", "The Robbers", "The Battle of Legnano", "Il Trovatore". Beginning with Ernani, Verdi writes an introduction to the opera, which exposes the key themes heard at the most important moments of the drama. In "Ernani" the typological features of romantic tragedy were formed, which would be developed in similar operas created later.Opera"Two Foscari" , written based on Byron's tragedy, opens a line of psychological operas without love intrigue. But nevertheless, this is one of Verdi’s most lyrical and melodically perfect operas. Here the composer first used leitmotifs. This circumstance (the opera was written in 1844) changes the idea that, using leitmotifs in his later works, the composer succumbed to the influence of Wagner. With its psychological depth, real tragedy and especially the main plot lines, “The Two Foscari” anticipates the opera “Simon Boccanegra”, staged 13 years later."Joan of Arc" and "Attila" - two heroic-patriotic operas - turned out to be very uneven. This especially applies to the first, which was greatly facilitated by the extremely unsuccessful libretto, which does not contain a single real character. And, although individual scenes were good, for example, the scene of Jeanne’s death, which served as a prototype for the scene of Arrigo’s death from the wonderful patriotic opera “The Battle of Legnano,” the whole turned out much worse. The opera Attila, also a rather uneven work, nevertheless contained a number of passages that were impressive in their emotional impact. The scene in which the Hun leader recalls a terrible dream in which he is haunted by thoughts of retribution directly anticipates Macbeth's nightmares. During the feast, Attila suddenly has a vision of an old man, threatening him with death (a similar situation arises in the feast scene from Macbeth, at the moment of the appearance of Banquo’s shadow). "The Battle of Legnano" rises among the heroic-patriotic operas. If in “Joan of Arc” and “Attila” the difference in the quality of music sounding in standard heroic situations and in episodes imbued with real passion was sometimes very great, then in “Battle”, largely thanks to the successful libretto, this problem completely eliminated. The Battle of Legnano is directly related to the “Sicilian Vespers” created many years later. Verdi’s favorite opera"Macbeth" - one of the peaks of the composer's creativity. It would take about forty years before Verdi again created an opera based on a Shakespearean plot. The absence of an outwardly attractive love affair allowed the composer in Macbeth to more deeply reveal other secrets of the human soul, to reveal the negative and make it dominant in the actions of the main characters. Opera is filled with dramatic passion, but this passion is a thirst for power and domination that stops at nothing. In the operas written before Macbeth, there are many deep psychological characteristics, but the clearly expressed demonic, as the fundamental basis of everything that happens, has not yet been encountered. Macbeth is one of Verdi's most interesting images. He is weak, psychologically unstable, strong only as long as he feels the support of otherworldly forces. The development of characters unusual for Italian opera led to the expansion of vocal and orchestral means. Vocal writing becomes more flexible and varied. Timbre dramaturgy takes on a qualitatively new sound. Opera"Robbers" , which appeared simultaneously with Macbeth, although it belongs to a different type of genre, is stylistically close to it. "Robbers", developing the principles of "Ernani", directly lead to"Troubadour" , not much inferior to this famous opera. Having paid tribute to religious-Christian themes, romantic tragedies with a love triangle, comprehending the dark depths of the human soul, glorifying his native Italy, Verdi turned away from these paths."Louise Miller", "Stiffelio" far from the impressive images of the siege of Jerusalem, the dungeons of the Council of Ten, witches and ghosts. There are not even pirates and robbers in them. Almost for the first time, Verdi deliberately abandons external decorativeness in favor of a simple burgher tragedy. In "Louise" and "Stiffelio" the features of lyric opera are formed, which in many ways anticipated"La Traviata" . The absence of side dramatic lines gives these works a sublime simplicity, which only more clearly reveals internal conflict main characters and emphasizes the inevitability of a tragic outcome. The panorama of Verdi's work in the 40s allows us to see the significant evolution that occurs from the first operas of an inexperienced composer to the works of a master who confidently found his feet and firmly followed his own path. All of them have significant artistic value, and starting with Nabucco they can hardly be called early. They develop the principles of dramaturgy and musical language; Moreover, each of these operas has its own appearance and occupies its own important place. The first creative period has its own internal patterns, its own stages of searching and consolidating what has been achieved, failures and ups. The evolution of Verdi's work during these years occurred quite consistently. The first two operas (“Oberto”, “Imaginary Stanislav”) were an introduction to creativity, a “test of the pen” in various previously established genres. Then the formation of the main varieties of Verdi's opera is carried out in two works of the oratorio-epic type ("Nabucco", "The Lombards") and in two works of the dramatic and lyrical-dramatic type ("Ernani", "The Two Foscari"). At the next stage, in three operas ("Joan of Arc", "Alzira" and "Attila"), the principles found are consolidated and developed. "Macbeth" rises as a bright culmination. In the next two operas ("Robbers", "Corsair") the main achievements are summarized, and in the Battle of Legnano, which forms a kind of arch to Nabucco, the final summation is especially important.The last two operas (Louise Miller, Stiffelio) provide a smooth introduction to the next period, the 50s.

Giuseppe Verdi, who began his career as the “maestro of the Italian revolution,” lived a long life - and his work became an entire era in the history of Italian opera.

The man who was destined to become the pride of Italian opera was born in the village of Roncole, located in the province of Parma (at that time it was the territory of Napoleon's empire). It is noteworthy that he was born in 1813 - the same year as his future rival in the art of opera. Giuseppe's father was an innkeeper, his mother was a simple spinner, and the first music teacher was the church organist Pietro Baistrocchi. Despite poverty, the parents bought a spinet for their son. Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy music lover, draws attention to the talented boy, who at the age of eleven is acting as an organist. His support allowed Giuseppe to continue his studies in the city of Busetto. The director of the Philharmonic Society, Fernando Provesi, who became his mentor, not only gave composition lessons, but also introduced him to classical literature.

Eighteen-year-old Giuseppe Verdi was not accepted into the Milan Conservatory, which now bears his name, due to defects in the positioning of his hands, and he had to study privately. But it’s not just counterpoint lessons that shape him creative individuality. According to Verdi himself, he learned the best creations of his contemporaries not by studying, but by listening to them in the theater and concert hall, a visit to which the composer called his “long and strict study.”

Verdi created his first opera, Oberto, Count Bonifaccio, commissioned by the Philharmonic Society. It was not staged right away, but when it did happen a few years after its creation, the opera was a success, and the impresario of La Scala, Bartolomeo Merelli, ordered him two operas. The first of them - “King for an Hour” - failed. The audience's reaction was so emotional that the actors did not even manage to finish the performance. Probably the reason for this was the state of mind in which the composer was while working on “The King for an Hour”: he buried two children and his wife - not the best circumstances for creating a comedy. Verdi took the failure seriously and became convinced that he was incapable of creating comic operas. For many years he did not turn to this genre.

The next opera, “”, turned out to be incomparably more successful. The story of the Jews languishing in Babylonian captivity was consonant with the revolutionary sentiments that reigned in Italian society. In combination with the genius of Verdi, such a topic could not fail to create a sensation. One of the opera's choirs was listened to standing, like a hymn, and sang in the streets.

