Verdi

Master Musicians Series

by Julian Budden

The twenty-six operas of Giuseppe Verdi are among the world's best-loved music. In works such as Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata, and Aida, Verdi developed the musical language of Romanticism in a way that still speaks to listeners around the world.
Born in 1813 in a village near Parma, Verdi was the son of an obscure innkeeper. His musical talent was soon obvious, and at the age of nine he became the organist at the village church. Denied entrance to the conservatory in Milan, he studied privately instead and soon had an opera accepted for production at La Scala. His third opera, Nabucco, made him famous throughout Italy; with his fifth, Ernani, he became a celebrity throughout Europe and his career was on its way. At the height of his success came works like Il trovatore, the most popular opera all over the world for the better part of the 1850's.
Tragedy struck early in Verdi's life when he lost his young wife and both children to illness within a three-year period. Later, he became involved with the singer Giuseppina Strepponi and scandalized provincial society by living with her for ten years before they married. But above all else, the story of Verdi's life is the story of his work; he was still challenging himself to expand his artistic horizons at the age of 79, when he completed his last opera, Falstaff.
Julian Budden's Verdi first traces the composer's life story, then provides illuminating commentary on each of the works. Appendices include a chronology, a list of works, a "who's who", and a select bibliography. A special feature of Verdi is a glossary of nineteenth-century opera terms, explaining words such as "cabaletta" and "cavatina" that are often used in writing about opera but seldom clearly defined.

Genres: Music, Biography, History

404 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Julian Medforth Budden, BA, BMus, was a British opera scholar, radio producer and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his three volumes on the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, a single volume biography in 1982 and a single volume work on Giacomo Puccini and his operas in 2002.

Reviews

[José]

Biografía (sin mucha profundización) y descripción de las obras de Verdi de manera resumida.

[Raymundo]

Es un libro interesante por tener detalles de la vida de Verdi, todos los que agarramos el libro es porque queremos aprender más sobre su vida y su música. Sin embargo, el libro está escrito de forma muy árida, no hay un esfuerzo real de hacerlo interesante para el lector no experto. Tantos nombres marean, y no pareciera que fuera importante mencionarlos a todos. Hay algunas anécdotas que valen la pena, pero el libro en sí es difícil de leer.

[Carol]

Budden's biography of Verdi is pretty straightforward. He provides lots of information and detail but not a lot of deep analysis. This works well in the chapters that cover the operas, as too much analytical detail would quickly become somewhat tedious.

[Lorens]

Good introduction to Verdi’s life and operas.

[Angelcotallo]

Buena introducción a Verdi sin profundizar demasiado, pero eso también puede ser positivo.

[Gabriel María de Chamberí]

Una pena. Aunque hya muchos datos, no resulta nada atractivo de leer. La vida de Vedri contada con frialdad y sin ritmo. Un poco chapa

[Eric Steere]

I like personalities and personalities in music. Budden does a great job in setting a biographical context to an analysis of at least twenty operas as his long and distinguished career progressed (through to the mourning of his death in 1901 and 200,000 mourners singing "Va Pensiero..." from Nabucco and shouting VIVA VERDI). Unlikely beginnings, late start for a composer to have his first opera composed and staged at the old age of twenty six (of course I'm not familiar with the majority), by this time his contemporaries were virtually prolific. Verdi is cynical and self-deprecating, hardly qualities one would associate with somebody who composed La Traviata and Rigoletto. He never acknowledged popular success and if his opera was a "flop" according to him, it sold out for all its showings. Budden is light on the staff which is nice for me as I do not read music, but was a good introduction to much theory. In all, an uncompromising artist who reminds me that you can never be great if you are content.

[Michael]

I'd probably rate this in between 3 and 4, but Goodreads won't let me do it. A good, all-encompassing book about Verdi. Sometimes it's a bit dry. Osborne's book was a better read, but if you need a good primer on Verdi, you can start here.