Biographies, stories, facts, photographs. Life and career of Giuseppe Verdi Verdi name

Works by Giuseppe Verdi by genre, indicating the title, year of creation, genre / performer, with comments.

Opera

1. Oberto, conte di san Bonifacio, libretto by A. Piazza and T. Soler. First production on November 17, 1839 in Milan, at the La Scala theater.
2. "King for an Hour" ("Un giorno di regno") or "Imaginary Stanislav" ("Il finto Stanislao"), libretto by F. Romani. First production on September 5, 1840 in Milan, at the La Scala theater.
3. "Nabucco" or "Nebuchadnezzar", libretto by T. Soler. First production on March 9, 1842, in Milan, at the La Scala theater.
4. "The Lombards in the First Crusade" ("I Lombardi alla prima crociata"), libretto by T. Soler. First performance on February 11, 1843. in Milan, at the La Scala theater. The opera was later reworked for Paris under the title Jerusalem (Jerusalem). Ballet music was written for the second edition. First performance on November 26, 1847 in Paris, at the Grand Op? Ra.
5. "Ernani", libretto by F. M. Piave. First performance on March 9, 1844. in Venice, at the La Fenice theater.
6. "Two Foscari" ("I due Foscari"), libretto by F. M. Piave. First production on November 3, 1844 in Rome, at the Argentina Theater.
7. Giovanna d'Arco, libretto by T. Soler. First production on February 15, 1845 in Milan, at the La Scala theater.
8. "Alzira", libretto by S. Cammarano. First production on 12 August 1845 in Naples, at the Teatro San Carlo.
9. "Attila", libretto by T. Soler and F. M. Piave. First production on March 17, 1846 in Venice, at the La Fenice Theater.
10. "Macbeth", libretto by F. M. Piave and A. Maffei. First production on March 14, 1847 in Florence, at the Teatro La Pergola. The opera was later redesigned for Paris. Ballet music was written for the second edition. First production in Paris on April 21, 1865 at the Théâtre Lyrique.
11. “The Robbers” (“I Masnadieri”), libretto by A. Maffei. First production on July 22, 1847 in London, at the Royal Theater.
12. "Corsair" ("Il Corsaro"), libretto by F. M. Piave. First performance on October 25, 1848 in Trieste.
13. "Battle of Legnano" ("La Battaglia di Legnano"), libretto by S. Cammarano. First production on January 27, 1849 in Rome, at the Argentina Theater. Later, in 1861, the opera was performed with a revised libretto entitled "The Siege of Harlem" ("Assiedo di Harlem").
14. Luisa Miller, libretto by S. Cammarano. First production on 8 December 1849 in Naples, at the Teatro San Carlo.
15. "Stiffelio", libretto by F. M. Piave. First performance on November 16, 1850 in Trieste. The opera was later revised under the title Aroldo. First performance on 16 August 1857 in Rimini.
16. "Rigoletto" ("Rigoletto"), libretto by F. M. Piave. First production on March 11, 1851 in Venice, at the Teatro La Fenice.
17. "Il Trovatore", libretto by S. Cammarano and L. Bardare. First performance on January 19, 1853 in Rome, at the Apollo Theater. For the production of the opera in Paris, ballet music was written and the finale was revised.
18. "La Traviata", libretto by F. M. Piave. First production on March 6, 1853 in Venice, at the Teatro La Fenice.
19. "Sicilian Vespers" ("I vespri siciliani"), ("Les v? Pres siciliennes"), libretto by E. Scribe and C. Duveyer. First production on June 13, 1855 in Paris, at the Grand Op? Ra.
20. "Simon Boccanegra", libretto by F. M. Piave. First production on March 12, 1857 in Venice, at the Teatro La Fenice. Later the opera was revised (libretto by A. Boito). First production on March 24, 1881 in Milan, at the La Scala theater.
21. Un ballo in maschera, libretto by A. Somme. First production on February 17, 1859 in Rome, at the Apollo Theater.
22. "The Force of Destiny" ("La Forza del destino"), libretto by F. M. Piave. First production on November 10, 1862 in St. Petersburg, at the Mariinsky Theater. The opera was later reworked. First production in Milan on February 20, 1869, at the La Scala theater.
23. Don Carlo, libretto by J. Mary and C. du Locle. First production on March 11, 1867 in Paris, at the Grand Opera. The opera was later reworked. First production in Milan on January 10, 1881 at the La Scala theater.
24. "Aida", libretto by A. Gislanzoni. First performance on December 24, 1871 in Cairo. An overture (unpublished) was written for the opera, which was performed at the production of Aida in Milan (La Scala) on February 8, 1872.
25. "Otello", libretto by A. Boito. The first performance was on February 5, 1887 in Milan, at the La Scala theater (for the performance in Paris in 1894, ballet music was written: "Arab Song", "Greek Song", "Hymn to Mohammed", "Dance of the Warriors").
26. "Falstaff", libretto by A. Boito. First production on February 9, 1893 in Milan, at the La Scala theater.

Works for choir

• "Sound, Trumpet" ("Suona la tromba") to the words of G. Mameli's anthem, for male choir and orchestra. Op. 1848 g.
• "Anthem of Nations" ("Inno delle nazioni"), cantata for high voice, chorus and orchestra, lyrics by A. Boito. Op. for the London World's Fair. First performance on May 24, 1862

Church music

• Requiem (Messa di Requiem), for four soloists, chorus and orchestra. First performance on May 22, 1874 in Milan, in the Church of San Marco.
• "Pater Noster" (text by Dante), for five-part choir. First performance on April 18, 1880 in Milan.
• Ave Maria (text by Dante), for soprano and string orchestra. First performance on April 18, 1880 in Milan.
• “Four Spiritual Pieces” (“Quattro pezzi sacri”): 1. “Ave Maria”, for four voices (op. C. 1889); 2. "Stabat Mater", for four-part mixed choir and orchestra (op. C. 1897); 3. "Le laudi alla vergine Maria" (text from Dante's "Paradise"), for four-part female choir unaccompanied (late 1980s); 4. "Te Deum", for double four-part choir and orchestra (1895-1897). First performance on April 7, 1898 in Paris.

Chamber instrumental music

• String quartet in e-moll. First performance on April 1, 1873 in Naples.

Chamber vocal music

• Six romances for voice with piano. to the words of G. Vittorelli, T. Bianchi, C. Angiolini and Goethe. Op. in 1838
• "The Exile" ("L'Esule"), ballad for bass with piano. to the words of T. Soler. Op. in 1839
• "Seduction" ("La Seduzione"), a ballad for bass with piano. to the words of L. Balestra. Op. in 1839
• "Notturno", for soprano, tenor and bass with obligato flute accompaniment. Op. in 1839
• Album - six romances for voice with piano. to the words of A. Maffei, M. Magioni and F. Romani. Op. in 1845
• "The Beggar" ("Il Poveretto"), romance for voice with piano. Op. in 1847
• "Abandoned" ("L'Abbandonata"), for soprano with piano. Op. in 1849
• "The Flower" ("Fiorellin"), a romance to words by F. Piave. Op. in 1850
• “The Poet's Prayer” (“La preghiera del poeta”), to the words of N. Sole. Op. in 1858
• "Stornel" ("Il Stornello"), for voice with piano. Op. in 1869 for an album in favor of F. M. Piave.

Youth compositions

• Several orchestral overtures, among them Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville. Marches and dances for the Busseto city orchestra. Concert pieces for piano and solo wind instruments. Arias and vocal ensembles (duets, trios). Masses, motets, laudi and other church writings.
• "Lamentations of Jeremiah" (according to the Bible, translated into Italian).
• The Madness of Saul, for voice and orchestra, lyrics by V. Alfieri. Op. before 1832
• Cantata for solo voice and orchestra in honor of the wedding of R. Borromeo. Op. in 1834
• Choirs to the tragedies of A. Manzoia and "Ode to the death of Napoleon" - "May 5", lyrics by A. Manzoni, for voice and orchestra. Op. in the period 1835 - 1838

Like any mighty talent. Verdi reflects nationality and its era. He is the flower of his soil. He is the voice of modern Italy, not lazy-dozing or carelessly laughing Italy in comic and pseudo-serious operas by Rossini and Donizetti, not sentimentally tender and elegiac, crying Bellini's Italy, but Italy, awakened to consciousness, Italy, agitated by political storms, Italy , bold and passionate to the point of fury.
A. Serov

No one could feel life better than Verdi.
A. Boito

Verdi is a classic of Italian musical culture, one of the most significant composers of the 19th century. His music is characterized by an unquenchable spark of high civil pathos, unmistakable precision in the embodiment of the most complex processes taking place in the depths of the human soul, nobility, beauty and inexhaustible melody. The composer owns 26 operas, spiritual and instrumental works, romances. The most significant part of Verdi's creative heritage is made up of operas, many of which (Rigoletto, La Traviata, Aida, Othello) have been performed on the stages of opera houses around the world for over a hundred years. Works of other genres, with the exception of the inspired Requiem, are practically unknown, the manuscripts of most of them have been lost.

