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126-482: Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David ; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer , spiritualist , Buddhist , anarchist , opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lhasa , Tibet , when it was forbidden to foreigners. David-Néel wrote over 30 books about Eastern religion, philosophy, and her travels, including Magic and Mystery in Tibet , which
252-474: A Stabat Mater ." This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, and remains the leading source for his early life and career. Written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of
378-444: A spinet . Verdi's gift for music was already apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while, and taking organ lessons. After Baistrocchi's death, Verdi, at the age of eight, became the official paid organist. The music historian Roger Parker points out that both of Verdi's parents belonged to families of small landowners and traders, certainly not
504-613: A camera and survey equipment, she hid, however, under her rags a compass, a pistol, and a purse with money for a possible ransom. Finally, they reached Lhasa in 1924, merged with a crowd of pilgrims coming to celebrate the Monlam Prayer Festival . They stayed in Lhasa for two months visiting the holy city and the large surrounding monasteries: Drepung , Sera , Ganden , Samye , and met Swami Asuri Kapila ( Cesar Della Rosa Bendio ). Foster Stockwell pointed out that neither
630-560: A charming welcome: he introduced her to his entourage's persons of rank, to his professors, and to his mother (with whom David-Néel tied bonds of friendship and who suggested to her to reside in a convent). The Panchen Lama bade and proposed her to stay at Shigatse as his guest, what she declined, leaving the town on 26 July, not without having received the honorary titles of a Lama and a doctor in Tibetan Buddhism and having experienced hours of great bliss. Upon her return to Sikkim,
756-595: A conference held at the Theosophical Society in Paris. In 1952, she published the Textes tibétains inédits ("unpublished Tibetan writings"), an anthology of Tibetan literature including, among other things, the erotic poems attributed to the 6th Dalai Lama. In 1953, a newspiece followed, Le vieux Tibet face à la Chine nouvelle , in which she gave "a certain and documented opinion" on the tense situation in
882-551: A disciple at the service of her guru", according to the words of Jacques Brosse. In 1925, she won the Award Monique Berlioux of the Académie des sports. Although she was not a sportswoman in a strict sense, she is part of the list of the 287 Gloires du sport français (English: Glories of French sport). In 2006, Priscilla Telmon paid tribute to Alexandra David-Néel through an expedition on foot and alone across
1008-613: A drama by Vittorio Alfieri , was written by Verdi when he was 15 and performed in Bergamo . It was acclaimed by both Demaldè and Barezzi, who commented: "He shows a vivid imagination, a philosophical outlook, and sound judgment in the arrangement of instrumental parts." In late 1829, Verdi had completed his studies with Provesi, who declared that he had no more to teach Verdi. At the time, Verdi had been giving singing and piano lessons to Barezzi's daughter Margherita; by 1831, they were unofficially engaged. Verdi set his sights on Milan, then
1134-766: A farmhouse and outbuildings, providing a home for his parents from May 1844. Later that year, he also bought the Palazzo Cavalli (now known as the Palazzo Orlandi) on the via Roma, Busseto's main street. In May 1848, Verdi signed a contract for land and houses at Sant'Agata in Busseto, which had once belonged to his family. It was here he built his own house, completed in 1880, now known as the Villa Verdi , where he lived from 1851 until his death. In March 1843, Verdi visited Vienna (where Gaetano Donizetti
1260-544: A fraternal hand, and Italy will yet become the first nation of the world...I am drunk with joy! Imagine that there are no more Germans here!!" Verdi had been admonished by the poet Giuseppe Giusti for turning away from patriotic subjects, the poet pleading with him to "do what you can to nourish the [sorrow of the Italian people], to strengthen it, and direct it to its goal." Cammarano suggested adapting Joseph Méry 's 1828 play La Bataille de Toulouse , which he described as
1386-418: A friend who had typed her manuscripts. She decided to live alone in a hotel, going from one establishment to the next, until June 1959, when she was introduced to a young woman, Marie-Madeleine Peyronnet , who she took as her personal secretary. She would stay with the old lady until the end, "watching over her like a daughter over her mother – and sometimes like a mother over her unbearable child – but also like
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#17327874489101512-648: A friend; they stayed in touch until David-Néel's death. She finally left Asia with Aphur Yongden by airplane, departing from Calcutta in June 1946. On 1 July, they arrived at Paris, where they stayed until October, when they went back to Digne-les-Bains. At 78, Alexandra David-Néel returned to France to arrange the estate of her husband, then she started writing from her home in Digne. Between 1947 and 1950, Alexandra David-Néel came across Paul Adam – Venerable Aryadeva, she commended him because he took her place on short notice, at
