Giuseppe Verdi was born on the 10th of October 1813 in Roncole of Busseto, Parma. Since Giuseppe was a young boy, he showed a lot of talent when it came it to music. When Giuseppe was 12, he worked for a shopkeeper in Busseto. There, he studied music with Ferdinando Provesi. In 1835, he married the shopkeeper's daughter,Margherita Barezzi. She died, along with her two children, sometime between 1838 and 1840. The first opera Giuseppe wrote was called Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio , written in 1839.
It was first performed at Scala Theatre on November 17th, 1839 with moderate success. His next play, Un Giorno Di Regno, was a failure. It was his first comedy, which was ironically written shortly after the death of his wife and children, whom he loved very much. Verdi's first real success came in 1842 with Nabucco. Verdi was inspired to write this play after he read about the exile of Jews off their homeland. This made Verdi realize what a passion he had for his homeland, Italy. After this, Verdi’s plays became a symbol of Italian nationalism.
Nabucco was first played at the Scala Theatre. Verdi had an affair with Giuseppina Strepponi, one of the actresses in his play,. for many years before they were finally married. Three of Verdi’s widely loved works, Rigoletto in 1851, Il Trovatore in 1853, and La Traviata, also in 1853 were big successes. Though the public loved these plays, critics did not like the themes of free love, suicide, and rape in his plays, which they deemed scandalous. In 1861, Verdi was elected as the Deputy of the First Parliament of the new nation of Italy.
His play Otello premiered in 1887, along with Falstaff, his second attempt at a comedy. Giuseppe Verdi died in 1901 in Milan from a stroke. He died shortly after the completion of his Casa di Risposo, a retirement villa for poor artists. Many people attended his funeral. About a quarter of a million people went to mourn the death of this iconic Italian composer. Verdi was first buried in the Famedio temple in Milan next to his wife, but a month later their bodies were moved to the Casa Di Risposo. Verdi was known for being very modest and kind, not to mention a big influence in opera music.