Verdi, unlike many musicians of the 19th century, did not proclaim his creative principles in his programmatic speeches in print, did not associate his work with the assertion of the aesthetics of a certain artistic direction. Nevertheless, his long, difficult, not always impetuous and crowned with victories creative path was directed towards a deeply long-suffering and conscious goal - the achievement of musical realism in an opera performance. Life in all the variety of conflicts - this is the overarching theme of the composer's work. The range of its embodiment was unusually wide - from social conflicts to the confrontation of feelings in the soul of one person. At the same time, Verdi's art carries a sense of special beauty and harmony. “I like everything in art that is beautiful,” said the composer. His own music has also become an example of beautiful, sincere and inspired art.

Clearly aware of his creative tasks, Verdi was tireless in his search for the most perfect forms of embodiment of his ideas, extremely demanding of himself, of librettists and performers. He often chose the literary basis for the libretto himself, discussed in detail with the librettists the entire process of its creation. The most fruitful collaboration connected the composer with such librettists as T. Solera, F. Piave, A. Gislanzoni, A. Boito. Verdi demanded dramatic truth from the singers, he was intolerant of any manifestation of falsehood on stage, senseless virtuosity, not colored by deep feelings, not justified by dramatic action. "... Great talent, soul and scenic flair" - these are the qualities that he primarily appreciated in performers. The "meaningful, reverent" performance of operas seemed necessary to him; "... when operas cannot be performed in all their integrity - as the composer intended, it is better not to perform them at all."

Verdi lived a long life. He was born into the family of a peasant innkeeper. His teachers were the village church organist P. Baistrocchi, then F. Provezi, who headed the musical life in Busseto, and the conductor of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, V. Lavigna. Already a mature composer, Verdi wrote: “I learned some of the best works of our time, not studying them, but hearing them in the theater ... I would be lying if I said that in my youth I did not go through a long and rigorous study ... I have a hand strong enough to handle the note the way I want it to, and confident enough to most of the time achieve the effects I intend; and if I write something not according to the rules, it is because the exact rule does not give me what I want, and because I do not consider all the rules adopted to this day to be unconditionally good. "

The young composer's first success was associated with the staging of the opera "Oberto" at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1839. Three years later, the opera "Nebuchadnezzar" ("Nabucco") was staged at the same theater, which brought the author wide fame (1841). The first operas of the composer appeared in the era of the revolutionary upsurge in Italy, which was called the Risorgimento era (Italian - revival). The struggle for the unification and independence of Italy engulfed the entire people. Verdi could not stand aside. He deeply experienced the victories and defeats of the revolutionary movement, although he did not consider himself a politician. Heroic-patriotic operas of the 40s - "Nabucco" (1841), "Lombards in the first crusade" (1842), "Battle of Legnano" (1848) - were a kind of response to revolutionary events. The biblical and historical plots of these operas, far from modern times, glorified heroism, freedom and independence, and therefore were close to thousands of Italians. "Maestro of the Italian Revolution" - this is how his contemporaries called Verdi, whose work became extremely popular.

However, the creative interests of the young composer were not limited to the theme of the heroic struggle. In search of new plots, the composer turns to the classics of world literature: V. Hugo (Hernani, 1844), W. Shakespeare (Macbeth, 1847), F. Schiller (Louise Miller, 1849). The expansion of the subject of creativity was accompanied by the search for new musical means, the growth of composing skills. The period of creative maturity was marked by a remarkable triad of operas: Rigoletto (1851), Troubadour (1853), La Traviata (1853). For the first time in Verdi's work, a protest against social injustice was voiced so openly. The heroes of these operas, endowed with ardent, noble feelings, come into conflict with generally accepted moral norms. Turning to such plots was an extremely bold step (Verdi wrote about La Traviata: "The plot is modern. Someone else would probably not have taken this plot because of decency, because of the era and because of a thousand other stupid prejudices .. I do it with the greatest pleasure ").

By the mid-50s. the name of Verdi is widely known all over the world. The composer enters into contracts not only with Italian theaters. In 1854. he creates the opera "Sicilian Vespers" for the Parisian theater Grand Opera, a few years later the operas "Simon Boccanegra" (1857) and "Masquerade Ball" (1859, for the Italian theaters San Carlo and Appolo) were written. In 1861, commissioned by the management of the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater, Verdi created the opera The Force of Destiny. In connection with its production, the composer leaves for Russia twice. The opera was not very successful, although Verdi's music was popular in Russia.

Among the operas of the 60s. The most popular was the opera Don Carlos (1867) based on the drama of the same name by Schiller. The music of Don Carlos, saturated with deep psychologism, anticipates the heights of Verdi's operatic creativity - Aida and Othello. Aida was written in 1870 for the opening of a new theater in Cairo. It organically merged the achievements of all previous operas: the perfection of the music, the bright colors, the sharpness of the drama.

After "Aida" was created "Requiem" (1874), after which there was a long (more than 10 years) silence, caused by the crisis of public and musical life. In Italy, a widespread passion for the music of R. Wagner reigned, while the national culture was in oblivion. The current situation was not just a struggle of tastes, different aesthetic positions, without which artistic practice is inconceivable, but the development of all art. This was the time of the fall in the priority of national artistic traditions, which was especially deeply felt by the patriots of Italian art. Verdi reasoned like this: “Art belongs to all peoples. No one believes this more firmly than I do. But it develops individually. And if the Germans have a different artistic practice than ours, their art is fundamentally different from ours. We cannot compose like the Germans ... "

Thinking about the future fate of Italian music, feeling an enormous responsibility for each next step, Verdi set about realizing the idea of ​​the opera Othello (1886), which became a true masterpiece. Othello is an unsurpassed interpretation of a Shakespearean plot in the operatic genre, a perfect example of a musical and psychological drama, to which the composer went all his life.

Verdi's last work, the comic opera Falstaff (1892), surprises with its cheerfulness and impeccable skill; it seems to open a new page in the composer's work, which, unfortunately, has not been continued. Verdi's entire life is illuminated by a deep conviction in the correctness of the chosen path: “As far as art is concerned, I have my own thoughts, my own convictions, very clear, very precise, from which I cannot and should not give up.” L. Escudier, one of the composer's contemporaries, very aptly characterized him: “Verdi had only three passions. But they achieved the greatest strength: love for art, national feeling and friendship. " Interest in the passionate and truthful work of Verdi continues unabated. For new generations of music lovers, it invariably remains a classic standard, combining clarity of thought, inspiration of feeling and musical perfection.

A. Zolotykh

Opera was at the center of Verdi's artistic interests. At the earliest stage of his work, in Busseto, he wrote many instrumental works (their manuscripts have been lost), but never returned to this genre. An exception is the string quartet of 1873, which was not intended by the composer for public performance. In the same youth, by the nature of his activity as an organist, Verdi composed sacred music. Towards the end of his career - after the Requiem - he created several more works of this kind (Stabat mater, Te Deum and others). A few romances also belong to the early creative period. For more than half a century, he devoted all his energies to opera, from Oberto (1839) to Falstaff (1893).

Verdi wrote twenty-six operas, six of which he gave in a new, significantly modified version. (By decades, these works are placed as follows: late 30s - 40s - 14 operas (+1 in a new edition), 50s - 7 operas (+1 in a new edition), 60s - 2 operas (+2 in a new version), 70s - 1 opera, 80s - 1 opera (+2 in a new version), 90s - 1 opera.) Throughout his long journey in life, he remained faithful to his aesthetic ideals. “I may not be strong enough to achieve what I want, but I know what I am striving for,” wrote Verdi in 1868. These words can be used to characterize all his creative activities. But over the years, the artistic ideals of the composer became clearer and more perfect, refined - his skill.

Verdi strove to embody the drama “strong, simple, significant”. In 1853, composing La Traviata, he wrote: “I dream of new large, beautiful, diverse, bold subjects, and extremely bold ones”. In another letter (of the same year) we read: "Give me a beautiful, original story, interesting, with magnificent situations, passions, - first of all passions! .."

Truthful and vivid dramatic situations, sharply outlined characters - this is what, in Verdi's opinion, is the main thing in the opera plot. And if in the works of the early, romantic period, the development of situations did not always contribute to the consistent disclosure of characters, then by the 50s the composer clearly realized that the deepening of this connection served as the basis for creating a life-like musical drama. That is why, firmly following the path of realism, Verdi condemned modern Italian opera for monotonous, monotonous plots, routine forms. He also condemned his previously written works for the insufficient breadth of showing the contradictions in life: “There are scenes in them that arouse great interest, but there is no variety. They touch only one side - the sublime, if you will - but always the same. "

In Verdi's understanding, opera is inconceivable without the extreme sharpening of conflicting contradictions. Dramatic situations, the composer said, should reveal human passions in their characteristic, individual form. Therefore, Verdi strongly opposed all sorts of routine in the libretto. In 1851, starting work on the Troubadour, Verdi wrote: “The freer the Cammarano (librettist of the opera. M. D.) will interpret the form, the better for me, the more I will be satisfied. " A year earlier, having conceived an opera based on the plot of Shakespeare's King Lear, Verdi had pointed out: “It is not necessary to make a drama out of Lear in a generally accepted form. It would be necessary to find a new, larger form, free from bias. "

For Verdi, a plot is a means of effectively revealing the idea of ​​a work. The composer's life is permeated with the search for such subjects. Beginning with Hernani, he persistently searches for literary sources for his operatic ideas. An excellent connoisseur of Italian (and Latin) literature, Verdi was well versed in German, French, and English drama. His favorite authors are Dante, Shakespeare, Byron, Schiller, Hugo. (About Shakespeare Verdi wrote in 1865: “He is my favorite writer, whom I know from early childhood and I constantly reread.” He wrote three operas on Shakespeare's plots, dreamed of Hamlet and The Tempest, and returned to work on “ King Lear "(in 1847, 1849, 1856 and 1869); on the plots of Byron - two operas (the unfinished concept of" Cain "), Schiller - four, Hugo - two (the concept of" Ruy Blaz ").)

