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The years from 1843 to 1850 were a time of incessant and frenzied work, during which Verdi signed a contract for each new work even before completing the previous one. If on the one hand this succession of engagements allowed him his growing affirmation on the national and international stages, on the other hand it considerably reduced the possibility for him to seriously devote himself to composition. During this period, defined by Verdi himself as his treadmill years as he felt condemned to exhausting hard labour, and in spite of serious health problems which led a German newspaper to announce his death, he composed twelve new operas. The first of this series, "I Lombardi alla prima crociata", with a libretto by Temistocle Solera based on the poem of the same title by Tommaso Grossi, repeated the winning formula of "Nabucco". Much appreciated by the public, "I Lombardi" marked the conclusion of Verdi’s contract with the impresario Merelli and the Scala Theatre.
Verdi, now free to choose among the proposals that were put forward by several Italian theatres, decided to accept the offer of the Venetian Teatro della Fenice, for which he wrote "Ernani", a version of the play by Victor Hugo of the same name. It was the first time that Verdi tackled the themes of European Romantic Theatre, leaving aside stories that had entire populations as protagonist in favour of stories concerning
the individual. Also, "Ernani" marked the beginning of Verdi’s collaboration with Francesco Maria Piave, who had recently joined the Fenice Theatre as a poet and who was to become his most loyal and eager librettist. Despite the singers’ mediocre performances, who at any rate had been selected among the best at the time, the opera premiered on the 9 March 1844 and was well received by the audience.. With time, it became a real success. Verdi’s reputation in music circles kept growing, as is evident in the contract he signed with the Florentine impresario Alessandro Lanari for a new opera to be staged at the Argentina Theatre in Rome, in the Autumn of that year.
R. Focosi
Warrior costume design for the character Macbeth
Lithograph published in the Gazzetta musicale, Milan, 1847
Parma, Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani.
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Giovanni Boldini
Portrait of Emanuele Muzio (1821-1890)
Giuseppe Verdi’s only pupil
directed a few opera seasons
even at the Teatro Tacón in Havana, Cuba. (1861- 1862, 1866)
Milan - Casa di riposo per musicisti |
Fondazione Giuseppe Verdi
"I due Foscari"
Frontispiece to the first edition of the score for piano and voice
Milan, Ricordi (1845)
Parma, Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani
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"Alzira"
Frontispiece of the score for piano and voice
Milan, Ricordi (around 1850)
Parma – Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani
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George Gordon Lord Byron
(1788 – 1842)
Author of "The Corsar" from which Verdi drew inspiration for the topic of his opera
Parma – Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani
"Macbeth"
Engraving by R. Focosi drawn from frontispiece of the score for piano and voice
Milan, Ricordi (after 1851)
Parma – Istituto nazionale studi verdiani
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This made of Verdi first and foremost a man of theatre, as he usually described himself: a man who was mainly interested in the close relationship that was created between words and music.
The novelty of such an approach first became apparent at the La Pergola theatre in Florence, where “Macbeth” premiered on 14 March 1847 meeting with incredible success.The year 1847 also saw Verdi’s cautious debut abroad. On 22 July “I Masnadieri”, based on a libretto by Maffei inspired by Schiller, was staged at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. In spite of Queen Victoria’s attendance, reception by the audience was discouraging. On 26 November the Paris Opera staged “Jerusalemme”, a new version of “I Lombardi alla prima crociata” that obtained a discreet success.
With his reputation consolidated and now in a stable financial position, partly due to a long term contract with the publishing house Ricordi, between April and May 1848 the composer realised his dream to by a house in the countryside around Santa Agata, near Busseto. Here he was to spend long periods devoting his time to overseeing his farms, one of his favourite occupations. Nonetheless he continued his incessant engagements on the music scene. “Il Corsaro” was presented at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848. On 27 January 1849, at the Argentina Theatre in Rome, at a time that was dominated by feelings of fervent patriotism that inspired the Roman Republic, he presented “La Battaglia di Legnano”, which more than any other opera was steeped in the ideals of the Risorgimento that would lead the country to unification.
Schiller’s "Kabale und Liebe" provided the inspiration for “Luisa Miller”, with a libretto by Cammarano, which was presented at the San Carlo theatre in Naples on 8 December 1849 and was well received. “Stiffelio” followed, staged in Trieste on 16 November 1850. The libretto by Piave was based on a contemporary French play, dealing with the scandalous theme of adultery and the husband’s forgiveness of his unfaithful wife. |
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"I Lombardi alla prima crociata"
Frontispiece of the score for piano and voice
With dedication to Maria Luisa
Milan, Ricordi (1861)
Parma – Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani
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Felice Varesi
Teresa Brambilla
Settimio Malvezzi
Three great interpreters of "Luisa Miller" in a 1850’s engraving.
Busseto –Casa Barezzi, Amici di Verdi
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“Luisa Miller”
Frontispiece of the score for piano and voice
Milan, Ricordi (around 1850)
Engraving by R. Focosi
Parma – Istituto nazionale di studi verdiani |
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This swift account of the operas that Verdi composed during his treadmill years shows, beyond the qualities and the faults of each work, his ability to change and deal with a wide variety of themes, conferring on each of them a precise dramatic overtone which Verdi defined as a “tinta”. At the same time, Verdi’s work spanned historic and personal conflicts, romantic individualism and collective feelings, in an infinite search of new, complex, diverse and extremely bold themes, expressed in a form that was innovative and at the same time suitable to be narrated with music. |
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