from Writer’s Almanac for today:

It’s the birthday of Giuseppe Verdi , born in a village in Parma, Italy (1813). His parents owned a tavern and were not very well off. But his father recognized musical talent in Giuseppe and bought him a spinet (an upright harpsichord), which he kept for the rest of his life. By the age of twelve, Verdi was the organist for his church.

He started playing for other churches farther away from home, and then he went off to music school. He lived in the town of Busseto, and boarded with a wealthy grocer who liked Verdi and wanted to support him, and whose daughter Verdi ended up marrying. When Verdi went for the position of maestro di musica in Busetto, a scandal erupted. One faction supported Verdi and the other, headed by the clergy and the local bishop, were rooting for his rival–a more traditional, conservative and older musician. The town was in such discord over the matter that they completely banned music in church until the question was solved. Eventually, they compromised and made Verdi the maestro for secular music and his rival the leader for church music. Verdi wrote marches, overtures and other pieces for the Busseto Philharmonic Society and the town marching band.

But then he set his sights elsewhere and got an opera, Oberto , performed at La Scalia, the most important theater in Italy, in 1839. It was a modest success. Then tragedy struck, when his wife died of encephalitis. Verdi had already lost their two children in infancy. He vowed he would never write music again. But he couldn’t resist when he read the powerful libretto for Nabucco . He turned it into a stunning opera, premiering on March 9, 1942. The audience applauded for ten minutes after the first scene, and after the chorus the audience demanded an encore, even though they were prohibited by the Austrian government at the time. Even the stagehands, who rarely paid attention to the performance, would stop what they were doing to watch and applaud the show.

Verdi used the same librettist for his next opera, Lombardi . The librettist had a procrastination problem, and Verdi had to lock him in a room in order to get him to write enough on time. Once Verdi made the mistake of sticking him in the room with his wine collection, and hours later the librettist emerged drunk. Verdi wrote a total of 26 operas, most notably Rigoletto (1851), La Traviata (1853), Aida (1871), and Falstaff (1893).

how would the history of opera be if it weren’t for Verdi? its one of those – can’t imagine it thoughts. for more – Verdi Foundation

also born today – Harold Pinter and Theolonius Monk – i find it intriguing to see the juxtaposition of personalities.