Verdi's creative initiative was not limited to the choice of the plot. He actively supervised the work of the librettist. "I have never written operas on ready-made librettos, made by someone else," said the composer, "I just cannot understand how a screenwriter can be born who can guess exactly what I can translate into an opera." Verdi's extensive correspondence is filled with creative instructions and advice to his literary staff. These instructions relate primarily to the script plan of the opera. The composer demanded the maximum concentration of the plot development of the literary source and for this - the reduction of the side lines of the intrigue, the compression of the text of the drama.

Verdi prescribed to his employees the phrases he needed, the rhythm of the poems and the number of words needed for music. He paid special attention to the "key" phrases in the libretto text, designed to clearly reveal the content of a specific dramatic situation or character. “It does not matter whether this or that word, - a phrase that will excite, will be scenic is necessary,” he wrote in 1870 to the librettist of Aida. Improving the libretto "Othello", he removed unnecessary, in his opinion, phrases and words, demanded rhythmic variety in the text, broke the "smoothness" of the verse that fetters musical development, achieved the utmost expressiveness and laconicism.

Verdi's bold designs did not always receive a worthy expression from his literary collaborators. So, highly appreciating the libretto "Rigoletto", the composer noted weak verses in it. Much did not satisfy him in the drama of "Troubadour", "Sicilian Vespers", "Don Carlos". Having failed to achieve a completely convincing script and literary embodiment of his innovative idea in the libretto of King Lear, he was forced to abandon the completion of the opera.

In intense work with the librettists, Verdi finally matured the idea of ​​the composition. He usually began music only after the development of the complete literary text of the entire opera.

Verdi said that the most difficult thing for him was "to write quickly enough to express a musical thought in the inviolability with which it was born in the mind." He recalled: "In my youth, I often worked without interruption from four in the morning to seven in the evening." Even in his old age, creating the score of Falstaff, he immediately instrumental the finished large passages, as "he was afraid to forget some orchestral combinations and timbre combinations."

When creating music, Verdi had in mind the possibilities of its stage implementation. Until the mid-1950s, associated with various theaters, he often solved certain issues of musical drama, depending on the performing forces that the given group had at its disposal. Moreover, Verdi was interested not only in the vocal qualities of the singers. In 1857, before the premiere of Simon Boccanegra, he pointed out: "The role of Paolo is very important, it is absolutely necessary to find a baritone who would be a good actor." Back in 1848, in connection with the production of Macbeth planned in Naples, Verdi rejected the singer Tadolini proposed to him, since her vocal and stage skills did not fit the intended role: “Tadolini has a magnificent, clear, transparent, powerful voice, and I I would like a voice for a lady to be deaf, harsh, gloomy. Tadolini has something angelic in her voice, and I wish there was something devilish in the lady's voice. "

In learning his operas, right up to Falstaff, Verdi took an energetic part, interfering with the conductor's work, paying particular attention to the singers, carefully going through the parts with them. Thus, the singer Barbieri-Nini, who played the role of Lady Macbeth at the premiere of 1847, testified that the composer had rehearsed the duet with her up to 150 times, achieving the means of vocal expressiveness he needed. He worked just as demandingly at the age of 74 with the renowned tenor Francesco Tamagno, the performer of the role of Othello.

Verdi paid special attention to the issues of the stage interpretation of the opera. His correspondence contains many valuable statements on these issues. "All the forces of the stage provide dramatic expressiveness," wrote Verdi, "and not only the musical transmission of cavatins, duets, finals, etc." In connection with the staging of The Force of Destiny in 1869, he complained about the critic who wrote only about the vocal side of the performer: “Neither the reviewer nor the public is anything about the diverse, wide-ranging life pictures that fill half of the opera and give it the character of a musical drama. they say...". Noting the musicality of the performers, the composer emphasized: “Opera, - don't get me wrong, - that is stage musical drama, was given very mediocre. " It is against this separation of music from the stage and protested Verdi: participating in the learning and staging of his works, he demanded the truth of feelings and actions both in singing and in stage movement. Verdi argued that only under the condition of the dramatic unity of all means of musical and stage expression, an opera performance can be full-fledged.

Thus, starting from the choice of the plot in the intense work with the librettist, during the creation of music, during its stage implementation - at all stages of work on the opera, from the conception of the idea to the production, the master's imperious will manifested itself, which confidently led his native Italian art to the heights realism.

Verdi's operatic ideals were formed as a result of many years of creative work, great practical work, and persistent search. He knew well the state of the contemporary musical theater in Europe. Spending a lot of time abroad, Verdi got acquainted with the best troupes in Europe - from St. Petersburg to Paris, Vienna, London, Madrid. He was familiar with the operas of the greatest composers of our time. (Probably in St. Petersburg Verdi heard Glinka's operas. The Italian composer's personal library contained the clavier of Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest.)... Verdi evaluated them with the same degree of criticality with which he approached his own work. And quite often he did not so much assimilate the artistic achievements of other national cultures as he reworked in his own way, overcame their influence.

This is how he treated the musical and stage traditions of the French theater: they were well known to him if only because three of his works (Sicilian Vespers, Don Carlos, the second edition of Macbeth) were written for the Parisian stage. Such was his attitude to Wagner, whose operas, mainly of the middle period, he knew, and some of them highly appreciated (Lohengrin, Valkyrie), but Verdi creatively polemicized with both Meyerbeer and Wagner. He did not diminish their importance for the development of French or German musical culture, but rejected the possibility of slavish imitation of them. Verdi wrote: “If Germans, proceeding from Bach, reach Wagner, then they act like genuine Germans. But we, the descendants of Palestrina, imitating Wagner, commit a musical crime, create unnecessary and even harmful art. " “We feel differently,” he added.

The question of Wagnerian influence has become especially acute in Italy since the 1960s; many young composers succumbed to him (Wagner's most ardent admirers in Italy were Liszt's pupil, the composer J. Sgambatti, conductor J. Martucci, A. Boito(at the beginning of his creative career, before meeting with Verdi) and others.)... Verdi noted with bitterness: “All of us - composers, critics, the public - did our best to renounce our musical nationality. Here we are at a quiet pier ... one more step, and we will be numbered in this, as in everything else. " It was hard and painful for him to hear from the lips of young people and some critics that his previous operas were outdated, did not meet modern requirements, and that the current ones, starting with Aida, follow in Wagner's footsteps. "What an honor, after forty years of creative career, to end up as a copycat!" - Verdi exclaimed angrily.

But he did not reject the value of Wagner's artistic achievements. The German composer made him think about many things, and above all - about the role of the orchestra in opera, which was underestimated by Italian composers of the first half of the 19th century (including by Verdi himself at an early stage of his work), about increasing the importance of harmony (and this important means of musical expression neglected by the authors of the Italian opera) and, finally, on the development of principles of end-to-end development to overcome the dismemberment of the forms of the numbered structure.

However, for all these questions, which are most important for the musical drama of opera in the second half of the century, Verdi found their solutions other than Wagner's. In addition, he outlined them even before he got acquainted with the works of the brilliant German composer. For example, the use of "timbre drama" in the scene of the appearance of spirits in "Macbeth" or in the depiction of an ominous thunderstorm in "Rigoletto", the use of string divisi in high register in the introduction to the last act of "La Traviata" or trombones in Miserere "Troubadour" - these are bold, individual instrumentation techniques are found regardless of Wagner. And if we talk about someone's influence on Verdi's orchestra, then one should rather have in mind Berlioz, whom he greatly appreciated and with whom he was on friendly terms since the beginning of the 60s.

Verdi was just as independent in his search for a fusion of the principles of song-arios (bel canto) and declamatory (parlante). He developed his own special "mixed manner" (stilo misto), which served as the basis for him to create free forms of monologue or dialogic scenes. Rigoletto's aria "Courtesans, Fiend of Vice" or the spiritual duel between Germont and Violetta were also written before the acquaintance with Wagner's operas. Of course, acquaintance with them helped Verdi more boldly develop new principles of drama, which in particular affected his harmonic language, which became more complex and flexible. But there are fundamental differences between the creative principles of Wagner and Verdi. They are clearly visible in their attitude to the role of the vocal principle in the opera.