On the wave of success, Verdi receives new orders. “The Lombards in the First Crusade” was staged in Milan, “The Two Foscari” was staged in Venice, “The Two Foscari” was staged in Rome, and “Alzira” was staged in Naples. The name Verdi becomes known outside Italy thanks to the production of “The Lombards in Paris. He turns to the works of William Shakespeare (Macbeth), Friedrich Schiller (Joan of Arc, Louise Miller).

But Verdi is already thirty-eight years old - he became famous, became a wealthy man... isn’t it time to end his composing career? Moreover, changes are taking place in his personal life: years after the death of his beloved wife, he met a woman who could ignite love in his heart. She became Giuseppina Strepponi, a star of the opera stage who was forced to think about ending her stage career due to problems with her voice. completed activities opera composer, when his singer-wife completed her stage activities, and Verdi thought about doing the same, although Giuseppina was not his official wife (they married only eleven years later life together). But it was Giuseppina who dissuaded him, and not in vain! The time is coming for real creative flourishing– and he creates masterpieces: “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”. The composer was not always lucky - "" was booed at the premiere, it turned out to be very difficult to achieve the production of "" due to claims from censors, and "", written for production in St. Petersburg, caused a very sharp reaction, the reason for which was not so much the opera as such, how much money was spent on its production (while there was always not enough money to stage operas by Russian composers). But time has put everything in its place: all these operas have entered the world repertoire, great singers have shone and continue to shine in them.

And so - after such a brilliant flourishing - after 1871 Verdi did not write a single opera. True, in 1874 he created, which looked more like opera scenes than a mass - but only in 1886 did he begin composing the opera "". An opera of the same name already existed and was successful, but the composer was not afraid to “enter the fight and be defeated.” In the end, it was Verdi who “won”: the success of this musical-psychological drama exceeded all expectations, and now it is staged incomparably more often than Othello.

Another victory of the “great old man” was the creation of the opera “”. In 1893 - many years after the failure of "The King for an Hour" - Verdi risked again turning to the genre of comic opera... took a risk - and won! The cheerful opera was enthusiastically received by the public. "" became the composer's last work - in 1901 Giuseppe Verdi passed away.

Musical Seasons

Like any powerful talent. Verdi reflects his nationality and his era. He is the flower of his soil. He is the voice of modern Italy, not the lazily dozing or carelessly having fun Italy in the comic and pseudo-serious operas of Rossini and Donizetti, not the sentimentally tender and elegiac, crying Italy of Bellini, but an Italy awakened to consciousness, an Italy agitated by political storms, an Italy , bold and passionate to the point of fury.
A. Serov

No one could feel life better than Verdi.
A. Boito

Verdi is a classic of Italian musical culture, one of the most significant composers of the 19th century. His music is characterized by a spark of high civic pathos that does not fade over time, unmistakable accuracy in the embodiment of the most complex processes occurring in the depths of the human soul, nobility, beauty and inexhaustible melody. The composer penned 26 operas, sacred and instrumental works, and romances. The most significant part of Verdi’s creative heritage is operas, many of which (“Rigoletto”, “La Traviata”, “Aida”, “Otello”) have been performed on the stages of opera houses around the world for more than a hundred years. Works of other genres, with the exception of the inspired Requiem, are practically unknown, and the manuscripts of most of them have been lost.

Verdi, unlike many musicians of the 19th century, did not proclaim his creative principles in programmatic speeches in print, did not connect his work with the establishment of the aesthetics of a certain artistic direction. Nevertheless, his long, difficult, not always rapid and crowned with victories creative path was directed towards a deeply suffered and conscious goal - the achievement of musical realism in an opera performance. Life in all its diversity of conflicts is the overarching theme of the composer’s work. The range of its embodiment was unusually wide - from social conflicts to the confrontation of feelings in the soul of one person. At the same time, Verdi's art carries within itself a feeling of special beauty and harmony. “I like everything that is beautiful in art,” said the composer. His own music also became an example of beautiful, sincere and inspired art.

Clearly aware of his creative tasks, Verdi was tireless in his search for the most perfect forms of realizing his ideas, and was extremely demanding of himself, librettists and performers. He often himself selected the literary basis for the libretto and discussed in detail with the librettists the entire process of its creation. The most fruitful collaboration connected the composer with such librettists as T. Solera, F. Piave, A. Ghislanzoni, A. Boito. Verdi demanded dramatic truth from singers; he was intolerant of any manifestation of falsehood on stage, meaningless virtuosity, not colored by deep feelings, not justified by dramatic action. “...Great talent, soul and stage flair” - these are the qualities that he primarily valued in performers. “Meaningful, reverent” performance of operas seemed necessary to him; “...when operas cannot be performed in all their integrity - the way they were intended by the composer - it is better not to perform them at all.”

Verdi lived a long life. He was born into the family of a peasant innkeeper. His teachers were the village church organist P. Baistrocchi, then F. Provesi, who headed the musical life in Busseto, and the conductor Milan theater La Scala V. Lavigna. Being already a mature composer, Verdi wrote: “I learned some best works modern times, not by studying them, but by hearing them in the theater... I would be lying if I said that in my youth I did not go through a long and rigorous study... my hand is strong enough to handle notes the way I do willing, and confident enough to achieve the effects I intended in most cases; and if I write something not according to the rules, it happens because the exact rule does not give me what I want, and because I do not consider all the rules adopted to this day to be absolutely good.”

The young composer’s first success was associated with the production of the opera “Oberto” at the La Scala Theater in Milan in 1839. Three years later, the opera “Nebuchadnezzar” (“Nabucco”) was staged in the same theater, which brought the author wide fame (1841). The composer's first operas appeared during the era of revolutionary upsurge in Italy, which was called the era of Risorgimento (Italian - renaissance). The struggle for the unification and independence of Italy embraced the entire people. Verdi could not stay away. He felt victories and defeats deeply revolutionary movement, although he did not consider himself a politician. Heroic-patriotic operas of the 40s. - “Nabucco” (1841), “Lombards in the First Crusade” (1842), “Battle of Legnano” (1848) - were a kind of response to revolutionary events. The biblical and historical plots of these operas, far from modern times, glorified heroism, freedom and independence, and therefore were close to thousands of Italians. “Maestro of the Italian Revolution” - this is what contemporaries called Verdi, whose work became extremely popular.

However, the creative interests of the young composer were not limited to the theme of heroic struggle. In search of new subjects, the composer turns to the classics of world literature: V. Hugo (“Ernani”, 1844), V. Shakespeare (“Macbeth”, 1847), F. Schiller (“Louise Miller”, 1849). The expansion of creative themes was accompanied by the search for new musical means and the growth of compositional skills. The period of creative maturity was marked by a remarkable triad of operas: “Rigoletto” (1851), “Il Trovatore” (1853), “La Traviata” (1853). For the first time in Verdi's work, a protest against social injustice was so openly voiced. The heroes of these operas, endowed with ardent, noble feelings, come into conflict with generally accepted moral norms. Turning to such plots was an extremely bold step (Verdi wrote about La Traviata: “The plot is modern. Another would not have taken on this plot, perhaps because of decency, because of the era and because of a thousand other stupid prejudices.. I do it with the greatest pleasure."

