ABOUT THE VERDI REQUIEM

Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem is a conductor's dream come true. Few pieces in the repertoire offer the drama of opera and the thrill of wonderful symphonic writing combined with stellar, virtuosic solo moments. But Verdi's Requiem does all that and more.

This is a mass written in memory of a dear friend and public hero. When poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni died on May 22, 1873, Verdi was too grief-stricken to attend his funeral, and the entire country mourned the loss of one of its leading cultural icons.

Verdi went to the mayor of Milan and proposed composing a memorial in the form of a requiem, to honor the memory of Manzoni. The mayor agreed immediately and Verdi's Requiem was performed on the first anniversary of Manzoni's death, in a church that prohibited applause. That must have been a strange reception to such a mammoth new work.

The progression of the piece tells the ultimate dramatic story, from profound loss in the subdued key of A minor at the start to sheer terror at what lies ahead on judgment day in the Dies Irae section. This is the dominant movement of the piece: It splits off in different directions, but always returns to the crushing hammer blows of the bass drum and orchestra blaring full tilt. Even though I know it's coming up, the return of the Dies Irae always takes my breath away. Terror indeed, with no escape.

As an opera composer, Verdi was always conscious of dramatic effect. He calls for four additional trumpets, stationed antiphonally in the hall, to evoke our archetypal images of the call into the next world. Those trumpet fanfares are a stroke of pure genius, and I long to conduct the piece one day with 20 trumpets situated throughout the concert hall.

Verdi's writing for the four vocal soloists is incredibly impressive: varied, challenging, virtuosic and personal, all at the same time. He wrote these solos for singers he knew, a soprano with a fabulous high C and a mezzo with gorgeous legato. This personal touch is something we feel inherently during these solos.

There are so many transcendent moments: the Lacrymosa that palpably weeps; the uplifting Lux Aeterna, scored angelically for three flutes; and the Libera Me. The text reads, "Save me, Lord, from eternal death," and the music brings the return of the Dies Irae terror and then ultimate resignation as the words die out into uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Verdi's dramatic gifts are on full display in this work. His vibrant questioning and self-confidence throughout the piece result in true magic. (Marin Alsop, NPR)

 

 

 

 

Verdi Biography Part I: Birth, Childhood, and Early Influences (1813-1835)

From the moment of Verdi’s birth, it has been difficult to separate hard fact from romantic myth regarding the people, places, and events of his life. Even Verdi’s birthday and birthplace have been contested in recent manifestations of the Verdi biography. We do know that Giuseppe Verdi was born Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco to his father, Carlo Verdi and mother, Luigia Uttini and that he was born on either October 9 or October 10, 1813 in the village of Le Roncole, in the Parma region of Italy. The child was brought forth into turbulent times, with Parma staggering under the thumb of Napoleon’s armies, and so, Verdi’s name appears on the birth register as Joseph Fortunin Francois. A story has circulated widely that tells us shortly after Verdi was born, Cossack troops invaded Le Roncole, and Verdi’s mother was forced to take her infant son and flee to the church where she hid as the village crumbled around them. This tale has been contested as just another exaggeration of what was probably a relatively uneventful childhood, and it may never be known whether or not there is any truth to it. Just as Verdi’s biography may have been self-embellished with the near-tragedy surrounding his birth, so might have been his childhood. For years, Verdi maintained that his parents were destitute and illiterate peasants. In truth, his father was a landowner and innkeeper, and, while largely uncultured, was not illiterate. His mother was a spinner. For decades, a plaque has hung at a certain tavern in Le Roncole, identifying the inn as the official birthplace of Verdi. New evidence, however, has suggested that Verdi’s parents did not move to that particular inn until Verdi was seventeen years old and no longer living at home! Amidst all the controversy surrounding his birth, birthplace, and various fables of his childhood, we do know for certain how Verdi came to music, and no Verdi biography would be complete without a discussion of his precocious musical leanings. It is said that Verdi was enraptured by the sound of the church organ, and to encourage his interest, his father bought him a beat-up old spinet when the young maestro was seven years old. The instrument was repaired when Verdi was around nine by a harpsichord maker named Cavalletti who charged no money, thanks to “the good disposition of young Giuseppe Verdi for learning to play this instrument.” Verdi’s “good disposition” as a student of music led him to attend Ferdinando Provesi’s music school in nearby Busetto in 1823, and in 1825 he was made assistant conductor of the Busetto orchestra. He left Provesi’s school at the age of twenty, having been taught the fundamentals of composition and instrumental proficiency, and found a benefactor in Antonio Barezzi. Verdi’s dream was to enter the Conservatory in Milan, but when he arrived there, he was told he was two years over the age limit. Rather than return home, Verdi pursued his studies independently, taking three years worth of counterpoint lessons from Vincenzo Lavigna, an ex-La Scala harpsichordist. It was in Milan that Verdi discovered opera, and he eagerly absorbed as many performances as he could attend, thus laying the groundwork for a future in theater music.