With all the attention that Verdi paid to the orchestra in his latest compositions, he recognized the vocal and melodic factor as the leader. Thus, regarding the early operas of Puccini, Verdi wrote in 1892: “It seems to me that the symphonic principle prevails here. This is not bad in itself, but you have to be careful: an opera is an opera, and a symphony is a symphony. "

"Voice and melody," said Verdi, "will always be the most important for me." He ardently defended this position, believing that typical national features of Italian music were expressed in it. In his project for the reform of public education, presented to the government in 1861, Verdi advocated the organization of free evening singing schools, for the all-round stimulation of vocal music-making at home. Ten years later, he appealed to young composers to study classical Italian vocal literature, including works by Palestrina. In the assimilation of the peculiarities of the singing culture of the people of Verdi, he saw the guarantee of the successful development of the national traditions of musical art. However, the content that he put into the concepts of "melody" and "melody" changed.

During the years of his creative maturity, he sharply opposed those who interpreted these concepts one-sidedly. In 1871, Verdi wrote: “You cannot be only a melodist in music! There is something more than a melody, than a harmony - in fact, the music itself! .. ". Or in a letter from 1882: “Melody, harmony, recitation, passionate singing, orchestral effects and colors are nothing more than means. Make good music with these tools! .. ". In the heat of polemics, Verdi even expressed judgments that sounded paradoxical in his mouth: “Melodies are not made from scales, trills or gruppetto ... There are, for example, melodies in the choir of bards (from Bellini's Norma. M. D.), the prayer of Moses (from the opera of the same name by Rossini - M. D.), etc., but they are not in the cavatina of The Barber of Seville, The Thief Magpies, Semiramis, etc. - What is this? "Anything you want, just not melodies" (from a letter from 1875.)

What caused such a sharp attack against Rossini's opera melodies from such a consistent supporter and convinced propagandist of the national musical traditions of Italy, such as Verdi? Other tasks that were put forward by the new content of his operas. In singing, he wanted to hear "a combination of the old with the new recitation", and in the opera - a deep and multifaceted identification of the individual traits of specific images and dramatic situations. This is what he was striving for, renewing the intonation structure of Italian music.

But in the approach of Wagner and Verdi to the problems of operatic drama, in addition to national differences, the other style orientation of artistic searches. Having started as a romantic, Verdi emerged as the greatest master of realistic opera, while Wagner was and remains a romantic, although in his works from different creative periods, the features of realism appeared to a greater or lesser extent. This ultimately determines the difference between the ideas that worried them, the themes, the images, which made Verdi oppose Wagner's “ musical drama"Your understanding" musical stage drama».

Not all contemporaries understood the greatness of Verdi's creative deeds. However, it would be wrong to believe that most of the Italian musicians in the second half of the 19th century were under the influence of Wagner. Verdi had his supporters and allies in the struggle for national operatic ideals. His older contemporary Saverio Mercadante also continued to work, as a follower of Verdi achieved significant success Amilcar Ponchielli (1834-1886, the best opera La Gioconda - 1874; he was Puccini's teacher). A brilliant constellation of singers improved, performing works by Verdi: Francesco Tamagno (1851-1905), Mattia Battistini (1856-1928), Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) and others. The outstanding conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) was brought up on these works. Finally, in the 90s, a number of young Italian composers emerged, using the Verdi traditions in their own way. These are Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945, opera "Rural Honor" - 1890), Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858-1919, opera "Pagliacci" - 1892) and the most talented of them - Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924; the first significant success - opera "Manon", 1893; the best works: "La Boheme" - 1896, "Tosca" - 1900, "Chio-Chio-San" - 1904). (They are joined by Umberto Giordano, Alfredo Catalani, Francesco Chilea and others.)

The work of these composers is characterized by an appeal to a modern theme, which distinguishes them from Verdi, who after La Traviata did not give a direct embodiment of modern plots.

The literary movement of the 80s, led by the writer Giovanni Varga and called "verism" (verismo means "truth", "truthfulness", "reliability" in Italian), served as the basis for the artistic searches of young musicians. In their works, the verists mainly depicted life the ruined peasantry (especially the south of Italy) and the urban poor, that is, the dispossessed social base, crushed by the progressive development of capitalism. In the merciless exposure of the negative aspects of bourgeois society, the progressive significance of the creativity of the verists was revealed. But the addiction to "bloody" subjects, the transmission of emphatically sensual moments, the exposure of the physiological, bestial qualities of a person led to naturalism, to a depleted depiction of reality.

To a certain extent, this contradiction is also characteristic of verist composers. Verdi could not sympathize with the manifestations of naturalism in their operas. Back in 1876, he wrote: "It is not bad to imitate reality, but it is even better to create reality ... By copying it, you can only make a photograph, not a painting." But Verdi could not help but welcome the desire of young authors to remain faithful to the precepts of the Italian opera school. The new content, to which they turned, required different means of expressiveness and principles of drama - more dynamic, highly dramatic, nervous-excited, impetuous.

However, in the best works of the Verists, a continuity with the music of Verdi is clearly felt. This is especially noticeable in the work of Puccini.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on October 10, 1813 in Roncole, a village in the province of Parma, then part of the Napoleonic Empire. His father ran a wine cellar and grocery store. In 1823, Giuseppe, who received his elementary knowledge from the village priest, was sent to school in the neighboring town of Busseto. He was already showing musical talent and at the age of 11 he began to perform the duties of organist in Roncole. The rich merchant A. Barezzi from Busseto, who supplied Verdi's father's shop and had a keen interest in music, drew attention to the boy. Verdi owed his musical education to this man. Barezzi took the boy to his house, hired the best teacher for him and paid for his further education in Milan.

In 1832, Verdi was not admitted to the Milan Conservatory, as he was older than the legal age. He began to study privately with V. Lavigna, who taught him the basics of composing technique. Verdi learned orchestration and opera writing in practice, attending Milan opera houses. The Philharmonic Society commissioned him to an opera Oberto, Count di San Bonifacio (Oberto, conte di san Bonifacio), which, however, was not staged at that time.

Verdi returned to Busseto, hoping to take the position of church organist, but as a result of internal church intrigues he was refused. The local music society awarded him a three-year scholarship (300 lire); during this time he composed a series of marches and an overture (sinfonie) for the city brass band, and also wrote church music. In 1836, Verdi married the daughter of his benefactor, Margarita Barezzi. He went to Milan again, where on November 17, 1839, Oberto was performed at La Scala with sufficient success to secure a new commission, this time for a comic opera. The comic opera King for a Day (Un giorno di regno) failed, booed mercilessly by the audience. Shaken by the failure of the opera, Verdi vowed that he would no longer compose operas and asked the director of La Scala to break the contract he had signed with him. (It was only many years later that Verdi forgave the Milanese.) But director Merelli believed in the composer's talent and, having let him come to his senses, presented him with a libretto to Nabucco based on the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar. While reading, Verdi's attention was drawn to a chorus of Jews in Babylonian captivity, and his imagination began to work. The successful premiere of Nabucco (1842) restored the composer's reputation.

Nabucco was followed by the Lombardians (I Lombardi, 1843), an opera that also gave vent to oppressed patriotic feelings, and then Ernani (Ernani, 1844) based on the romantic drama of V. Hugo - a work thanks to which Verdi's fame went beyond the borders of Italy. In the following years, the composer, in his own words, worked like a convict. Opera followed opera - Two Foscari (I due Foscari, 1844), Jeanne d "Arco, 1845), Alzira (Alzira, 1845), Attila (Attila, 1846), The Robbers (I masnadieri, 1847), Corsair (Il corsaro, 1848), Battle of Legnano (La battaglia di Legnano, 1849), Stiffelio (1850). In these works, superficial and sometimes lightweight artisan music is attached to weak librettos. Among the operas of this period, Macbeth (1847), the first fruit of the composer's enthusiastic reverence for Shakespeare, and Luisa Miller (1849), an outstanding work of a more chamber style, stand out.

From 1847 to 1849 Verdi was mainly in Paris, where he made a new, French edition of the Lombards, called Jerusalem (Jeruslem). Here the composer met Giuseppina Strepponi, a singer who took part in the Milanese productions of Nabucco and the Lombardians and had already become close to Verdi. In the end, ten years later, they did get married.

For the period 1851-1853, there are three mature masterpieces by Verdi - Rigoletto (Rigoletto, 1851), Troubadour (Il trovatore, 1853) and La traviata (La traviata, 1853). Each of them reflects a special side of the composer's talent. Rigoletto based on the play by V. Hugo The King amuses himself demonstrating, in addition to the ability to create lively, exciting melodies, a new opera form for the composer - more coherent, with less contrasts between the recitative, which takes on the character of a melodious arioso, and the aria, which does not obey the established schemes in everything. Free-form duets and other ensembles contribute to the development of the action, including the famous quartet in the last act - an outstanding example of Verdi's ability to reflect in an ensemble form the conflict of characters and feelings of his characters.

The troubadour, based on the Spanish romantic melodrama, contains beautiful examples of strong, heroic music, while La Traviata, based on the "family drama" of Dumas, the son of the Lady of the Camellias, captivates with the pathos of the senses.