By the mid-50s. the name Verdi is widely known throughout the world. The composer enters into contracts not only with Italian theaters. In 1854 he creates the opera "Sicilian Vespers" for the Parisian Grand Theater Opera, a few years later the operas “Simon Boccanegra” (1857) and “Un ballo in maschera” (1859, for the Italian theaters San Carlo and Appolo) were written. In 1861, by order of the management of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, Verdi created the opera “Force of Destiny”. In connection with its production, the composer travels to Russia twice. The opera was not a great success, although Verdi's music was popular in Russia.

Among the operas of the 60s. The opera “Don Carlos” (1867), based on Schiller’s drama of the same name, gained the greatest popularity. The music of "Don Carlos", saturated with deep psychologism, anticipates the peaks of Verdi's operatic creativity - "Aida" and "Othello". “Aida” was written in 1870 for the opening of a new theater in Cairo. It organically merged the achievements of all previous operas: the perfection of music, bright colors, and refinement of drama.

Following “Aida,” “Requiem” (1874) was created, after which there was a long (more than 10 years) silence caused by the crisis in social and musical life. In Italy there was a widespread passion for the music of R. Wagner, while the national culture was in oblivion. The current situation was not just a struggle of tastes, different aesthetic positions, without which artistic practice, and indeed the development of all art, is unthinkable. It was a time when the priority of national artistic traditions, which was especially deeply felt by the patriots of Italian art. Verdi reasoned: “Art belongs to all peoples. Nobody believes this more strongly than I do. But it develops individually. And if the Germans have a different artistic practice than we do, their art is fundamentally different from ours. We cannot compose like the Germans..."

Thinking about future fate Italian music, feeling enormous responsibility for every next step, Verdi began to realize the concept of the opera Othello (1886), which became a true masterpiece. "Othello" is an unsurpassed interpretation of Shakespeare's plot in the operatic genre, a perfect example of the musical-psychological drama that the composer spent his entire life creating.

Verdi's last work - the comic opera "Falstaff" (1892) - surprises with its cheerfulness and impeccable skill; it seems to open new page the composer's work, which, unfortunately, did not receive a continuation. Verdi’s whole life is illuminated by a deep conviction in the correctness of the chosen path: “When it comes to art, I have my own thoughts, my own convictions, very clear, very precise, which I cannot and should not refuse.” L. Escudier, one of the composer’s contemporaries, very aptly described him: “Verdi had only three passions. But they reached greatest power: love of art, national feeling and friendship." Interest in Verdi's passionate and truthful work continues unabated. For new generations of music lovers, it invariably remains a classical standard, combining clarity of thought, inspiration of feeling and musical perfection.

A. Zolotykh

Opera was at the center of Verdi's artistic interests. Actually early stage creativity, in Busseto, he wrote many instrumental works (their manuscripts are lost), but never returned to this genre. The exception is the string quartet of 1873, which was not intended by the composer for public performance. On the same teenage years By the nature of his activity as an organist, Verdi composed sacred music. By the end creative path- after the Requiem - he created several more works of this kind (Stabat mater, Te Deum and others). A few romances also belong to the early creative period. He devoted all his energy to opera for more than half a century, starting from Oberto (1839) and ending with Falstaff (1893).

Verdi wrote twenty-six operas, six of them given in a new, significantly changed version. (By decades, these works are arranged as follows: late 30s - 40s - 14 operas (+1 in the new edition), 50s - 7 operas (+1 in the new edition), 60s - 2 operas (+2 in the new edition), 70s - 1 opera, 80s - 1 opera (+2 in the new edition), 90s - 1 opera.) Throughout his long life, he remained true to his aesthetic ideals. “I may not have enough strength to achieve what I want, but I know what I am striving for,” wrote Verdi in 1868. These words can describe his entire creative activity. But over the years, the composer’s artistic ideals became clearer and his skill became more perfect and honed.

Verdi strove to embody drama that was “strong, simple, significant.” In 1853, while composing La Traviata, he wrote: “I dream of new large, beautiful, varied, bold subjects, and extremely bold ones.” In another letter (of the same year) we read: “Give me a beautiful, original plot, interesting, with magnificent situations, passions, - above all, passions!..”.

True and bold dramatic situations, sharply defined characters - that, according to Verdi, is the main thing in an opera plot. And if in the works of the early, romantic period, the development of situations did not always contribute to the consistent development of characters, then by the 50s the composer clearly realized that the deepening of this connection serves as the basis for creating a vitally truthful musical drama. That is why, having firmly taken the path of realism, Verdi condemned modern Italian opera for its monotonous, monotonous plots and routine forms. He also condemned his previously written works for the insufficient breadth of showing life’s contradictions: “They contain scenes that arouse great interest, but there is no variety. They affect only one side - the sublime, if you like - but always the same.”

In Verdi's understanding, opera is unthinkable without the utmost sharpening of conflicting contradictions. Dramatic situations, the composer said, should expose human passions in their characteristic, individual form. Therefore, Verdi resolutely opposed all sorts of routine in the libretto. In 1851, when starting work on Il Trovatore, Verdi wrote: “The freer Cammarano (the opera’s librettist.- M.D.) will interpret the form, the better for me, the more satisfied I will be.” A year earlier, having conceived an opera based on the plot of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Verdi pointed out: “There is no need to make a drama out of Lear in the generally accepted form. It would be necessary to find a new, larger form, free from bias.”

For Verdi, the plot is a means of effectively revealing the idea of ​​the work. The composer's life is permeated with the search for such subjects. Since "Hernani" he has been persistently looking for literary sources for his operatic plans. An excellent connoisseur of Italian (and Latin) literature, Verdi was well versed in German, French, and English drama. His favorite authors are Dante, Shakespeare, Byron, Schiller, Hugo. (About Shakespeare, Verdi wrote in 1865: “He is my favorite writer, whom I have known since early childhood and I re-read it all the time.” He wrote three operas based on Shakespeare's plots, dreamed of Hamlet and The Tempest, and returned to work on King Lear four times (in 1847, 1849, 1856 and 1869); based on Byron's plots - two operas (the unfinished plan for "Cain"), Schiller - four, Hugo - two (the plan for "Ruy Blas").)

Verdi's creative initiative was not limited to the choice of subject. He actively supervised the work of the librettist. “I have never written operas based on ready-made librettos made by someone else,” said the composer, “I just can’t understand how a screenwriter can be born who can accurately guess what I can translate into an opera.” Verdi's extensive correspondence is filled with creative instructions and advice to his literary collaborators. These instructions relate primarily to the script plan of the opera. The composer demanded maximum concentration of the plot development of the literary source and for this - reduction of side lines of intrigue, compression of the text of the drama.

Verdi prescribed to his collaborators the verbiage he needed, the rhythm of the poems and the number of words needed for the music. He paid special attention to “key” phrases in the text of the libretto, designed to clearly reveal the content of a specific dramatic situation or character. “It doesn’t matter whether there is this or that word, a phrase is needed that will excite, will be scenic,” he wrote in 1870 to the librettist of Aida. Improving the libretto of “Othello”, he removed phrases and words that were unnecessary, in his opinion, demanded rhythmic variety in the text, broke the “smoothness” of the verse, which constrained musical development, achieved extreme expressiveness and laconicism.

