Verdi moved to
In the mid-1830s, Verdi moved back to Busseto where he became the town’s musician. He married one of his students, Margherita Barezzi, in May 1836. She gave birth to healthy babies in 1837 and 1838 but both died early. Then she became sick and died in June 1840 at the age of 26. These three deaths left Verdi heartbroken.
La Scala is
Verdi’s wife died while he was writing his second opera. When it was first performed in September 1840, it did not do well. Between family tragedy and professional failure, Verdi felt like never writing music again.
Merelli talked Verdi into writing one more opera. This one, first performed in March 1842, did very well and made Verdi famous. He went on to write many more operas.
In the mid-1840s, Verdi fell in love with an opera singer named Giuseppina Strepponi. The two lived happily together without first getting married. People at the time thought this was very bad. Verdi bought some land near Busseto. He and Strepponi moved there in 1851. They did finally get married in August 1859. Strepponi died in 1897.
Three of Verdi’s operas are considered masterpieces. Rigoletto was based on a play by Victor Hugo and first performed in
Verdi died in
Copyright © 2012 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.