The success of these three operas opened up new possibilities for Verdi. In 1855 he was commissioned to compose for the Paris Opera in the characteristic Meyerbeer style - Sicilian Vespers (Les vpres siciliennes). For the same theater he made a new version of Macbeth (1865), and also composed Don Carlos (1867); for the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater created the Force of Destiny (La forza del destino, 1862). In parallel with the implementation of these grandiose projects, Verdi worked on more modest operas in Italian taste - Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra, 1857) and Un ballo in maschera (Un ballo in maschera, 1859). All these works are romantic melodramas based on more or less reliable historical events. While none of these operas is dramatic perfection (this is hindered by Verdi's tendency to skip unnecessarily from one spectacular plot situation to another), they all demonstrate a growing mastery of musical character and orchestral drama (this is especially noticeable in Simone Boccanegre and Don Carlos).

Verdi clearly needed a literary collaborator, and he found him in the person of A. Gislanzoni, in collaboration with whom the libretto of Aida (Aida, 1871) was born - a masterpiece in the style of the French “grand opera” commissioned by the Egyptian government to perform at the opening of the Suez Canal. Even more fruitful was the joint work of Verdi in his later years with Arrigo Boito (1842-1918), the author of the opera Mephistopheles and an outstanding poet. Boito first reworked Simon Boccanegra's unsatisfactory libretto (1881). He then turned Shakespeare's tragedy Othello into a libretto; this masterpiece by Verdi was staged at La Scala in 1887, when the composer was already 74 years old. Othello was followed in 1893 by Falstaff: at 80, Verdi wrote a musical comedy that rewarded him for the failure of his first musical comedy The King for an Hour. Othello and Falstaff crowned Verdi's ambition to create a true musical drama.

In addition to operas, Verdi's legacy includes Requiem in memory of A. Manzoni (1874), Stabat Mater (1898) and Te Deum (1898), as well as choral compositions, romances and a string quartet in E minor (1873).

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Biography, life story of Verdi Giuseppe

VERDI (Verdi) Giuseppe (full. Giuseppe Fortunato Francesco) (October 10, 1813, Le Roncole, near Busseto, Duchy of Parma - January 27, 1901, Milan), Italian composer. A master of the opera genre, who created high examples of psychological musical drama. Operas: Rigoletto (1851), Troubadour, La Traviata (both 1853), Masquerade Ball (1859), The Force of Destiny (for the Petersburg Theater, 1861), Don Carlos (1867), Aida (1870), Othello (1886), Falstaff (1892); Requiem (1874).

Childhood
Verdi was born in the remote Italian village of Le Roncole in the north of Lombardy into a peasant family. An extraordinary musical talent and a passion for making music showed up very early. Until the age of 10, he studied in his native village, then in the town of Busseto. An acquaintance with the merchant and music lover Barezzi helped to obtain a city scholarship to continue his musical education in Milan.

The shock of the thirties
However, Verdi was not admitted to the conservatory. He studied music privately with the teacher Lavigna, thanks to whom he attended La Scala performances free of charge. In 1836 he married his beloved Margherita Barezzi, the daughter of his patron, from whose marriage he had a daughter and a son. A lucky chance helped to get an order for the opera Lord Hamilton, or Rochester, which was successfully staged in 1838 at La Scala under the title Oberto, Count of Bonifacio. In the same year, 3 vocal compositions by Verdi were published. But the first creative successes coincided with a number of tragic events in his personal life: in less than two years (1838-1840) his daughter, son and wife died. Verdi is left alone, and the comic opera “The King for an Hour, or the Imaginary Stanislav,” composed at that time on request, fails. Shocked by the tragedy, Verdi writes: "I ... made a decision never to compose again."

Way out of the crisis. First triumph
The work on the opera "Nebuchadnezzar" (the Italian name "Nabucco") brought Verdi out of a severe mental crisis.

CONTINUED BELOW

The opera, staged in 1842, was a huge success, which was also facilitated by excellent performers (one of the main roles was sung by Giuseppina Strepponi, who later became Verdi's wife). The success inspired the composer; every year he brought new compositions. In the 1840s he created 13 operas, including Ernani, Macbeth, Louise Miller (based on F. Schiller's drama Cunning and Love) and others. And if the opera Nabucco made Verdi popular in Italy, then already "Hernani" brought him European fame. Many of the compositions written then are still staged on the opera stages of the world.
The works of the 1840s belong to the historical and heroic genre. They are distinguished by impressive crowd scenes, heroic choirs imbued with courageous marching rhythms. In the characteristics of the characters, the expression is not so much of temperament as of emotion. Here Verdi creatively develops the achievements of his predecessors Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti. But in individual works (Macbeth, Louise Miller), the features of the composer's own, unique style - an outstanding opera reformer - mature.
In 1847 Verdi made his first trip abroad. In Paris, he becomes close to J. Streppony. Her idea of ​​living in the countryside, doing creative work in the bosom of nature, led, upon her return to Italy, to purchase a plot of land and create the estate of Sant'Agata.

"Trizvezdie". Don Carlos
In 1851, Rigoletto appeared (based on V. Hugo's drama The King Amuses himself), and in 1853 Troubadour and La Traviata (based on the play by A. Dumas The Lady of the Camellias), which made up the composer's famous “three stars”. In these works, Verdi departs from heroic themes and images; ordinary people become his heroes: a jester, a gypsy, a woman of the half-world. He seeks not only to show feelings, but also to reveal the characters of the characters. The melodic language is marked by organic links with Italian folk song.
In the operas of the 1850s and 60s. Verdi turns to the historical and heroic genre. During this period, the operas Sicilian Vespers (staged in Paris in 1854), Simon Boccanegra (1875), Masquerade Ball (1859), The Force of Destiny, commissioned by the Mariinsky Theater, were created; in connection with her production, Verdi twice visited Russia in 1861 and 1862. Don Carlos (1867) was written by order of the Paris Opera.

New takeoff
In 1868, the Egyptian government approached the composer with a proposal to write an opera for the opening of a new theater in Cairo. Verdi refused. Negotiations lasted two years, and only the script of the scientist-Egyptologist Mariette Bey, based on an ancient Egyptian legend, changed the composer's decision. Opera "Aida" has become one of his most perfect innovative creations. She is noted for the brilliance of dramatic skill, melodic wealth, mastery of the orchestra.
The death of the writer and patriot of Italy Alessandro Manzoni prompted the creation of Requiem, a magnificent work of the sixty-year-old maestro (1873-1874).
For eight years (1879-1887) the composer worked on the opera Othello. The premiere, which took place in February 1887, turned into a national celebration. In the year of his eightieth birthday, Verdi creates another brilliant creation - "Falstaff" (1893, based on the play "Windsor Naughties" by W. Shakespeare), in which he, based on the principles of musical drama, carried out a reform of the Italian comic opera. "Falstaff" is distinguished by the novelty of the drama, built on expanded scenes, melodic ingenuity, bold and refined harmonies.
In the last years of his life, Verdi wrote works for chorus and orchestra, which in 1897 he combined into the cycle "Four Spiritual Pieces". In January 1901, he was paralyzed and a week later, on January 27, he died. The basis of Verdi's creative heritage was made up of 26 operas, many of which were included in the world's musical treasury. He also wrote two choirs, a string quartet, and works of church and chamber vocal music. Since 1961 in Busseto a vocal competition "The Voices of Verdi" has been held.

Verdi's work is the culmination of the development of 19th century Italian music. His creative activity, associated primarily with the genre of opera, spanned more than half a century: the first opera (Oberto, Count Bonifacio) was written by him at the age of 26, the penultimate (Othello) at 74, the last ( "Falstaff") - at 80 (!) Years. In total, taking into account six new editions of previously written works, he created 32 operas, which to this day constitute the main repertory fund of theaters around the world.

A certain logic can be seen in the general evolution of Verdi's operatic creativity. In terms of themes and plots, the operas of the 1940s stand out with the priority value of plot motives, calculated for a great socio-political resonance (Nabucco, Lombards, Battle of Legnano). Verdi turned to such events of ancient history, which turned out to be consonant with the moods of contemporary Italy.

Already in the first operas of Verdi, created by him in the 40s, national liberation ideas, so relevant for the Italian public of the 19th century, were embodied: Nabucco, Lombards, Hernani, Jeanne d, Arc, Atilla , "Battle of Legnano", "The Robbers", "Macbeth" (Verdi's first Shakespearean opera), etc. - all of them are based on heroic-patriotic stories, singing praises of freedom fighters, each of them contains a direct political allusion to the social situation in Italy, which is fighting against Austrian oppression. The performances of these operas evoked an outburst of patriotic feelings among the Italian listener, poured out into political demonstrations, that is, they became events of political significance.

The melodies of opera choirs composed by Verdi acquired the meaning of revolutionary songs and were sung throughout the country. The last opera of the 40s - Louise Miller " based on Schiller's drama "Cunning and Love" - ​​opened a new stage in Verdi's work. For the first time, the composer turned to a new topic for himself - social inequality, which worried many artists of the second half of the 19th century, representatives critical realism... Heroic plots are replaced by personal drama due to social reasons. Verdi shows how an unjust social order breaks human destinies. At the same time, poor, powerless people turn out to be much nobler, spiritually richer than representatives of the "high society".