Verdi's bold ideas did not always receive worthy expression from his literary collaborators. Thus, while highly appreciating the libretto of “Rigoletto,” the composer noted the weak verses in it. Much did not satisfy him in the dramaturgy of “Troubadour”, “Sicilian Vespers”, “Don Carlos”. Having failed to achieve a completely convincing script and literary embodiment of his innovative idea in the libretto of King Lear, he was forced to abandon the completion of the opera.

In intense work with librettists, Verdi’s idea for the composition finally matured. He usually started working on music only after developing a complete literary text the entire opera.

Verdi said that the most difficult thing for him was “to write quickly enough to express a musical thought in the integrity with which it was born in the mind.” He recalled: “When I was young, I often worked without a break from four in the morning until seven in the evening.” Even in his old age, when creating the score of Falstaff, he immediately instrumentalized the completed large passages, since he was “afraid of forgetting some orchestral combinations and timbre combinations.”

When creating music, Verdi had in mind the possibilities of its stage implementation. Associated with various theaters until the mid-50s, he often resolved certain issues of musical drama depending on the performing forces that the given group had. Moreover, Verdi was interested not only in the vocal qualities of the singers. In 1857, before the premiere of Simon Boccanegra, he pointed out: “The role of Paolo is very important, it is absolutely necessary to find a baritone who would be a good actor.” Back in 1848, in connection with the planned production of Macbeth in Naples, Verdi rejected the singer Tadolini proposed to him, since her vocal and stage abilities were not suitable for the intended role: “Tadolini has a magnificent, clear, transparent, powerful voice, and I I would like for a lady a dull, harsh, gloomy voice. Tadolini has something angelic in her voice, but I would like the lady to have something devilish in her voice.”

In learning his operas, right up to Falstaff, Verdi took an energetic part, interfering in the work of the conductor, and paid especially much attention to the singers, carefully going through the parts with them. Thus, the singer Barbieri-Nini, who performed the role of Lady Macbeth at the premiere in 1847, testified that the composer rehearsed the duet with her up to 150 times, achieving the means of vocal expression he needed. He worked just as demandingly at the age of 74 with the famous tenor Francesco Tamagno, who performed the role of Othello.

Verdi Special attention devoted to issues of stage interpretation of opera. His correspondence contains many valuable statements on these issues. “All the forces of the stage provide dramatic expressiveness,” wrote Verdi, “and not just the musical rendering of cavatinas, duets, finales, etc.” In connection with the production of “Forces of Destiny” in 1869, he complained about the critic, who wrote only about the vocal side of the performer: “About the varied, widely deployed life pictures, filling half of the opera and giving it the character of a musical drama, neither the reviewer nor the audience says anything...” Noting the musicality of the performers, the composer emphasized: “Opera, don’t get me wrong, that is stage-musical drama, was given very mediocrely." It is precisely against this taking the music off the stage and Verdi protested: while participating in the learning and staging of his works, he demanded the truth of feelings and actions both in singing and in stage movement. Verdi argued that only under the condition of dramatic unity of all means of musical and stage expressiveness can an opera performance be complete.

Thus, starting from the choice of plot in intense work with the librettist, during the creation of music, during its stage implementation - at all stages of work on the opera, from the inception of the idea to the production, the master’s imperious will manifested itself, which confidently led his native Italian art to heights realism.

Verdi's operatic ideals were formed as a result of long years of creative work, extensive practical work, and persistent searches. He knew well the state of contemporary musical theater in Europe. Spending a lot of time abroad, Verdi met the best troupes in Europe - from St. Petersburg to Paris, Vienna, London, Madrid. He was familiar with the operas of the greatest composers of our time (Verdi probably heard Glinka’s operas in St. Petersburg. The Italian composer’s personal library had the score of “The Stone Guest” by Dargomyzhsky.). Verdi assessed them with the same degree of criticality with which he approached his own own creativity. And often he did not so much assimilate the artistic achievements of others national cultures, how much he processed in his own way, overcame their influence.

This is how he treated the musical and stage traditions of the French theater: they were well known to him, if only because three of his works (“Sicilian Vespers”, “Don Carlos”, the second edition of “Macbeth”) were written for the Parisian stage. The same was his attitude towards Wagner, whose operas, mainly from the middle period, he knew, and some of them highly valued (“Lohengrin”, “Die Walküre”), but Verdi creatively polemicized with both Meyerbeer and Wagner. He did not belittle their importance for the development of French or German musical culture, but rejected the possibility of slavish imitation of them. Verdi wrote: “If the Germans, starting from Bach, reach Wagner, then they act like true Germans. But we, the descendants of Palestrina, imitating Wagner, are committing a musical crime, creating art that is unnecessary and even harmful.” “We feel differently,” he added.

The question of Wagner's influence became especially acute in Italy starting in the 60s; many young composers succumbed to him (The most ardent admirers of Wagner in Italy were Liszt's student, the composer J. Sgambatti, conductor G. Martucci, A. Boito(at the beginning of his creative career, before meeting Verdi) and others.). Verdi noted with bitterness: “All of us - composers, critics, the public - did everything possible to renounce our musical nationality. Here we are at a quiet pier... one more step, and we will be Germanized in this, as in everything else.” It was difficult and painful for him to hear from the lips of young people and some critics the words that his previous operas were outdated and did not meet modern requirements, and the current ones, starting with Aida, were following in the footsteps of Wagner. “What an honor, after a forty-year creative career, to end up as a copycat!” - Verdi exclaimed angrily.

But he did not reject the value of Wagner's artistic achievements. The German composer made him think about a lot, and above all - about the role of the orchestra in opera, which was underestimated by Italian composers of the first half of the 19th century (including Verdi himself at the early stage of his work), about the increasing importance of harmony (and this important means musical expressiveness neglected by the authors of Italian opera) and, finally, on the development of principles of end-to-end development to overcome the dismemberment of the forms of the number structure.

However, for all these questions, the most important for the musical dramaturgy of opera in the second half of the century, Verdi found their solutions different from Wagner's. Moreover, he outlined them even before becoming acquainted with the works of the brilliant German composer. For example, the use of “timbre dramaturgy” in the scene of the appearance of spirits in “Macbeth” or in the depiction of an ominous thunderstorm in “Rigoletto”, the use of string divisi in a high register in the introduction to the last act of “La Traviata” or trombones in Miserere “Il Trovatore” - these are bold, individual instrumentation techniques were found independently of Wagner. And if we talk about anyone’s influence on Verdi’s orchestra, we should rather have in mind Berlioz, whom he greatly appreciated and with whom he had been on friendly terms since the early 60s.

Verdi was equally independent in his search for a fusion of the principles of song-aria (bel canto) and declamation (parlante). He developed his own special “mixed style” (stilo misto), which served as the basis for him to create free forms of monologue or dialogic scenes. Rigoletto’s aria “Courtisans, fiends of vice” or the spiritual duel between Germont and Violetta were also written before becoming acquainted with Wagner’s operas. Of course, familiarization with them helped Verdi to more boldly develop new principles of drama, which especially affected his harmonic language, which became more complex and flexible. But between creative principles There are fundamental differences between Wagner and Verdi. They clearly appear in their attitude to the role of the vocal element in opera.