 

Verdi Biography Part II: Marriage, Tragedy, and First Operas (1836-1847)

The newly enlightened Verdi returned to Busetto where he took up the post of town music master and began giving music lessons to Barezzi’s daughter, Margherita. Of course, Verdi and his protege fell deeply in love, and in May of 1836, they were married. It was in this initial period of wedded bliss, at the tender age of twenty three, that Verdi began to compose his first opera. It is rumored that the work was initially entitled Rochester and that the title was later changed to Oberto. Another popular theory states that Rochester was an unfinished first attempt whose storyline was integrated into Oberto. Tragedy struck just as Verdi, encouraged by the relative success of Oberto, began work on his second opera, Un Giorno de Regno (A One-Day Reign). His infant son died suddenly of an unexplained illness followed shortly by his infant daughter. Months later, Margherita was struck with encephalitis and passed away shortly afterwards. Un Giorno which was, ironically, a comic opera, was a complete flop. With his entire family taken from him within a few short months and a failed opera hanging over his head, Verdi vowed to end his career before it had even begun. He was convinced by the impressario at La Scala to give it one more try with Nabucco, a libretto entailing the story of the Israelite plight at the hands of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The opening night of Nabucco was nothing short of a triumph. The Italians, who were living under Austrian rule, found a new hope in their native son, and Nabucco marked the beginning of Verdi’s eternal fame.

 

Verdi Biography Part III: The Masterpieces, and Viva Verdi! (1847-1871)

Following Nabucco’s wild success, Verdi spent the next decade writing prolifically and battling the artistic censorship of the Austrian rule. The fight against censorship was not the only rebellion Verdi became known for during this period. Around 1851, when he was 38, Verdi became romantically involved with Giuseppina Strepponi, a soprano who had been the jewel of many of his operas, from Nabucco onward.  It was around the time of his blossoming romance with Giuseppina that Verdi wrote and premiered Rigoletto, one of his greatest masterpieces. Rigoletto ushered in a new era for Verdi’s music as he created one masterwork after another: Il Trovatore, La Traviata, and La forza del destino, to name a few. By this time, Verdi had become so famous, it was said that a letter addressed simply to “G. Verdi, Italy” would make it into the composer’s postbox. Verdi’s glorious music alone would have been enough to turn him into a veritable rock star of the era, but it was his unyielding nationalistic pride that made him a true icon to the Italian people, not only musically, but politically. At the close of each performance of a Verdi opera, the house shook with shouts of “Viva Verdi!” The shouting would continue until the crowd was forced from the building at which point, they would take to the streets, still shouting again and again into the night “Viva Verdi!” They weren’t merely wishing long life on their national hero. “Viva Verdi” had become a secret code for the anti-Austrian current that was surging through the Italian people. What they were actually shouting was “Viva V.E.R.D.I.”, or “Long live Vittorio Emanuele, King of Italy.”

 

Verdi Biography Part IV: The Latter Works and Retirement (1871-1901)

The death of another Italian operatic giant, Rossini, brought about a brief departure from opera for Verdi as he worked to compose a portion of a requiem to honor Rossini’s memory. This eventually led to the completion of an entire Requiem which premiered in May, 1874. Before the Requiem, however, Verdi worked on and premiered Aida, a huge tour de force that proved, not surprisingly, to be an instant success. After Aida, Verdi turned his attentions once again to non-operatic music, composing a string quartet. A lengthy period of relative inactivity was followed by several revisions of prior operas, a new opera, Otello, and his final opera, Falstaff, which premiered in 1893. After Falstaff had run its course, Verdi escaped to a home in the country with his beloved Giuseppina where they dwelt in happy retirement until Giuseppina’s death four years later. Grief-stricken, Verdi died four years later from a massive stroke, but not before he’d taken the time to construct a retirement home for aging musicians, an accomplishment he hailed as his “most beautiful work.”