In his operas from the 1950s, Verdi departs from the civic heroic line and focuses on the personal dramas of individual characters. During these years, the famous opera triad was created - Rigoletto (1851), La Traviata (1853), Troubadour (1859). The theme of social injustice, coming from "Louise Miller", was developed in the famous opera triad of the early 50s - Rigoletto (1851), Troubadour, La Traviata (both 1853). All three operas tell about the suffering and death of people who are socially disadvantaged, despised by "society": a court jester, a beggar gypsy, a fallen woman. The creation of these compositions speaks of the increased skill of Verdi as a playwright.

Compared to the early operas of the composer, this is a huge step forward:

• the psychological beginning is enhanced, associated with the disclosure of bright, extraordinary human characters;
• contrasts, reflecting life contradictions, are sharpened;
• traditional operatic forms are interpreted in an innovative way (many arias, ensembles turn into freely organized scenes);
• the role of recitation increases in vocal parts;
• the role of the orchestra is growing.

Later, in operas created in the second half of the 50s ( "Sicilian Vespers" - for the Paris Opera, "Simon Boccanegra", "Masquerade Ball") and in the 60s ( "The Force of Destiny" - commissioned by the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater and Don Carlos - for the Paris Opera), Verdi again returns to the historical-revolutionary and patriotic themes. However, now social and political events are inextricably linked with the personal drama of the heroes, and the pathos of the struggle, bright crowd scenes are combined with subtle psychologisms.

The best of these works is the opera Don Carlos, which exposes the terrible nature of Catholic reaction. It is based on a historical plot borrowed from the drama of the same name by Schiller. The events unfold in Spain during the reign of the despotic King Philip II, who betrays his own son into the hands of the Inquisition. Having made the oppressed Flemish people one of the main characters of the work, Verdi showed heroic resistance to violence and tyranny. This tyrannical pathos of Don Carlos, in tune with the political events in Italy, largely prepared Aida.

"Aida", created in 1871 by order of the Egyptian government, opens late period in the works of Verdi. This period also includes such summit creations of the composer as a musical drama. Othello and comic opera Falstaff (both based on Shakespeare on a libretto by Arrigo Boito).

These three operas combine the best features of the composer's style:

• deep psychological analysis of human characters;
• vivid, breathtaking display of conflict clashes;
• humanism aimed at exposing evil and injustice;
• spectacular entertainment, theatricality;
• democratic intelligibility of the musical language, based on the traditions of Italian folk song.

In the last two operas based on Shakespeare's plots - "Othello" and "Falstaff" Verdi seeks to find some new ways in opera, to give it a more in-depth study of the psychological and dramatic aspects. However, in terms of melodic weight and content (this is especially true of Falstaff), they are inferior to previously written operas. Let us add that in quantitative terms, the operas are located along the line of "extinction". Over the last 30 years of his life, Verdi wrote only 3 operas: i.e. one performance in 10 years.

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi "La Traviata"

Plot " La Traviatas "(1853) is borrowed from the novel" Lady of the Camellias "by Alexandre Dumas-son. As a possible opera material, it attracted the composer's attention immediately after its publication (1848). The novel was a sensational success, and the writer soon reworked it into a play. Verdi attended its premiere and finally confirmed his decision to write an opera. He found in Dumas a theme close to him - the tragedy of a woman's fate ruined by society.

The theme of the opera caused a violent controversy: the modern plot, costumes, hairstyles were very unusual for the audience of the 19th century. But the most unexpected thing was that for the first time the “fallen woman” appeared on the opera stage as the main character, depicted with undisguised sympathy (a circumstance specially emphasized by Verdi in the name of the opera - this is how the Italian “traviata” is translated). This novelty is the main reason for the scandalous failure of the premiere.

As in many other operas by Verdi, the libretto was written by Francesco Piave. Everything is extremely simple in it:

• minimum of actors;
• lack of tangled intrigue;
• the emphasis is not on the event, but on the psychological side - the spiritual world of the heroine.

The compositional plan is extremely laconic, it is concentrated on personal drama:

1st day - exposition of images of Violetta and Alfredo and the beginning of a love line (recognition of Alfredo and the emergence of a reciprocal feeling in Violetta's soul);

The second day shows the evolution of the image of Violetta, whose whole life was completely transformed under the influence of love. Already here a turn towards a tragic denouement takes place (Violetta's meeting with Georges Germont becomes fatal for her);

Day III contains the culmination and denouement - the death of Violetta. Thus, her fate is the main dramatic core of the opera.

By genre"La Traviata" - one of the first samples lyric-psychological opera. The ordinariness and intimacy of the plot led Verdi to abandon the heroic monumentality, theatrical spectacle, and showiness that distinguished his first opera works. This is the "quietest" chamber opera by the composer. Stringed instruments dominate the orchestra, dynamics rarely go beyond R.

Much wider than in his other works, Verdi relies on modern everyday genres... This is, first of all, the genre of the waltz, which can be called the "leitgenre" of "La Traviata" (vivid examples of the waltz are the drinking song of Alfredo, part 2 of Violetta's aria "Be Free ...", the duet of Violetta and Alfreda from 3 days We will leave the land ”). Against the background of the waltz, Alfred's amorous explanation in Act I takes place.

The image of Violetta.

The first characteristic of Violetta is given in a short orchestral prelude, which introduces to the opera, where two themes, opposite in meaning, sound:

1 - the theme of the "dying Violetta", anticipating the denouement of the drama. Given in the muted sound of divizi violins, in the mournful h-minor, choral texture, on second intonations. Repeating this theme in the introduction to Act III, the composer emphasized the unity of the entire composition (the method of the "thematic arch");

2 - "the theme of love" - ​​passionate and enthusiastic, in the bright sonority of the E-dur, combines the melodiousness of the melody with the smooth waltz of the rhythm. In the opera itself, she appears as Violetta in act II at the time of her separation from Alfredo.

V I action(picture of the ball) Violetta's characteristic is based on the intertwining of two lines: brilliant, virtuoso, associated with the embodiment external essence image, and lyric-dramatic, conveying interior Violetta's world. At the very beginning of the action, the first dominates - the virtuoso. At the celebration, Violetta seems inseparable from her environment - a merry secular society. Her music is not very individualized (it is characteristic that Violetta joins Alfredo's drinking song, which is soon picked up by the entire chorus of guests).

After Alfredo's love story, Violetta is at the mercy of the most contradictory feelings: here both the dream of true love and the lack of faith in the possibility of happiness. That's why its big portrait aria , completing action I, is based on a contrasting comparison of two parts:

1 part - slow ("Aren't you me ..." f-moll). Differs in a pensive, elegiac character. A smooth waltz-like melody is full of awe and tenderness, inner excitement (pauses, pp, discreet accompaniment). The theme of Alfred's love confession acts as a kind of refrain to the main melody. From now on, this beautiful melody, very close to the theme of love from the orchestral prelude, becomes the leading theme of the opera (the so-called 2nd volume of love). In Violetta's aria, she sounds several times, first in her part, and then in Alfredo, whose voice is given by the second plan.

2 part of the aria - fast ("To be free ..." As major). This is a brilliant waltz, captivating with the swiftness of rhythm and virtuoso coloratura. A similar 2-part structure is found in many operatic arias; however, Verdi brought Violetta's aria closer to a free dream-monologue, including expressive recitative links (in them - a reflection of Violetta's spiritual struggle) and using the technique of two-plane (Alfredo's voice from afar).

Falling in love with Alfredo, Violetta left noisy Paris with him, breaking with her past. To emphasize the evolution of the protagonist, Verdi in Act II radically changes the features of her musical speech. External brilliance and virtuoso roulades disappear, intonations acquire song simplicity.

In the center II action - duet of Violetta with Georges Germont , Alfred's father. This, in the full sense of the word, is a psychological duel between two natures: the spiritual nobility of Violetta is contrasted with the philistine mediocrity of Georges Germont.

Compositionally, the duo is very far from the traditional type of joint singing. This is a free stage, including recitative, arioso, ensemble singing. In the construction of the scene, three large sections can be distinguished, connected by recitative dialogues.

Section I includes Germont's arioso "Pure, with an angel's heart" and Violetta's return solo "You will understand the power of passion." Violetta's part is distinguished by stormy excitement and contrasts sharply with the measured cantilena of Germont.

The music of the second section reflects the turning point in Violetta's mood. Germont manages to plant in her soul painful doubts about the longevity of Alfredo's love (arioso Germont "Passion passes") and she yields to his requests (" Your daughter ... "). Unlike the 1st section, in the 2nd, joint singing prevails, in which the leading role belongs to Violetta.

Section 3 ("I will die, but in my memory") dedicated to showing Violetta's selfless determination to renounce her happiness. His music is sustained in the character of a harsh march.

The scene following the duet of Violetta's farewell letter and her parting with Alfredo is full of spiritual confusion and passion, which culminates in the expressive sound of the so-called love from the orchestral prelude (in words “Ah, my Alfred! I love you so much").

