|
Later in 1853 he went - with Giuseppina Strepponi, the soprano with whom he had been living for several years, and whom he was to marry in 1859 - to Paris, to prepare Les vêpres siciliennes for the Opéra, where it was given in 1855 with modest success. Verdi remained there for a time to defend his rights in face of the piracies of the Théâtre des Italiens and to deal with translations of some of his operas. The next new one was the sombre Simon Boccanegra, a drama about love and politics in medieval Genoa, given in Venice. Plans for Un ballo in maschera, about the assassination of a Swedish king, in Naples were called off because of the censors and it was given instead in Rome (1859). Verdi was involved himself in political activity at this time, as representative of Busseto (where he lived) in the provincial parliament; later, pressed by Cavour, he was elected to the national parliament, and ultimately he was a senator. In 1862 La forza del destino had its premiere at St. Petersburg. A revised Macbeth was given in Paris in 1865, but his most important work for the French capital was Don Carlos, a grand opera after Schiller in which personal dramas of love, comradeship and liberty are set against the persecutions of the Inquisition and the Spanish monarchy. It was given in 1867 and several times revised for later, Italian revivals.
Verdi returned to Italy, to live at Genoa. In 1870 he began work on Aida, given at Cairo Opera House at the end of 1871 to mark the opening of the Suez Canal (Verdi was not present): again in the grand opera tradition, and more taut in structure than Don Carlos. Verdi was ready to give up opera; his works of 1873 are a string quartet and the vivid, appealing Requiem in honour of the poet Manzoni, given in 1874-5, in Milan (San Marco and La Scala, aptly), Paris, London and Vienna. In 1879 the composer-poet Boito and the publisher Ricordi prevailed upon Verdi to write another opera, Otello; Verdi, working slowly and much occupied with revisions of earlier operas, completed it only in 1886. This, his most powerful tragic work, a study in evil and jealousy, had its premiere in Milan in 1887; it is notable for the increasing richness of allusive detail in the orchestral writing and the approach to a more continuous musical texture, though Verdi, with his faith in the expressive force of the human voice, did not abandon the 'set piece' (aria, duet etc) even if he integrated it more fully into its context - above all in his next opera. This was another Shakespeare work, Falstaff, on which he embarked two years later - his first comedy since the beginning of his career, with a score whose wit and lightness betray the hand of a serene master, was given in 1893. That was his last opera; still to come was a set of Quattro pezzi sacri (although Verdi was a non-believer).
He spent his last years in Milan, rich, authoritarian but charitable, much visited, revered and honoured. He died at the beginning of 1901; 28,000 people lined the streets for his funeral.
His Librettist
Francesco Maria Piave (1810-1876)
Italian, or rather Venetian (he was born on the lagoon island of Murano, famous for its glass-blowing artisans) journalist, translator, stage manager and librettist, author of some of Verdi's most enduring works - and some of his greatest flops.
Their first collaboration was an auspicious one, Ernani. Piave was as yet inexperienced as a librettist and therefore malleable, which turned out to great advantage as Verdi felt free to push and pull until the verses suited the drama's needs. Ernani was followed by I due Foscari (which Verdi described as a 'mezzo-fiasco', although it was not as bad as all that), Attila (Piave completed this libretto after Solera left it unfinished), Macbeth ('the opera was not a fiasco', Verdi wrote to Clarina Maffei, and indeed the Florence premiere was a huge success), and Il Corsaro (that premiere really was a fiasco). Two years later, and again in Trieste, Stiffelio didn't do any better, not so much because of the quality of the poetry or the music but because of the unusual and scandalous setting.
Piave and Verdi had become friends by this time (which didn't stop Verdi from bossing him around and using a rather exasperated tone with him when he felt the occasion merited it), and together they weathered the ups and downs: the next opera in their canon, Rigoletto, was a smash hit from the start, while La Traviata flopped miserably at its first outing - only to return in triumph a year later. Simon Boccanegra in its first version disappeared from the stage as quickly as it had arrived, while Aroldo was barely more successful than its ill-fated predecessor Stiffelio, of which it was a revision with a new Act IV.
La Forza del Destino did well in St. Petersburg, but had an encumbered career on Italian stages until the revision (with the aid of Ghislanzoni) for La Scala in 1869: the first 'official Verdi premiere' at that house in 24 years - after Giovanna d'Arco in 1845 Verdi had turned his back on La Scala - and Milan - in absolute disgust at the manner in which his operas were presented there.
Piave originally studied in Rome to become a priest, then tried journalism. After his return to Venice he embarked on his career as wordsmith, and in 1848 took an active part in the uprising against the Austrian occupation. Alas, to no avail. Venice remained under Austrian rule until 1866.
Piave became resident poet and stage manager at La Fenice in 1844 and remained in that position until 1860, after which he moved to La Scala, on Verdi's recommendation. Among his works for other composers is that great favourite of 19th-century Italian audiences: the Ricci brothers' comedy 'Crispino e la Comare'). He suffered a stroke in 1867, which left him paralysed and without speech until the end. Verdi helped to support the family (Piave had a wife and daughter) and paid for his funeral when he died nine years later.
Verdi also cajoled some of his fellow composers into contributing material for an album to be published for Piave's benefit. His own 'Stornello', and compositions by Auber, Mercadante, F. Ricci, Thomas and Cagnoni, were printed in the so-called 'Album Piave' in 1869.
Apart from his work for Verdi, Piave wrote almost 30 libretti for operas by Mercadante, Pacini, the Ricci brothers and other composers, none of which have stood the test of time.
|
contact 
View opera RIGOLETTO