1638-547: A hard time accepting the stories about such practices as levitation and tummo (the increase of body temperature to withstand cold). In 1972, Jeanne Denys, who was at one time working as a librarian for David-Néel, would publish Alexandra David-Néel au Tibet: une supercherie dévoilée (approximately: Alexandra David-Neel in Tibet: trickery uncovered), a book which caused rather little sensation by claiming to demonstrate that David-Néel had not entered Lhasa. Jeanne Denys maintained that
1764-601: A hermitage cavern at more than 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) above sea level in northern Sikkim. Sidkeong, then the spiritual leader of Sikkim, was sent to the meeting with Alexandra David-Néel by his father, the Maharaja of Sikkim, having been told about her arrival in April 1912 by the British resident at Gangtok . On the occasion of this first encounter, their mutual understanding was immediate: Sidkeong, eager for reformation,
1890-401: A letter that pledged his love. On the envelope, Strepponi wrote: "5 or 6 October 1846. They shall lay this letter on my heart when they bury me." Verdi had completed I masnadieri for London by May 1847 except for the orchestration. This he left until the opera was in rehearsal, since he wanted to hear "la [Jenny] Lind and modify her role to suit her more exactly". Verdi agreed to conduct
2016-508: A libretto by the journalist Antonio Piazza. In mid-1834, Verdi sought to acquire Provesi's former post in Busseto but without success. But with Barezzi's help, he did obtain the secular post of maestro di musica . He taught, gave lessons, and conducted the Philharmonic for several months before returning to Milan in early 1835. By the following July, he obtained his certification from Lavigna. Eventually in 1835 Verdi became director of
2142-449: A master of opera. The failure of Stiffelio (attributable not least to the censors of the time taking offence at the taboo subject of the supposed adultery of a clergyman's wife and interfering with the text and roles) incited Verdi to take pains to rework it, although even in the completely recycled version of Aroldo (1857) it still failed to please. Rigoletto , with its intended murder of royalty, and its sordid attributes, also upset
2268-464: A member, provided with a letter of introduction by the governor of Bengal, a further link between them. He told her of his pleasure of having been allowed to become a member of this society. When his father was about to die, Sidkeong called Alexandra David-Néel for help, and asked her for advice in bringing about the reform of Buddhism that he wished to implement at Sikkim once he came to power. Returning to Gangtok via Darjeeling and Siliguri , David-Néel
2394-542: A monk of southern Buddhism was called to participate in it, as well as Sīlācāra (an Englishman) who was then living in Burma . Ma Lat ( Hteiktin Ma Lat ) came from that same country, David-Néel was in correspondence with her, and Sidkeong married Ma Lat, with Alexandra David-Néel becoming the Maharaja's marriage counselor. While she was at the monastery of Phodong, the abbot of which was Sidkeong, David-Néel declared she heard
2520-549: A monk. She planned to visit two great religious centers close to her Sikkim retreat: the monastery of Chorten Nyima and Tashilhunpo Monastery , close to Shigatse , one of the biggest cities of southern Tibet. At the monastery of Tashilhunpo, where she arrived on 16 July, she was allowed to consult the Buddhist scriptures and visit various temples. On the 19th, she met with the Panchen Lama , by whom she received blessings and
2646-600: A new opera for the 1843 season. I Lombardi alla prima crociata was based on a libretto by Solera and premiered in February 1843. Inevitably, comparisons were made with Nabucco ; but one contemporary writer noted: "If [ Nabucco ] created this young man's reputation, I Lombardi served to confirm it." Verdi paid close attention to his financial contracts, making sure he was appropriately remunerated as his popularity increased. For I Lombardi and Ernani (1844) in Venice he
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#17327874489102772-475: A new opera from La Fenice, which Verdi eventually realised as La traviata . That was followed by an agreement with the Rome Opera Company to present Il trovatore for January 1853. Verdi now had sufficient earnings to retire, had he wished to. He had reached a stage where he could develop his operas as he wished, rather than be dependent on commissions from third parties. Il trovatore was in fact
2898-666: A production in Naples later in the year. Verdi was committed to the publisher Giovanni Ricordi for an opera—which became Stiffelio —for Trieste in the Spring of 1850; and, subsequently, following negotiations with La Fenice, developed a libretto with Piave and wrote the music for Rigoletto (based on Victor Hugo 's Le roi s'amuse ) for Venice in March 1851. This was the first of a sequence of three operas (followed by Il trovatore and La traviata ) which were to cement his fame as
3024-411: A pupil and amanuensis . He had known him since about 1828 as another of Barezzi's protégés. Muzio, who in fact was Verdi's only pupil, became indispensable to the composer. He reported to Barezzi that Verdi "has a breadth of spirit, of generosity, a wisdom". In November 1846, Muzio wrote of Verdi: "If you could see us, I seem more like a friend, rather than his pupil. We are always together at dinner, in