The drama of Violetta, who decided to leave Alfredo, continues at Flora's ball (finale of act 2 or scene 2 of act 2). Again, as at the beginning of the opera, carefree dance music sounds, but now the motley bustle of the ball weighs on Violetta; she is painfully going through a break with her beloved. The culmination of the finale of 2 days - the wasting of Alfredo, who throws money at Violetta's feet - payment for love.

III action almost entirely dedicated to Violetta, exhausted by her illness and abandoned by everyone. Already in a small orchestral introduction, there is a feeling of an impending catastrophe. It is based on the theme of the dying Violetta from the orchestral prelude to Act I, only in a more intense c minor. It is characteristic that in the introduction to Act III there is no second, contrasting theme - the theme of love.

The central episode III of the action - Violetta's aria "Forgive me forever"... This is a farewell to life, to moments of happiness. Before the beginning of the aria, the 2nd volume of love appears in the orchestra (when Violetta reads a letter from Georges Germont). The melody of the aria is very simple, it is based on smooth humming motives and song moves on the sixth. The rhythm is very expressive: accents on weak beats and long pauses evoke associations with difficulty breathing, with physical exhaustion. The tonal development from a-minor is directed to parallel, and then to the major of the same name, the more sad is the return to the minor. The form is couplet. The tragedy of the situation is aggravated by the festive sounds of the carnival bursting into the open window (in the finale of Rigoletto, the Duke's song plays a similar role).

The atmosphere of approaching death is briefly illuminated by the joy of Violetta's meeting with the returning Alfredo. Their duet "We will leave the land" - this is another waltz, light and dreamy. However, Violetta's forces soon leave. The music of the last farewell sounds solemnly and mournfully, when Violetta gives Alfreda her medallion (choral chords in an ostinata rhythm on rrrr - characteristic signs of a funeral march). Just before the denouement, the theme of love sounds again in the extremely quiet sonority of stringed instruments.

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi "Rigoletto"

This is Verdi's first mature opera (1851), in which the composer moved away from heroic themes and turned to conflicts generated by social inequality.

At the heart of plot- Victor Hugo's drama "The King Is Fun", banned immediately after the premiere, as undermining the authority of the royal power. To avoid clashes with censorship, Verdi and his librettist Francesco Piave moved the scene from France to Italy and changed the names of the heroes. However, these "external" alterations did not diminish the power of social exposure: Verdi's opera, like Hugo's play, denounces the moral lawlessness and depravity of secular society.

The opera consists of those actions during which a single storyline, connected with the images of Rigoletto, Gilda and the Duke, develops intensively and rapidly. Such a focus solely on the fate of the main characters is characteristic of Verdi's drama.

Already in Act I - in the episode of Monterone's curse - that fatal outcome is foreseen, to which all the passions and actions of the heroes are drawn. Between these extreme points of the drama - the curse of Monterone and the death of Gilda - there is a chain of interconnected dramatic climaxes, relentlessly bringing the tragic ending closer.

• the scene of Gilda's abduction in the finale of Act I;
• Rigoletto's monologue and the following scene with Gilda, in which Rigoletto vows to take revenge on the Duke (II act);
• The quartet of Rigoletto, Gilda, Herzog and Maddalena is the culmination of Act III, opening a direct path to the fatal denouement.

The main character of the opera is Rigoletto- one of the brightest images created by Verdi. This is a person over whom, according to Hugo's definition, a triple misfortune gravitates (ugliness, infirmity, and a despised profession). Unlike the drama of Hugo, the composer named his work after him. He managed to reveal the image of Rigoletto with the deepest truthfulness and Shakespeare's versatility.

He is a man of great passions, with an extraordinary mind, but forced to play a humiliating role at court. Rigoletto despises and does not see the nobility, he does not miss an opportunity to mock the corrupt courtiers. His laughter does not spare even the fatherly grief of old Monterone. However, Rigoletto's daughter is not altogether different: he is a loving and selfless father.

The very first theme of the opera, which opens a short orchestral introduction, is associated with the image of the main character. it curse theme based on persistent repetition of one sound in a sharp-dotted rhythm, dramatic c-minor, in trumpets and trombones. The character is sinister, gloomy, tragic, emphasized by tense harmony. This theme is perceived as an image of rock, unforgiving fate.

The second theme of the introduction was called the "theme of suffering." It is based on woeful second intonations, interrupted by pauses.

V I picture of the opera(ball in the Duke's palace) Rigoletto appears in the guise of a jester. His grimaces, antics, lame gait are conveyed by the theme playing in the orchestra (No. 189 from sheet music). It is characterized by sharp, "prickly" rhythms, unexpected accents, angular melodic turns, "clown" acting out.

A sharp dissonance in relation to the whole atmosphere of the ball is the episode associated with the curse of Monterone. His formidable and majestic music characterizes not so much Monterone as the state of mind of Rigoletto, shaken by the curse. On the way home, he cannot forget about him, so ominous echoes of the l-va of the curse appear in the orchestra, accompanying Rigoletto's recitative "Forever by those old-cem I am cursed." This recitative opens 2 a picture of the opera where Rigoletto participates in two duet scenes that are completely opposite in color.

The first, with Sparafucile, is an emphatically "businesslike", restrained conversation between two "conspirators", which did not need cantilevered singing. It is designed in gloomy colors. Both parties are thoroughly recitative and never unite. The "cementing" role is played by a continuous melody in octave unison of cellos and double basses in the orchestra. At the end of the scene, again, like an obsessive memory, l-v curses sounds.

The second scene, with Gilda, reveals a different, deeply human side of Rigoletto's character. Feelings of paternal love are conveyed through a wide, typically Italian cantilena, of which two Rigoletto's ariosos from this scene are a prime example - "Don't talk to me about her"(No. 193) and "Oh, take care of the luxurious flower"(address to the servant).

Central to the development of Rigoletto's image is his scene with courtiers after the abduction of Gilda from 2 actions... Rigoletto appears humming jester song without words, through whose feigned indifference hidden pain and anxiety are clearly felt (thanks to the minor scale, an abundance of pauses and descending second intonations). When Rigoletto realizes that his daughter is with the Duke, he throws off the mask of feigned indifference. Anger and hatred, passionate plea are heard in his tragic aria-monologue "Courtesans, fiend of vice."

The monologue has two parts. Part I is based on a dramatic declaration, in which the expressive means of the orchestral introduction to the opera are developed: the same pathetic c-minor, the speech expressiveness of the melody, the energy of the rhythm. The role of the orchestra is extremely important - the non-stop flow of strings figuration, the repeated repetition of the sigh motif, the excited pulsation of the sextuplets.

Part 2 of the monologue is built on a smooth, soulful cantilena, in which rage gives way to pleading ("Gentlemen, have mercy on me).

The next step in the development of the image of the protagonist is Rigoletto the avenger. This is how he appears for the first time in a new duet scene with her daughter in act 2, which begins with Gilda's story of the abduction. Like the first duet of Rigoletto and Gilda (from the 1st act), it includes not only ensemble singing, but also recitative dialogues and arioso. The change of contrasting episodes reflects different shades of the emotional state of the characters.

The final section of the entire scene is commonly referred to as the "revenge duo." The leading role in it is played by Rigoletto, who vows to brutally take revenge on the Duke. The character of the music is very active, strong-willed, which is facilitated by a fast tempo, strong sonority, tonal stability, ascending directionality of intonations, stubbornly repeating rhythm (No. 209). All 2 actions of the opera are concluded with a "duet of revenge".

The image of Rigoletto the avenger is developed in the central issue 3 actions, ingenious quartet where the destinies of all the main characters are intertwined. Rigoletto's gloomy determination is here opposed to the Duke's frivolity, and Gilda's mental anguish, and Maddalena's coquetry.

During a thunderstorm, Rigoletto makes a deal with Sparafucile. The picture of the storm has a psychological meaning, it complements the drama of the characters. In addition, the most important role in Act 3 is played by the Duke's carefree song "The Heart of Beauties", acting as an extremely vivid contrast to the dramatic events of the finale. The last performance of the song reveals to Rigoletto a terrible truth: his daughter was the victim of revenge.

Rigoletto's scene with the dying Gilda, their last duet is the denouement of the whole drama. His music is dominated by declamation.

The other two leading characters of the opera - Gilda and the Duke - are psychologically profoundly different.

The main thing in the image Gilda- her love for the Duke, for which the girl sacrifices her life. The characterization of the heroine is given in evolution.

Gilda first appears in a duet scene with her father in Act I. Her release is accompanied by a vivid portrait theme in the orchestra. Fast paced, cheerful C major, dance rhythm with "mischievous" syncopations convey both the joy of meeting and the bright, youthful appearance of the heroine. The same theme continues to develop in the duet itself, linking short, melodious vocal phrases.

The development of the image continues in the following scenes of Act I - the love duet of Gilda and the Duet and Gilda's aria.

Remembering a love date. The aria is built on one theme, the development of which forms a three-part form. In the middle section, the melody of the aria is colored with a virtuoso coloratura ornament.