With all the attention that Verdi paid to the orchestra in his last works, he recognized the vocal-melodic factor as the leading one. Thus, regarding Puccini’s early operas, Verdi wrote in 1892: “It seems to me that the symphonic principle prevails here. This in itself is not bad, but you have to be careful: an opera is an opera, and a symphony is a symphony.”

“Voice and melody,” said Verdi, “will always be the most important thing for me.” He ardently defended this position, believing that it expressed typical national traits Italian music. In his project for the reform of public education, presented to the government in 1861, Verdi advocated the organization of free evening singing schools and full stimulation of vocal music-making at home. Ten years later, he appealed to young composers to study classical Italian vocal literature, including the works of Palestrina. Verdi saw the mastery of the peculiarities of the singing culture of the people as the key to successful development national traditions musical art. However, the content that he put into the concepts of “melody” and “melody” changed.

In the years of creative maturity, he sharply opposed those who interpreted these concepts one-sidedly. In 1871, Verdi wrote: “You cannot be only a melodist in music! There is something more than melody, than harmony - in fact, - music itself!..” Or in a letter from 1882: “Melody, harmony, recitation, passionate singing, orchestral effects and colors are nothing more than means. Make good music using these means!..” In the heat of controversy, Verdi even expressed judgments that sounded paradoxical in his mouth: “Melodies are not made from scales, trills or gruppettos... There are, for example, melodies in the choir of bards (from Bellini’s Norma.- M.D.), the prayer of Moses (from opera of the same name Rossini.- M.D.) etc., but they are not in the cavatina of “The Barber of Seville”, “The Thieving Magpie”, “Semiramis”, etc. - What is this? “Whatever you want, just not melodies” (from a letter of 1875.)

What caused such a sharp attack against Rossini's opera melodies from such a consistent supporter and convinced promoter of the national musical traditions of Italy as Verdi? Other tasks that were put forward by the new content of his operas. In singing, he wanted to hear “a combination of the old with the new recitation,” and in opera, a deep and multifaceted identification of the individual traits of specific images and dramatic situations. This is what he strived for when updating the intonation structure of Italian music.

But in the approach of Wagner and Verdi to the problems of operatic dramaturgy, in addition to national differences, was also affected by other style direction of artistic quest. Having started as a romantic, Verdi emerged as the greatest master of realistic opera, while Wagner was and remained a romantic, although in his works different creative periods the features of realism appeared, now to a greater, now to a lesser extent. This ultimately determines the difference in the ideas, themes, and images that excited them, which forced Verdi to contrast Wagner’s “ musical drama "your understanding" musical stage drama».

Not all contemporaries understood the greatness of Verdi's creative deeds. However, it would be wrong to assume that the majority of musicians in Italy in the second half of the 19th century were under the influence of Wagner. Verdi had his supporters and allies in the struggle for national operatic ideals. His senior contemporary Saverio Mercadante still continued to work, and as a follower of Verdi, Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886, best opera “La Gioconda” - 1874; he was Puccini’s teacher) achieved significant success. A brilliant galaxy of singers improved themselves by performing the works of Verdi: Francesco Tamagno (1851 - 1905), Mattia Battistini (1856-1928), Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) and others. The outstanding conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) was brought up on these works. Finally, in the 90s a number of young Italian composers emerged, using Verdi's traditions in their own way. These are Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945, opera “Honor Rusticana” - 1890), Ruggero Leoncavallo (1858-1919, opera “Pagliacci” - 1892) and the most talented of them - Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924; first significant success - opera “Manon”, 1893; best works: “La Boheme” - 1896, “Tosca” - 1900, “Cio-Cio-San” - 1904). (They are joined by Umberto Giordano, Alfredo Catalani, Francesco Cilea and others.)

The work of these composers is characterized by an appeal to a modern theme, which distinguishes them from Verdi, who, after La Traviata, did not directly embody modern themes.

The basis for the artistic quest of young musicians was literary movement 80s, led by the writer Giovanni Varga and called “verismo” (verismo means in Italian “truth”, “truthfulness”, “authenticity”). In their works, verists mainly depicted the life of the ruined peasantry (especially the south of Italy) and urban the poor, that is, the disadvantaged social lower classes, crushed by the progressive development of capitalism. In the merciless denunciation of the negative aspects of bourgeois society, the progressive significance of the creativity of the faithists was revealed. But the predilection for “bloody” plots, the transfer of emphatically sensual moments, the exposure of the physiological, bestial qualities of a person led to naturalism, to an impoverished image of reality.

To a certain extent, this contradiction is also characteristic of verist composers. Verdi could not sympathize with the manifestations of naturalism in their operas. Back in 1876, he wrote: “It’s not bad to imitate reality, but it’s even better to create reality... By copying it, you can only make a photograph, not a painting.” But Verdi could not help but welcome the desire of young authors to remain faithful to the precepts of the Italian opera school. The new content to which they turned required different means of expression and principles of dramaturgy - more dynamic, highly dramatic, nervously excited, impetuous.

Page 5 of 12

Chapter 4 MAESTRO OF THE ITALIAN REVOLUTION

Verdi reflects his nationality and his era. He is the voice of modern Italy... Italy, bold and passionate to the point of fury.
A. Serov

On this January day in 1849, Rome was warm and sunny like spring. A mass of people in bright colored clothes flooded the streets of the “eternal city”. On ancient porticos, on sparkling marble houses, on bridges over the Tiber - tricolor banners fluttered everywhere. The colors of the national flag - green, white and red - symbolized hope, purity of thoughts and the blood of Italians shed for the liberation of their homeland.
Finally, the Romans took a deep breath. Street fighting ended in victory. Pope Pius IX, frightened by the revolution, fled from the Vatican. It was unusual to see the entrance to the residence of His Holiness without armed guards - the Swiss guards also disappeared. Not a single foreign uniform remained in the capital of Italy.
Rome rejoiced. The names of national heroes Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini were loudly called out. Just yesterday they were talked about in whispers, fearing the Austrian gendarmes. Their speeches and articles were published in secret printing houses. The newspaper Young Italy, published by Mazzini, was smuggled from France. And today the streets thundered with music. The revolutionary anthem “Sound the Trumpet!” was performed with particular enthusiasm. And we will boldly go into battle!”, written by Italy’s most beloved maestro, Giuseppe Verdi.
Posters were posted all over the city. They announced that on January 27, 1849, Verdi’s heroic opera “The Battle of Legnano” would be presented for the first time at Rome’s Teatro Argentina. The theater building was taken by storm, just as the papal palace was attacked. The hall was packed to capacity. Excited spectators clung to the barriers of the boxes, clogged the passages in the stalls, and spilled onto the proscenium. They even got behind the scenes. The theater seethed and seethed like the sea in stormy weather.
The very first sounds of the overture in the rhythm of a military march were received with delight. And when the male choir sang “Long live Italy!”, the audience stood up in one impulse and repeated this call. Purses, jewelry, hats, cloaks and swords flew onto the stage.
The audience seemed not to notice the suffering of the lovers, on which the intrigue of the opera was built. Only the revolutionary songs of the choir and heroic hymns were applauded by Italian patriots. And although the events of the play took place in distant times, in 1176, the music inspired the Romans to fight today.
Many scenes of the opera were encored, and the last act was repeated in its entirety. It ended with the news of the Roman victory over the troops of Barbarossa. The hero of the opera Arrigo, mortally wounded in battle, died kissing the sacred banner of his homeland. It was an oath of allegiance to the great ideals of liberation.
The beloved maestro was called to the stage with frantic applause.
Viva Verdi! Viva Italia! - the hall thundered. - Long live Verdi and Italy!
In the box where the Austrian governor had previously sat, there were Giuseppe Mazzini and Goffredo Mameli, a young revolutionary poet who wrote poems for the patriotic hymns “Sound the Trumpet!” and "Brothers of Italy".
Giuseppe Mazzini, hot, impetuous, with inspired sparkling eyes, ran onto the stage and hugged Verdi.

