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Giuseppe Verdi (1818-1901)

Giuseppe Verdi, portrait by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 © Public domain
© Public domain
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Giuseppe Verdi, portrait by Giovanni Boldini (1886) © Public domain
Bachtrack top ten: Giuseppe Verdi
Of all the 19th-century Italian opera composers, one stood head and shoulders above the rest. But Giuseppe Verdi was more than just an opera composer. He became a political figurehead. Our playlist includes nine of his most famous operas and his Requiem, described as “an opera in ecclesiastical garb”.
Fact file
Year of birth1813
Year of death1901
NationalityItaly
PeriodRomantic
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ParisFreddie De Tommaso / Mihai Damian

© Craig Gibson
Verdi, Ponchielli, Puccini
Orchestre de chambre de Paris; Patrick Lange; Freddie De Tommaso; Mihai Damian

BambergChamber Concert: Horns

© Marian Lenhard
Handel, Bruckner, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Resatsch, Bozza, Weber, Shaw
Christoph Eß; Andreas Kreuzhuber; Tristan Seyb

New York CityLove Without Borders: A Journey in Three Chapters

Listing filler
Britten, Guastavino, Tchaikovsky, Balakirev, Massenet, Berlin, Satie, Bizet, Verdi, Rimsky-Korsakov, Velázquez, Weill, Garner, Gardel, Minkov, Rachmaninov, Vavilov, Montsalvatge, Bernstein, Styne
Aigul Akhmetshina; Jonathan Palmer Lakeland

PragueNabucco

Prague National Theatre
Verdi: Nabucco
Hermann Bäumer; Tomáš Ondřej Pilař; The Czech National Opera; Anna Pozidis; Andriy Yurkevych; Petr Vítek; Dana Haklová

SalfordRigoletto

© Photography by Feast
Verdi: Rigoletto
Patrick Lange; Femi Elufowoju Jr; Opera North; Rae Smith; Howard Hudson; Orchestra of Opera North
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Emotionally compelling: Anna Netrebko in Verdi’s Requiem at La Scala

Riccardo Chailly with soloists Caterina Piva, Anna Netrebko, Antonio Poli and Michele Petrusi © Brescia e Amisano | Teatro alla Scala
Gold dust, shattered shop windows and a soprano between profanity and prayer: Anna Netrebko’s dark intensity meets rare tenderness in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, as Milan’s unrest invades La Scala.
****1
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A flat Falstaff opens in Rome

George Petean (Ford) and Luca Salsi (Falstaff) © Fabrizio Sansoni | Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
A bland updating ends up flattening the contrasts and social satire that Verdi’s opera wants to highlight. 
**111
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A visually striking Nabucco lacks heart at the Festival Verdi

Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar (Nabucco) © Roberto Ricci | Festival Verdi
Pier Luigi Pizzi’s staging looks impressive but feels empty. Lidia Fridman’s Abigaille ignites the evening.
***11
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Nile spectacular: Franco Zeffirelli’s intimate Aida revived in Busseto

Federica Vitali (Aida) © Roberto Ricci | Festival Verdi
Franco Zeffirelli’s Aida – compact yet simultaneously monumental – is thrilling revived at the tiny Teatro Verdi in Busseto.
*****
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Alzira: mining for gold at the Festival Verdi

Marta Torbidoni (Alzira) and Daniel Luis de Vicente (Gusmano) © Roberto Ricci | Festival Verdi
Manuel Renga directs a simple, but sympathetic production of Verdi's early opera set in 16th-century Peru. 
****1
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