3150-484: A replacement to play in what became his first public event in his home town; he was an immediate success mostly playing his own music to the surprise of many and receiving strong local recognition. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic: "none of us could rival him" reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè. An eight-movement cantata, I deliri di Saul , based on
3276-671: A scenario by the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette , was transformed into Italian verse by Antonio Ghislanzoni . Verdi was offered the enormous sum of 150,000 francs for the opera (even though he confessed that Ancient Egypt was "a civilization I have never been able to admire"), and it was first performed in Cairo in 1871. Verdi spent much of 1872 and 1873 supervising the Italian productions of Aida at Milan, Parma and Naples, effectively acting as producer and demanding high standards and adequate rehearsal time. During
3402-419: A story "that should stir every man with an Italian soul in his breast". The premiere was set for late January 1849. Verdi travelled to Rome before the end of 1848. He found that city on the verge of becoming a (short-lived) republic , which commenced within days of La battaglia di Legnano ' s enthusiastically received premiere. In the spirit of the time were the tenor hero's final words, "Whoever dies for
3528-533: A strong incentive. Verdi came up with the idea of adapting the 1835 Spanish play Don Alvaro o la fuerza del sino by Angel Saavedra , which became La forza del destino , with Piave writing the libretto. The Verdis arrived in St. Petersburg in December 1861 for the premiere, but casting problems meant that it had to be postponed. Returning via Paris from Russia on 24 February 1862, Verdi met two young Italian writers,
3654-422: A studio. After her return, starting at her arrival at Havre on May 10, 1925, she was able to assess the remarkable fame her audacity had earned her. She hit the headlines of the newspapers and her portrait spread in the magazines. The account of her adventure would become the subject of a book, My Journey to Lhasa , which was published in Paris, London and New York in 1927, but met with disbelief of critics who had
3780-559: A village then part of Piedmont. On 29 August 1859, the couple were married there, with only the coachman who had driven them there and the church bell ringer as witnesses. At the end of 1859, Verdi wrote to his friend Cesare De Sanctis "[Since completing Ballo ] I have not made any more music, I have not seen any more music, I have not thought anymore about music. I don't even know what colour my last opera is, and I almost don't remember it." He began to remodel Sant'Agata, which took most of 1860 to complete and on which he continued to work for
3906-437: A voice announcing to her that the reforms would fail. On 11 November 1914, leaving the cavern of Sikkim where she had gone to meet the gomchen , David-Néel was received at Lachen Monastery by Sidkeong. One month later, she learned about Sidkeong's sudden death, news that affected her and made her think of poisoning. On 13 July 1916, without asking for permission, Alexandra David-Néel left for Tibet, accompanied by Yongden and
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4032-560: The 13th Dalai Lama in exile. She received an audience on 15 April 1912, and met Ekai Kawaguchi in his waiting room, whom she would meet again in Japan. The Dalai Lama welcomed her, accompanied by the inevitable interpreter, and he strongly advised her to learn Tibetan, an advice she followed. She received his blessing, then the Dalai Lama engaged the dialogue, asking her how she had become a Buddhist. David-Néel amused him by claiming to be
4158-609: The Guimet Museum . At the suggestion of her father, David-Néel attended the Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles ( Royal Conservatory of Brussels ), where she studied piano and singing. To help her parents who were experiencing setbacks, David-Néel, who had obtained a first prize for singing, took the position of first singer at the Hanoi Opera House (Indochina) during the seasons 1895–1896 and 1896–1897 under
4284-474: The Italian Senate , but did not participate in its activities. In the months following the staging of Ballo , Verdi was approached by several opera companies seeking a new work or making offers to stage one of his existing ones but refused them all. But when, in December 1860, an approach was made from Saint Petersburg 's Imperial Theatre , the offer of 60,000 francs plus all expenses was doubtless
4410-710: The Paris Opéra . Verdi agreed to adapt I Lombardi to a new French libretto; the result was Jérusalem , which contained significant changes to the music and structure of the work (including an extensive ballet scene) to meet Parisian expectations. Verdi was awarded the Order of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour . To satisfy his contracts with the publisher Francesco Lucca [ it ] , Verdi dashed off Il Corsaro . Budden comments "In no other opera of his does Verdi appear to have taken so little interest before it
4536-556: The Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus " Va, pensiero " from his early opera Nabucco (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. An intensely private person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements. As he became professionally successful, he