Giuseppe Verdi. (1813-1901)
Drawing by G. Boldini.

What Garibaldi and I do in politics,” he exclaimed, “you do in music!” Now more than ever, Italy needs your music!
The best music now,” answered Verdi, “is the music of cannons!” At these moments, Italy is truly great! The hour of her release has come. The people want it, and when the people want it, there is nothing that could resist it!..
Italy was waiting for its finest hour. And it came. Thirteen days after the premiere of The Battle of Legnano, a republic was proclaimed in Rome. One of its leaders was Giuseppe Mazzini. The cry of “Viva Verdi!” became the slogan of the Italian revolution, as if its password, because, in addition to its direct meaning, it also had a secret meaning. “VERDI” was spelled as Victor Emmanuel Re (king) of D’Italia. The patriots pinned on this Piedmontese ruler big hopes. He was supposed to unite the fragmented Italy into a single independent state. And even when the reaction took over, the Italian revolutionaries risked their Lives in capital letters wrote on the walls of houses: “VIVA VERDI!”
For several centuries, Italy fought for its independence. “And all these vampires in a crown and tiara could not suck her blood,” Alexander Herzen admired. “Amazing people!”
You are probably well acquainted with this amazing people from Voynich’s novel “The Gadfly” and Stendhal’s short story “Vanina Vanini”. There were many people like Gadfly and Missirilli among the Italian patriots. Their example raised more than one generation of revolutionaries. National heroes were Garibaldi and Mazzini. Giuseppe Verdi was equally highly regarded in Italy.
His music - inspired, lively, fiery - called for exploits. This is exactly the kind of music Mazzini was waiting for. In his treatise “The Philosophy of Music,” published long before Verdi gained fame, the leader of “Young Italy” addressed a certain young man who would come from his native fields and pour fresh blood into the Italian melody, making it in tune with the new revolutionary era.
Music is a spiritual light, Mazzini preached, it illuminates our path and leads us along it: this light gives strength to the idea that inspires us.
Inspired by the calls of Mazzini, Verdi turned out to be exactly the young man who embodied the ideals of Young Italy in his music. From the small provincial town of Busseto he came to Milan in 1839, at the age of twenty-five. In his suitcase lay the score of the opera Oberto, which he himself had carefully transcribed, part by part. Two years ago he offered it to the Teatro Ducale in Parma, but the opera was rejected. In Milan, the young prima donna of La Scala, Giuseppina Strepponi, became interested in his music. With her assistance, Giuseppe Verdi's opera was accepted for production at the best musical theater in Italy.
“I introduced myself to Merelli,” the composer recalled about his visit to the theater director, “and he, without any usual introduction, informed me that, taking into account the friendly reviews, he would stage my opera in the coming season; that I should just be ready for some changes... This proposal could be called brilliant in my conditions. A young, completely unknown musician, I found a theater director who had the courage, without a deposit, which I was not even able to provide him, to put my new work on stage.”
On November 17, 1839, the premiere of Verdi's first opera, Oberto, took place at La Scala. She made, according to the composer, “a pleasant impression, but did not cause surprise.” Although the musician was not very old, in his music, temperamental and melodic, one could feel the future great Verdi. Merelli signed a contract with the young maestro for three more operas for La Scala.
By the autumn season of 1840, Giuseppe Verdi was supposed to write a new opera buffa, “The King for an Hour.” The libretto was based on the adventures of the French cavalier Belfort, who was forced to impersonate the King of Poland in Brittany in order to hide the temporary absence of the real monarch. There were many touching and funny incidents in the comedy - that only a duel, where barrels of gunpowder served as weapons, was worth it!
Composing a comic opera required the composer to be in a good mood, cheerful and carefree. But this period turned out to be the most difficult in Verdi’s life. Two small children died one after another, and soon his beloved wife Margherita died. Heartbroken, the young maestro had to fulfill the terms of the contract and deliver the opera by the appointed date. And on September 5, 1840, two and a half months after the death of his wife, “The King for an Hour” was shown at La Scala.
The opera was booed. There was not a single challenge from the author. The first performance turned out to be the last. Verdi later wrote bitterly:
“The public made short work of the opera of an unfortunate young man, sick, held in a vice by the term of the contract, with a heart tormented by the most terrible grief. All this was known to the public, but did not in any way restrain the manifestation of its rudeness.”
Verdi firmly decided to part with composition forever and make a living teaching music. He locked himself in his miserable little room and rarely left the house. One dreary winter day, Verdi, on one of his rare walks, ran into Merelli on the street.
The impresario almost forcibly dragged the musician into the theater and squeezed a new libretto into his pocket.
Amazing!.. Grandiose!..,” shouted the expansive director, “Completely unusual!” Intense and majestic dramatic situations, wonderful poems! Take him! Read!..
What do I need it for? No no no! I am not able to read opera librettos.
Oh! The libretto won't hurt you. Read it! If necessary, you will return...
Returning home and cursing the whole world, Verdi threw the manuscript on the table. It opened to a page with the verses “Fly, O thought, on golden wings.” It was a paraphrase from the Bible - a book that Verdi loved to read in gloomy solitude. The text captured the composer. By morning he already knew the libretto by heart. And yet he brought the manuscript back to the theater.
Which is wonderful, isn't it? asked Merelli.
Very good!
Well!.. So put it to music!
And in my dreams I don’t want to deal with music!
Put it to music, I told you, put it to music!
After much hesitation, Verdi nevertheless wrote an opera based on this libretto.
It was called "Nabucco".
Verdi's new work was greeted with enthusiasm by the entire La Scala troupe. Even carpenters and costume designers came to opera rehearsals to listen to such exciting music.
The premiere of Nabucco on March 9, 1842 was an event. The biblical legend about the suffering and struggle of an oppressed people was unusually consonant with that time. Italy was on the eve of the 1848 revolution. In the passionate choirs of the people, similar to hymns, thoughts and feelings close to the compatriots of the young composer were expressed. And the prophecy of one of the characters in the opera, the priest Zechariah, about the fall of Babylon, which clearly hinted at the imminent collapse of foreign rule in Italy, caused a patriotic demonstration in the theater. This was the baptism of fire of the future “musical Garibaldi.”
Verdi will never forget the feeling of delight and happiness when the audience imperiously demanded him onto the stage. The 3,600 people who filled the hall sang along with the choir and soloists the melody that later became immortal: “Fly, thought, on golden wings.” The heads of the spectators, like the waves of a mighty surf, swayed to the beat of the melody. Numerous candles, multiplied by mirrors, trembled from powerful sounds. The six tiers were decorated with red carnations. They resembled drops of blood shed by the patriots of Italy in the unequal struggle against the invaders. Excited faces and burning eyes are everywhere. Hundreds of hands grabbed the composer and carried him out of the theater, like a triumphant ancient Rome. The play “Nabucco” ran for 65 consecutive evenings. There has not been such success at La Scala since the triumphs of Gioachino Rossini. “With this opera,” Verdi claimed, “essentially my artistic career began.”
A year later, on February 11, 1843, another Verdi opera, “The Lombards in the First Crusade,” was premiered at La Scala. The play also took place in ancient times, but the Milanese honored the merits of the ancient Lombards. Some of the scenes took place in the squares of Milan (the capital of Lombardy), which retained their original appearance intact. The events of history again seemed to come closer to modern times. The Lombard chorus at the opera's finale sounded a call for rebellion.
The Austrian censorship could not forget how the premiere of Nabucco was received. She tried to erase everything prohibited from the text. The archbishop of Milan was outraged by the depiction of a religious procession on stage. He demanded that church rituals be excluded from the performance. Of course, this was only an excuse to remove the opera from the repertoire. Verdi firmly defended his copyright. Thanks to Merelli's diplomacy, the conflict was smoothed over with minor amendments. The fight against censorship and the archbishop (an Austrian by nationality) increased the interest of Milanese in the premiere. A huge crowd had already gathered in the square in front of La Scala since three o'clock in the afternoon. The play “The Lombards” turned into a revolutionary demonstration. Unprecedented success accompanied all 27 performances of Giuseppe Verdi's new opera.
Heroic motifs were also heard in other operas written by the composer during the years of the rise of the revolutionary movement, the so-called Risor Gimento (the era of Italian renewal). Verdi relied on the mighty works of Hugo, Byron, Voltaire, Shakespeare, and Schiller, whose tragedies he reworked for his musical compositions. His operas “Ernani”, “Attila”, “Macbeth”, “The Robbers”, “Joan of Arc”, “Louise Miller”, based on the works of classics of world drama, raised the heroic spirit of the people. All of Italy sang Verdi's melodies. His choruses became folk songs.
The intensity of Verdi's music is a volcanic atmosphere of struggle! the composer's contemporaries admired him.
This period of “storm and stress” in Verdi’s work ended with the triumph of the opera “The Battle of Legnano” at the Roman Teatro Argentina, which we already talked about at the beginning of the chapter.
The Roman Republic lasted only a few months. Pope Pius IX managed, with the help of foreign troops, to regain his throne in the Vatican. The Austrians and French again ruled the country. According to F. Engels, they robbed Italy, exporting people, artistic treasures, and food. Foreigners restored their dominance with fire and sword. But Italian patriots continued to fight, no matter what.

