Despite the similarity of their names (Verdi means greens and Monteverdi means green mountain), the opera composers Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) were not related to each other. Since Monteverdi was born 256 years earlier, he could have been Verdi’s great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, but he wasn’t. Geographically, however, they were Read More …
During his long career, Giuseppe Verdi composed twenty-six operas — or twenty-eight, depending what you count as what. The following list is the 28-opera version, with the year of the world premiere in parentheses after each title. I have listed the opera titles in different colors: Red means I have Read More …
Cremona is located on the left bank of the Po River, which is the longest river in Italy. It starts in the Alps and flows in a generally West-to-East direction across all of northern Italy, before emptying into the Adriatic Sea near Venice. Since I live in Germany I suppose Read More …
Busseto is a small town of 6,890 inhabitants, located in the Po Valley of northern Italy, about a hundred kilometers southeast of Milan. The great opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was born near Busseto in 1813. He grew up in and around Busseto, had his first music lessons here, went to Read More …
The Church of San Michele Arcangelo (Saint Michael the Archangel) was and is just a few steps away from Verdi’s birth house. This plaque recounts the story of how Verdi’s mother hid him in this church, when he was just a baby, to protect him from marauding foreign soldiers during Read More …
Giuseppe Verdi’s first public appearance as a musician (aside from playing the organ and harmonium in church) was in this room in February 1829, when he was sixteen. The room, which is now called Salone Barezzi, was in the home of Antonio Barezzi (1788-1867), a prosperous wholesale grocer and great Read More …
There are several towns in Italy called Sant’ Agata, but this particular one is a small village on the Ongina stream three kilometers north of Busseto. Administratively, Sant’ Agata belongs to the municipality of Villanova sull’Arda in the province of Piacenza. Though Giuseppe Verdi did not live here as a Read More …
The main square in the center of Busseto is of course called Piazza Verdi. On the north side of the square is the citadel or “Rocca”, which was once the castle of the Pallavicino family. They started building it in the 13th century, but it has been changed many times Read More …
On a Sunday afternoon in Roncole in 2008, these cyclists started gathering in the square just across the street from Verdi’s birth house, in front of the Church of San Michele Arcangelo (Saint Michael the Archangel) to demonstrate in favor of cycling and clean air. On this “ecological Sunday” several Read More …