Verdi

by George W. Martin

This book relates the life and experiences of composer Giuseppe Verdi, from his birth in 1813 to his death in 1901. Besides documenting Verdi's life and the music he created, it also goes further in discussing the times and culture in which he was living in 19th century Italy, both socially and politically. "A complete life-to-death biography, wonderfully comprehensive on both life and art, wonderfullly sensible, and splendidly gotten up." - The Boston Herald

Genres: Music, Biography

633 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1979

Reviews

[Julio César · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo malo de las biografías es que uno ya sabe cómo terminan. No pude evitar emocionarme, hasta quebrarme, cuando comprendí la influencia que tuvo Giuseppe Verdi en la cultura de su país, en la Italia del Risorgimento. A lo largo de todo el siglo XIX Verdi fue no solo uno de los más importantes compositores de ópera del mundo sino que se involucró (con mayor o menor intensidad) en la vida política y la emancipación de su país. Por las páginas de este libro circulan Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi, el rey Umberto, entre otros; todos le rindieron pleitesía al genio de Busseto.
Desde lo musical, Martin explica en detalle el argumento de cada ópera y emite sus opiniones. Me pareció que la que más valora es "Otello", aunque también elogia a "Macbeth" y "Falstaff".
Me dieron ganas de conocer su casa de Sant'Agata y todos los teatros en que estrenó sus obras (en Milán, Génova, Nápoles, Venecia). Ya lo haré...

[Alex Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Randomly came across this 1979 Verdi biography and was pleased to find almost everything I want in a composer biography. The armchair psychology is kept to a minimum and major controversies are dealt with succinctly but not obsessively. Martin also provides an especially rich discussion of Italian politics over Verdi's life, perhaps expected in this case, though a pet peeve of other biographies is overly glib treatment of concurrent historical events that leave one constantly looking things up elsewhere. The musical analysis gets short shrift sometimes--early on Martin provides frequent examples but somewhere partway through the book these sort of dry up, but he provides a number of memorable comments on Verdi's artistic development likely to stick with you after the book is done.

[Edward Benyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography, combining musical analysis with historical context.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully light and lively introduction to the life of Italy's great and beloved opera composer. No matter how many times I read about the straw thrown on the streets outside Verdi's room as he lay dying, I remain moved and awed each and every time.

Some very interesting insights about Verdi, including a theory about Verdi's interest in baritone roles: the presence of men in his hometown's market and housebound nature of women's lives during his childhood. The author who is clearly a quite sophisticated, cosmopolitan fellow does seem to be wrestling with reconciling Verdi's country bumpkin upbringing and his towering artistic achievement.

The author has a tendency to make broad generalizations that are at once entertaining and laughably dated. This is particularly interesting when those generalizations form the basis for conclusions about the Verdi: Italian men and affairs (Verdi did not have any), "of the two cities, Paris has traditionally appealed more to women and London to men,"

Martin also has some wonderfully phrased observations that jump off the page: About St Petersburg "...the flat land stretches away to an infinitely distant horizon, and the canals and rivers with their cold, silent water seem to flow on in a self-contained life excluding man." His line about Attila's libretto being sloppy ("there is, for example, a "chorus of hermits") is pithy and downright funny. Or "One difficulty with any form of parliamentary government is that it irresistibly attracts a nation's windbags by providing them a forum in which their puffings can not be brusquely stopped"

But I digress.

For anyone who loves opera and who loves Verdi (is it possible to love the first and not the second?) this is a great read, not just a "goodread."

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most illuminating about the politics.