Italian patriots write the slogan “Viva Verdi!” on the wall of a house in Milan. From a drawing of 1859

Giuseppe Verdi and Victor Morel - Iago before the premiere of the opera "Othello".

Count di Luna - Piero Cappuccili, Azucena - Giulietta Simionato in the La Scala theater performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore. 1964

Epic scenery for the La Scala theater performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore. Military camp. Walker Nikolai Benois.

Duke - Sergei Lemeshev. Verdi's opera "Rigoletto".

Giuseppe Verdi did not lay down his arms either. He had sounds and melodies in his arsenal, but they seemed worse to his enemies than guns. In the most difficult years for Italy, when patriots languished in overcrowded dungeons, the “musical Garibaldi” created his best operas, glorifying the feat in the name of humanity: “Rigoletto”, “La Traviata” and “Il Trovatore”. The hero of the latter, the poet Manrico, raised among free gypsies, embodied the most remarkable features of the Italian revolutionaries. He was truly a folk hero.
On the day of the premiere of Il Trovatore at the Apollo Theater in Rome, January 19, 1853, the Tiber River overflowed its banks and flooded many streets of the capital. But the natural disaster did not stop the Romans. From early morning they surrounded the theater, trying to get to the performance at all costs. No barriers - neither natural nor police - could hold back this flow.
The events of the opera “Il Trovatore” take place in Spain at the beginning of the 15th century. In those days, everything was in full swing on the Iberian Peninsula, just like in Italy in the middle of the last century, when the onera was created. People's rebels rose up against the feudal lords. Manrico led the rebels. They are opposed by the noble knight Count di Luna. The struggle is complicated by personal motives. Di Luna and Manrico are in love with the beautiful Leonora. The girl prefers the ardent and brave troubadour Manrico. A duel breaks out between the rivals. Manrico defeated the enemy, raised his sword for the final blow, but some unknown force forced the troubadour to spare his opponent.
The count's troops besieged the fortress where Manrico and Leonora had taken refuge. The young people are preparing for the wedding. The count managed to break into the fortress. He imprisoned Manrico and his mother Azucena.
Leonora died after taking poison, and the troubadour was executed. When the execution was already carried out, the gypsy woman, considered Manrico’s mother, informed the count that the young man was his brother. As a child he found himself among the gypsies. She, Azucena, kidnapped him, avenging her mother, who was burned at the stake. She wanted to burn the boy, but mistakenly threw her own son into the fire. The count's brother survived. And di Luna just executed him.
Isn't it true that there are more than enough horrors?
There is no need to judge the libretto of the opera too harshly... - Verdi himself joined our conversation. - The author of the libretto, poor Cammarano, died without finishing his work... Yes, many say that the opera is too gloomy and there is too much in it deaths. But in the end, all life is filled with death... What was happening in my country when I was working on the opera? Everywhere there is blood, murders, executions... But death is different. Dying for your homeland is wonderful! If you noticed, I always write operas about modern times, although they usually take place in distant times. This “historical masquerade” allows me, bypassing censorship, to talk about events taking place in my time. What can resist bayonets! Revenge is the main thing in my opera. Vengeance of the shooting gallery on us! I even wanted to call the opera “Gypsy” because Azucena is in it main character. This is a unique and new character. Two great passions possess this woman - daughterly love and maternal love... She takes revenge on the count for her mother...
By the word “mother” you also mean something else, don’t you, maestro? Not only a woman who gave birth and raised a child, but also a mother and homeland. When Azucena is led to the stake, Manrico, gathering the rebels, sings his passionate cabaletta - a small aria written at a rapid march tempo. The cabaletta seems to be filled with gunpowder, and only a spark is needed for an explosion to occur.

Wild animals, put out the flames.
Or I’ll fill the flames with your blood!
I was a faithful son before we met.
And I will save my mother or die myself!

After all, Manrico sings not only about Azucena, who must be saved from the fire, but also about her motherland, for whose freedom we also must fight. It is no coincidence that Manrico supports the rebel chorus:

To arms! To arms!
To arms, everyone forward!
We are all going to help.
With you we will win or we will die!