4662-564: The Trans-Siberian Railway . Her aim was to study ancient Taoism . She found herself in the middle of the Second Sino-Japanese War and attended the horrors of war, famine and epidemics. Fleeing the combat, she wandered through China on a shoestring budget. The Chinese journey took course during one and a half years between Beijing , Mount Wutai , Hankou and Chengdu . On 4 June 1938, she went back to
4788-514: The "identification of Verdi's music with Italian nationalist politics" perhaps began in the 1840s. In 1848, the nationalist leader Giuseppe Mazzini (whom Verdi had met in London the previous year) requested Verdi (who complied) to write a patriotic hymn. The opera historian Charles Osborne describes the 1849 La battaglia di Legnano as "an opera with a purpose" and maintains that "while parts of Verdi's earlier operas had frequently been taken up by
4914-476: The British colonial authorities, pushed by missionaries exasperated by the welcome afforded David-Néel by the Panchen Lama and annoyed by her having ignored their ban of entering Tibet, informed her that she was to be deported for violating the no-entry edict. As it was impossible to return to Europe during World War I , Alexandra David-Néel and Yongden left Sikkim for India and then Japan . There she met
5040-579: The Busseto school with a three-year contract. He married Margherita in May 1836, and by March 1837, she had given birth to their first child, Virginia Maria Luigia on 26 March 1837. Icilio Romano followed on 11 July 1838. Both the children died young, Virginia on 12 August 1838, Icilio on 22 October 1839. In 1837, the young composer asked for Massini's assistance to stage his opera in Milan. The La Scala impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli , agreed to put on Oberto (as
5166-546: The Dalai Lama nor his assistants welcomed David-Néel, that she was neither shown the treasures of lamasery nor awarded a diploma. Jacques Brosse states more precisely that she knew the Dalai Lama well, but he didn't know that she was in Lhasa and she could not reveal her identity. She found "nothing very special" in Potala, of which she remarked that the interior design was "entirely Chinese-style". Despite her face smeared with soot, her yak wool mats, and her traditional fur hat, she
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5292-780: The Himalaya. She recounted her predecessor's journey from Vietnam to Calcutta via Lhasa. A movie, Au Tibet Interdit (English: Into Forbidden Tibet), was shot on that expedition. Many of Alexandra David-Neel's books were published more or less simultaneously both in French and English. List of explorers Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration. 15th/16th 15th Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( / ˈ v ɛər d i / ; Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi] ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901)
5418-716: The Lamas (not in Forbidden Journey' s bibliography), on pp. 110–113 gives an account of his accompanying Ms. Sydney partway back, then putting her under the care of Lolo bandits to continue the journey to Chengdu . While in Eastern Tibet David-Néel and Yongden completed circumambulation of the holy mountain Amnye Machen . In 1945, Alexandra David-Néel went back to India thanks to Christian Fouchet , French Consul at Calcutta , who became
5544-851: The Milanese for their reception of Un giorno di regno ". During this period, Verdi began to work more consistently with his librettists. He relied on Piave again for I due Foscari , performed in Rome in November 1844, then on Solera once more for Giovanna d'Arco , at La Scala in February 1845, while in August that year he was able to work with Salvadore Cammarano on Alzira for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Solera and Piave worked together on Attila for La Fenice (March 1846). In April 1844, Verdi took on Emanuele Muzio , eight years his junior, as
5670-560: The Milanese world of music that were to stand him in good stead. These included an introduction by Lavigna to an amateur choral group, the Società Filarmonica , led by Pietro Massini. Attending the Società frequently in 1834, Verdi soon found himself functioning as rehearsal director (for Rossini's La Cenerentola ) and continuo player. It was Massini who encouraged him to write his first opera, originally titled Rocester , to
5796-519: The Neapolitan censor stating: "I'm drowning in a sea of troubles. It's almost certain that the censors will forbid our libretto." With no hope of seeing his Gustavo III staged as written, he broke his contract. This resulted in litigation and counter-litigation; with the legal issues resolved, Verdi was free to present the libretto and musical outline of Gustave III to the Rome Opera . There,
5922-549: The Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi [ it ] , a wholesale grocer and distiller, who was described by a contemporary as a "manic dilettante" of music. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic. By June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By chance, when he was 13, Verdi was asked to step in as
6048-662: The Tibetan oratory of Samten Dzong, awaiting to be thrown into the Ganges , together with those of David-Néel after her death. With age, David-Néel suffered more and more from articular rheumatism that forced her to walk with crutches. "I walk on my arms", she used to say. Her work rhythm slowed down: she did not publish anything in 1955 and 1956, and, in 1957, only the third edition of the Initiations lamaïques . In April 1957, she left Samten Dzong in order to live at Monaco with