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi "Aida"

The creation of Aida (Cairo, 1871) stems from a proposal by the Egyptian government to write an opera for a new opera house in Cairo to commemorate the opening of the Suez Canal. Plot was developed by the famous French scientist-Egyptologist Auguste Mariette according to an ancient Egyptian legend. The opera reveals the idea of ​​the struggle between good and evil, love and hate.

Human passions and hopes collide with the relentlessness of fate and fate. This conflict is first presented in the orchestral introduction to the opera, where two leading leitmotifs are compared and then polyphonically combined - the theme of Aida (the personification of the image of love) and the theme of the priests (a generalized image of evil, fate).

In its style, "Aida" is in many ways close "Great French opera":

• large scales (4 acts, 7 paintings);
• decorative splendor, brilliance, "entertainment";
• an abundance of mass choral scenes and large ensembles;
• big role of ballet, solemn processions.

At the same time, the elements of the "big" opera are combined with the features lyric-psychological drama because the basic humanistic idea is reinforced by a psychological conflict: all the main characters of the opera, who make up the love triangle, experience the most acute internal contradictions. So, Aida considers her love for Radames a betrayal before her father, brothers, homeland; in the soul of Radames, military duty and love for Aida are fighting; Amneris rushes between passion and jealousy.

The complexity of the ideological content, the emphasis on psychological conflict determined the complexity dramaturgy , which is characterized by emphasized conflict. Aida is truly an opera of dramatic clashes and intense struggle not only between enemies, but also between lovers.

1 scene I act contains exposition all the main characters in the opera, except for Amonasro, Aida's father, and tie love line, which is literally referred to the very beginning of the opera. it trio of jealousy(No. 3), which reveals the complex relationships of the participants in the "love triangle" - the first ensemble scene of the opera. In his impetuous music, one can hear anxiety, the excitement of Aida and Radames, and the barely contained anger of Amneris. The orchestral part of the trio is based on the leitmotif of jealousy.

In 2 actions contrast is enhanced. In his first picture, in a larger shot, the opposition of two rivals (in their duet) is given, and in the second picture (this is the finale of the 2nd act) the main conflict of the opera is significantly aggravated due to the inclusion in it of Amonasro, Ethiopian captives on the one hand, and the Egyptian pharaoh, Amneris, Egyptians on the other.

V 3 actions dramatic development is completely switched to the psychological plane - to the area of ​​human relationships. Two duos follow one after the other: Aida-Amonasro and Aida-Radames. They are very different in expressive and compositional solutions, but at the same time they create a single line of gradually increasing dramatic tension. At the very end of the action, a plot "explosion" occurs - an involuntary betrayal of Radames and the sudden appearance of Amneris, Ramfis, and the priests.

4 action- the absolute pinnacle of the opera. Its reprisal in relation to Act I is evident: a) both open with the duet of Amneris and Radames; b) in the finale, themes from the "initiation scene" are repeated, in particular, the prayer of the great priestess (however, if earlier this music accompanied the solemn glorification of Radames, then here is his ritual funeral service).

Act 4 has two climaxes: a tragic one in the court scene and a "quiet" lyrical one in the finale, in the farewell duet of Aida and Radames. Court scene- this is the tragic denouement of the opera, where the action develops in two parallel plans. From the dungeon comes the music of the priests accusing Radames, and in the foreground, a weeping Amneris calls out to the gods in despair. The image of Amneris is endowed with tragic features in the court scene. The fact that she, in essence, herself turns out to be a victim of the priests, brings Amneris to the positive camp: she seems to take the place of Aida in the main conflict of the opera.

The presence of a second, "quiet" climax is an extremely important feature of Aida's drama. After grandiose processions, processions, triumphal marches, ballet scenes, intense clashes, such a quiet, lyrical ending affirms the wonderful idea of ​​love and heroism in the name of it.

Ensemble scenes.

All the most important moments in the development of psychological conflict in "Aida" are associated with ensemble scenes, the role of which is exceptionally great. This is the "trio of jealousy", performing the function of the opening in the opera, and the duet of Aida with Amneris - the first culmination of the opera, and the duet of Aida with Radames in the finale - the denouement of the love line.

The role of duet scenes arising in the most intense situations is especially great. In act I it is a duet between Amneris and Radames, which develops into a "trio of jealousy"; in act 2 - Aida's duet with Amneris; in act 3, two duets with Aida's participation follow in a row. One of them is with his father, the other is with Radames; in act 4 there are also two duets surrounding the culminating scene of the trial: at the beginning - Radames-Amneris, at the end - Radames-Aida. There is hardly another opera in which there would be so many duets.

Moreover, they are all very individual. Aida's meetings with Radames are not of a conflicting nature and approach the type of "ensembles of consent" (especially in the finale). In the meetings of Radames with Amneris, the participants are sharply isolated, but there is no struggle, Radames evades it. But Aida's meetings with Amneris and Amonasro in the full sense of the word can be called spiritual battles.

In terms of form, all Aida ensembles are freely organized scenes , the construction of which depends entirely on the specific psychological content. They alternate episodes based on solo and ensemble singing, recitative and purely orchestral sections. A striking example of a very dynamic scene-dialogue is the duet of Aida and Amneris from 2 acts ("duet of testing"). The images of the two rivals are shown in clash and dynamics: the evolution of the image of Amneris goes from hypocritical gentleness, insinuity to undisguised hatred.

Her vocal part is based mainly on a pathetic recitative. The culmination in this development comes at the moment of "dropping the mask" - in the subject "You love, I love too"... Her fierce character, breadth of range, unexpected accents characterize Amneris' imperious, indomitable disposition.

In Aida's soul, despair is replaced by stormy joy, and then a plea for death. The vocal style is more arios, with a predominance of mournful, pleading intonations (for example, arioso "I'm sorry and sorry" based on a sad lyric melody played against the backdrop of arpeggiated accompaniment). In this duet, Verdi uses an "invasion technique" - as if to confirm the triumph of Amneris, the sounds of the Egyptian hymn "To the Sacred Banks of the Nile" from picture I burst into his music. Another thematic arc is the theme "My Gods" from Aida's monologue from Act I.

The development of duet scenes is always conditioned by a specific dramatic situation. An example is two duets of 3 acts.Aida's duet with Amonasro begins with their full agreement, which is expressed in the coincidence of thematic (theme "We will soon return to our native land" sounds first in Amonasro, then in Aida), but its result is a psychological "distance" of images: Aida is morally depressed in an unequal duel.

Aida's duet with Radames, on the contrary, begins with a contrasting juxtaposition of images: enthusiastic exclamations of Radames ( "Again with you, dear Aida") are opposed to the mournful recitative of Aida. However, through overcoming, the struggle of feelings, the joyful, enthusiastic consent of the heroes is achieved (Radames, in an impulse of love, decides to flee with Aida).

The opera finale is also built in the form of a duet scene, the action of which unfolds in two parallel plans - in the dungeon (farewell to the lives of Aida and Radames) and in the temple located above it (prayer singing of the priestesses and the sobs of Amneris). The entire development of the final duet is directed towards a transparent, fragile, upward-looking theme "I'm sorry, earth, I'm sorry, the shelter of all suffering"... By its nature, it is close to the leitmotif of Aida's love.

Mass scenes.

The psychological drama in Aida unfolds against a wide background of monumental crowd scenes, the music of which paints the scene (Africa) and recreates the harsh majestic images of ancient Egypt. The musical basis of the crowd scenes is made up of themes of solemn hymns, victory marches, and triumphal processions. In act I there are two such scenes: the scene of "the glorification of Egypt" and the "scene of the consecration of Radames."

The main theme of the glorification scene of Egypt is the solemn hymn of the Egyptians "To the sacred banks of the Nile", which sounds after the pharaoh announced the will of the gods: the Egyptian troops will be led by Radames. All those present are seized by a single belligerent impulse. Features of the anthem: chiselled marching rhythm, original harmonization (modal variability, widespread use of deviations in secondary keys), harsh coloring.

The most grandiose in scale mass scene of "Aida" - final 2 acts. As in the dedication scene, the composer uses the most diverse elements of operatic action here: singing of soloists, chorus, ballet. Along with the main orchestra, a brass band is used on stage. The abundance of participants explains multidimensionality finale: it is based on many themes of a very different nature: a solemn hymn "Glory to Egypt" melodious theme of the female choir "Laurel wreaths" the victory march, the melody of which is led by a solo trumpet, the ominous leitmotif of the priests, the dramatic theme of Amonasro's monologue, the Ethiopian plea for pardon, etc.

Many episodes that make up the finale of 2 days are combined into a slender symmetrical structure, consisting of three parts:

Part I is three-part. It is framed by the jubilant chorus "Glory to Egypt" and the stern chant of the priests, based on their leitmotif. In the middle, the famous march (trumpet solo) and ballet music sound.

Part 2 contrasts with its extreme drama; it is formed by episodes with the participation of Amonasro and the Ethiopian captives pleading for clemency.

Part 3 is a dynamic reprise, which begins with an even more powerful sounding of the theme "Glory to Egypt". Now she unites with the voices of all the soloists on the principle of contrasting polyphony.