Giuseppe Verdi, opera: the list. Summary of Verdi's most popular operas

Everyone who understands even a little bit of classical music knows the name of Verdi. Opera (the list of them will be discussed in this article) of the great Italian composer still go on the stages of world theaters. Verdi is often called the Italian Tchaikovsky.

Let us consider in more detail the art of this musician.

Youth of the composer

Verdi was born in a small Italian village in 1813, but at that time her territory was considered part of France. His parents were poor, so they could not allow his son to study music seriously, although they believed that Giuseppe would still succeed.

Childhood and youth of the boy were held in the struggle for the right to get musician education, but often in this field he was expected to fail: for example, he was not accepted among the students of the Milan Conservatory (which today bears the name of this greatest composer).

Verdi was lucky: he found a patron in the face of merchant Antonio Barezzi. Antonio asked the young musician to become the teacher of his daughter Margarita. Young people fell in love and got married. However, the fate of their marriage was sad: Margarita gave birth to two children who died in infancy, and soon she died.

At this time, the young composer was working on his first opera.

First operas

Milanese La Scala put the first opera of the composer, which was called "Oberto, Count Bonifacio". The production was approved by both critics and the public. The management of the theater signed a contract with the composer to write two more operas. Verdi's operas, written due to this contract, were called "King for an hour" and "Nabucco". The first one was taken quite coldly, which caused Verdi a bout of depression, but the second (premiered in 1842), on the contrary, was again greeted with loud applause.

Since the first show on the stage, the triumphant march of this Verdi opera all over the world began. It was staged about 65 times on different theatrical grounds, which brought the young composer real fame and material prosperity.

Subsequent creative work

Verdi hastened to start creating new operas. They were the operas "Lombards in the crusade" (later renamed the author to "Jerusalem") and the opera "Ernani".

"Jerusalem", first shown in 1847, also gained wide popularity. After these two musical creations, Verdi's operas became popular all over the world, and the composer himself received what he dreamed of all his difficult childhood and youth: the opportunity to write music and find a response in the hearts of the public.

Opera masterpieces

The popularity of Verdi's works (opera, the list of which all grew up) brought him honor and prosperity. At the age of 30 years, love came to him again. His choice was the singer Giuseppina Strepponi. Verdi decided to retire, but before that he wrote and staged an opera in the theater, which brought him worldwide fame.

This opera was called Rigoletto. Its plot was taken from the famous French writer V. Hugo.

Another work of the master was work, which also brought him great success. It was called "Traviata" and was created based on the works of A. Dumas.

The following operas became less popular, but the public attended them with the same interest, since Verdi's name was already on everybody's lips. These are such works as "Sicilian Supper", "Troubadour", "Ball-masquerade".

Opera Verdi (a list of these works is very large), he even wrote on commission from Russian theaters. Thus, the opera The Power of Destiny, premiered in 1862, was written for the Imperial Theater, located in St. Petersburg.

Operas from the Egyptian history and creativity of Shakespeare

In the last years of his life Verdi has become not just a famous composer, whose name makes the leading musicians of the world stop, but also a recognized genius of musical art.

He creates works that are still considered unsurpassed classics. These words can be attributed to several of his later works - the opera Aida, which premiered in Cairo in 1871 (the opera was written in honor of the opening of the Suez Canal) and the opera Othello (1887).

Giuseppe Verdi's operas, whose list is presented above, amazed contemporaries with the power of passion, love and faith in the possibilities of man. These creations tell how difficult it is for heroes to have the right to happiness and how often tragic circumstances make them lose everything that was valued once.

The last work of the composer

Among the last works of the maestro, one can name the opera "Falstaff" of 1893, created by the play of Shakespeare. Eight years after her premiere, Verdi died at the venerable age of a general stroke. He was buried in Milan with great honors. His disciples have completed several more opera scores he started.

The content of Verdi's operas has always been remembered by spectators. The composer tried to select such subjects, which from the first minute of the performance attracted attention and heated the curiosity of the public.

Let us briefly consider the plots of these operas.

Opera Verdi: a list of motifs of literary works and their plot

Consider the subjects of the most popular works of the composer.

• Opera "Nabucco" - tells about the biblical events: about how the king of Babylon released captives to the will of the Jews.
• Opera "Ernani" is written based on the works of V. Hugo. In it, in a romantic vein, the love story of a robber is recounted.
• Opera "Joan of Arc" was created based on the play by Schiller "The Maid of Orleans". Verdi's little-known work (opera, whose list we consider, includes in total 26 works of the composer).
• Opera "Macbeth" is also written based on the literary work. In this case it is Shakespeare's work about a Macbeth couple who have decided on a bloody and terrible crime for the sake of power and wealth.
• The opera Rigoletto tells of the tragic story of the life of the old and ugly jester of the duke, with whom his master made a very evil joke.
• The opera "La Traviata" conveys the plot of "The Lady with the Camellias" by A. Dumas. The work tells about the fate of the fallen woman.
• Opera "Aida" is one of the most powerful works of the composer. Tells about the love between the Ethiopian beauty princess and the commander of Pharaoh Ramses.
• Othello broadcasts the story of Shakespeare's work of the same name.

Verdi's operas (the list with the content of these creations was given above) still remain the standard of musical art. Centuries pass. However, the maestro's works were both popular and popular. Scientists are still studying the unique style of the composer. And ordinary viewers simply enjoy Verdi's music.

He gave a lot of his work to Verdi. The operas, whose list we reviewed in this article, became the visiting card of the maestro.