Giuseppe Verdi: Humble Beginnings

With twenty first century eyes, most musicians view the Italian opera composer as a towering intellect of unparalleled genius. With such a reputation, it is easy to forget how much Verdi suffered in his early year. His sufferings were not necessarily physical. Instead, it was his work that suffered. The strains he suffered under the censors, altercations with his fellow colleagues and musicians, helped him develop quite a reputation later in his life. But the problems he faced had been created by years of opera tradition and common practice:

At the beginning of his career scarcely any consideration was given in Italian theatres to dramatic effect. The opera existed for the singers; the singers themselves were convinced of this, and the public agreed with them. The composer had to adapt himself, and his work, to these conditions, and if he did not, then suitable adjustments were made by others for him. Cuts, transpositions, alterations of both words and music, and interpolations of arias from other operas–the so called pezzi di baule, which singers carried about with them everywhere in their trunks–were the order of the day.

Many of these issues were created by the works of composer who were active during what scholars now loosely refer to as the ‘Bel canto opera period.’ An era marked by simple chord progressions and lyric melodies, composers like Gaetano Donizetti (17971848), Gioachi no Rossini (1792–1868), Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835) supplied more opportunities for creativity and improvisation for their vocalists than any other composer prior to the 19th century. Singers took pride in their appoggiaturas, ornaments, and cadenzas and audiences made a habit of returning to the theatre to see an opera they had already seen just to hear what the new soprano (tenor, baritone, etc) was going to create. By the time Verdi was beginning his career, singers had become accustomed to running the show, as it were, and composers could either comply or have their music rewritten or removed. Donizetti even complained about it in a letter to a friend that “Maria Padilla the changes in the text had been such that music he had written to the words ‘Quale orror!’ had to serve, unaltered, for the phrase ‘Oh gioia estrema!’”

These were the issues with which Verdi was contending and which he decided to change. He was not alone in this quest, as many other composers, offended by this disregard for authenticity and realism joined him in this creative protest. At the end of his career, through his sheer will and a fair share of correspondences to singers, costume designers, publishers, impresarios, and even opera-houses, Verdi was able to accomplish that feat, thereby making him one of the pillars of the pantheon of opera.