Your compatriots, dear maestro, understood perfectly well what the words “long-suffering mother”, “with you we will win or we will die”, “I will fill the flame with your blood” meant. This is a call to save the homeland from “evil tyrants.”
Maybe you're right. And I am proud that Manrico's cabaletta was sung in Italy as a revolutionary song. They went to the barricades with her, fought and won!
I would like to recall the words of Serov, who said that the opera “Trumpet of the Fools” is entirely saturated with a rebellious spirit. She is all passion and impulse. The power and energy of this music did not leave any patriot devoted to music and freedom indifferent!
The freedom-loving ideas of the Risorgimento, embodied in the fiery music of Verdi, were close advanced people Russia of the last century.
“If there is music that does not suit a white tie and a cut-out bodice,” wrote the Russian critic Laroche, “it is the music of Verdi! She belongs in front of listeners in blouses and with calloused hands, in an atmosphere of tobacco smoke and social protest.”
Russian censorship, when staging Verdi's operas, tried to weaken their revolutionary impact on listeners. She forced theaters to make cuts, renamed operas, changed words that seemed seditious to her, but the music itself, with its explosive power, inspired the revolutionary youth to fight against any tyrants, including the All-Russian autocrat.
Verdi's Il Trovatore was especially popular in Russia at that time. The opera was first performed by Italian artists in 1856, and three years later it was chosen by the wonderful Russian singer Daria Leonova for her benefit performance. She performed the role of Azucena. The Italian text was translated into Russian. The opera turned out to be even more “incendiary”. Even Ivan Turgenev, who did not really like Verdi, calling him “wild,” admired “Il Trovatore,” especially the scene in the dungeon: “... it is amazingly good and poetic.”
All the most popular of the twenty-six operas created by Verdi have been and are being performed in our country with constant success. His “Rigoletto”, “La Traviata”, “Aida”, “Un ballo in maschera”, “Don Carlos”, “Othello” allowed our singers to create images that became an event in the history of the theater - such, for example, as the Duke performed by Sergei Lemesheva or Violetta by Valeria Barsova. The role of Azucena in the opera “Il Trovatore” was superbly sung by Maria Maksakova.
And in 1964, Moscow spectators were able to get acquainted with the Italian production of “Il Trovatore”. The performance was brought on tour to the USSR by Milan's La Scala theater. Traditions bequeathed by the great conductor Arturo Toscanini live within its walls to this day. The musician always had great respect for opera scores and the composer's plans. From manuscripts, letters and memoirs, the conductor tried to understand what the author himself wanted to say, and not his subsequent interpreters, who over time fairly “clogged” the score with their editions. And the opera, under the direction of Toscanini, seemed to be recovering in the hands of a caring healer. However, the conductor was not limited to only accurately reproducing the notes and tempos indicated by the composer. He was not the author's copyist. In a musical performance, remaining faithful to the composer, he knew how to create an atmosphere of genuine life and revealed the opera deeper, more subtly and more expressively than other conductors.
These behests of Toscanini were embodied in Lascal's production of the opera Il Trovatore.
From the very first bars of the orchestra - under the sharp sounds of trumpets and the roar of timpani - the listeners found themselves in a medieval atmosphere, harsh and unpleasant. The impressive scenery, done in black and white by Russian artist Nikolai Benois, created a feeling of coldness. In these huge gloomy castles, behind loopholes and bars, people lived and fought, in whose veins hot southern blood flowed.
The groups on stage were monumental and motionless. Nothing superfluous, distracting from the music, from the singing. Only occasionally bright spots of color - be it an orange scarf on the tip of a sword or red highlights on the helmets of warriors - crashed into this gloom, further emphasizing the darkness and static nature. The inactivity of the characters with an active inner life was more impressive than the bustle on stage. There were no external dynamics in the Milan production of Il Trovatore.
Only in the picture, where the action moves to a gypsy camp, everything was permeated with light, everything sparkled and seethed. The decoration here differed sharply from the setting of other scenes - just as the free life of the gypsy children of nature differed from the colorless existence behind the walls of feudal castles.
Performed by the magnificent singers Giulietta Simionato, Carlo Bergonzi, Gabriella Tucci, Piero Cappuccili, the heroes of the opera “Il Trovatore” appeared before the audience as living people with complex characters - strong and courageous.
For Giuseppe Verdi, operas have always been a means of actively intervening in life. The maestro of the Italian Revolution was a fighter. He was constantly at the center of the musical and social life of Italy, helping the country achieve national unification not only at the conductor's stand. With his own money, the maestro purchased weapons abroad for the national guard of his hometown of Busseto. In 1861, Verdi joined the first Italian parliament. As a member of the government, he sought subsidies from the state for the country's musical theaters and helped conservatories.
Giuseppe Verdi sought to raise the artistic level of musical performances. He often staged his operas himself.
“Not in order to amuse vanity,” said the maestro, “but in order to achieve truly artistic performance.”
Essentially, Verdi was the first opera director in Italy. He knew how to draw the actor's attention to the most important thing in solving the image.
Remember,” he advised the singer Felice Varesi, who performed the part of Macbeth, “that it happens at night: everyone is sleeping, so this entire duet should be performed almost in a whisper, but the timbre of the voice should be dull and capable of instilling horror in the listeners. And only, as if in a fit of great excitement, Macbeth utters several phrases in a loud and cruel voice.
When necessary, Verdi himself went on stage and showed how to play this or that episode in the role. They say that once at a rehearsal at La Scala final scene opera "Othello", the seventy-three-year-old composer, dissatisfied with the performance of the singer Tamagno, ran out onto the stage, snatched a dagger from the artist and so truthfully pierced himself in the chest, and then rolled down the steps that it seemed to everyone that the maestro had actually killed himself. When Verdi stood up, smiling, there was a sigh of relief and applause.
Giuseppe Verdi worked unusually carefully with the performers. Not a single role, even the smallest one, went unnoticed. And as a result, the performances staged by the great maestro turned out to be the most repertoire in the theater.
The premiere of Othello at La Scala on February 5, 1887 turned into a national holiday. Everyone was amazed by the explosion of creative genius of the old composer, who had been silent for sixteen years. This was the “new” Verdi - unexpectedly young and wise as before. The opera shocked me with the power and freshness of its musical colors and the depth of its revelation of the psychology of the characters.
And on February 9, 1893, another masterpiece of the late Verdi appeared on the stage of the Milan theater - the opera Falstaff. The composer was almost 80 years old. After the failure in his distant youth with the opera buffa “The King for an Hour,” the maestro no longer wrote comic operas, although he did not give up the dream of having his say in this genre. The composer worked for three years on “Falstaff” together with the author of the libretto, the poet and composer Arrigo Boito (he was also the author of the libretto for “Othello”).
The role of Falstaff at the premiere at La Scala was performed by the French singer Victor Morel. Using Verdi’s advice, he was able to convey the deep “subtext” of each musical phrase, and perfectly mastered recitative, outwardly unpretentious, but unusually accurately conveying all the shades of the hero’s mental state. The orchestra, led by the outstanding conductor Edoardo Mascheroni, conveyed to the audience all the subtleties of the ingenious score. For the first time, Verdi was completely satisfied with the production of his opera.
“A wonderful time, full of enthusiasm, when we breathed only Art!” - the maestro recalled the rehearsal of “Falstaff” at La Scala.
Giuseppe Verdi was the greatest composer of Italy - and above all, because he inspiredly expressed the hopes and aspirations of his people in his work.
The people saw their own in Verdi national hero, emphasized Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, and besides, Verdi was national artist to the core. And this is the most important thing.