6174-562: The Tibetan town of Tachienlu for a retreat of five years. She was deeply touched by the announcement of the death of her husband in 1941. One minor mystery relating to Alexandra David-Néel has a solution. In Forbidden Journey , p. 284, the authors wonder how Mme. David-Néel's secretary, Violet Sydney, made her way back to the West in 1939 after Sous des nuées d'orage (Storm Clouds) was completed in Tachienlu . Peter Goullart 's Land of
6300-621: The Tunisian railways and her future husband. During a stay of Jean Haustont in Tunis in the Summer of 1902, she gave up her singing career and assumed artistic direction of the casino of Tunis for a few months, while continuing her intellectual work. On 4 August 1904, at age 36, she married Philippe Néel de Saint-Sauveur, whose lover she had been since 15 September 1900. Their life together was sometimes turbulent but characterized by mutual respect. It
6426-590: The administration of his newly acquired property at Sant'Agata. A growing estrangement between Verdi and his parents was perhaps also attributable to Strepponi (the suggestion that this situation was sparked by the birth of a child to Verdi and Strepponi which was given away as a foundling lacks any firm evidence). In January 1851, Verdi broke off relations with his parents, and in April they were ordered to leave Sant'Agata; Verdi found new premises for them and helped them financially to settle into their new home. It may not be coincidental that all six Verdi operas written in
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#17327874489106552-410: The age of 26. Verdi adored his wife and children and was devastated by their early deaths. Un giorno , a comedy, was premiered only a few months later. It was a flop and only given one performance. Following its failure, it is claimed Verdi vowed never to compose again, but in his Sketch he recounts how Merelli persuaded him to write a new opera. Verdi was to claim that he gradually began to work on
6678-496: The boy to attend school in Busseto, enrolling him in a Ginnasio —an upper school for boys—run by Don Pietro Seletti, while they continued to run their inn at Le Roncole. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, covering the distance of several kilometres on foot. At age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi , maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of
6804-456: The cafes, when we play cards...; all in all, he doesn't go anywhere without me at his side; in the house we have a big table and we both write there together, and so I always have his advice." Muzio was to remain associated with Verdi, assisting in the preparation of scores and transcriptions, and later conducting many of his works in their premiere performances in the US and elsewhere outside Italy. He
6930-573: The cast. For Verdi, the performances were a personal triumph in his native region, especially as his father, Carlo, attended the first performance. Verdi remained in Parma for some weeks beyond his intended departure date. This fuelled speculation that the delay was due to Verdi's interest in Strepponi (who stated that their relationship began in 1843). Strepponi was in fact known for her amorous relationships (and many illegitimate children) and her history
7056-583: The censors demanded further changes; at this point, the opera took the title Un ballo in maschera . Arriving in Sant'Agata in March 1859 Verdi and Strepponi found the nearby city of Piacenza occupied by about 6,000 Austrian troops who had made it their base, to combat the rise of Italian interest in unification in the Piedmont region. In the ensuing Second Italian War of Independence the Austrians abandoned
7182-408: The censors. Verdi would not compromise: What does the sack matter to the police? Are they worried about the effect it will produce?...Do they think they know better than I?...I see the hero has been made no longer ugly and hunchbacked!! Why? A singing hunchback...why not?...I think it splendid to show this character as outwardly deformed and ridiculous, and inwardly passionate and full of love. I chose
7308-541: The composer or his librettists. In 1859, Verdi was elected as a member of the new provincial council, and was appointed to head a group of five who would meet with King Vittorio Emanuele II in Turin. They were enthusiastically greeted along the way and in Turin Verdi himself received much of the publicity. On 17 October Verdi met with Cavour , the architect of the initial stages of Italian unification. Later that year
7434-777: The composer's wrath. Nevertheless, he was to become Verdi's close collaborator in his final operas. The St. Petersburg premiere of La forza finally took place in September 1862, and Verdi received the Order of St. Stanislaus . A revival of Macbeth in Paris in 1865 was not a success, but he obtained a commission for a new work, Don Carlos , based on the play Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller . He and Giuseppina spent late 1866 and much of 1867 in Paris, where they heard, and did not warm to, Giacomo Meyerbeer's last opera, L'Africaine , and Richard Wagner 's overture to Tannhäuser . The opera's premiere in 1867 drew mixed comments. While
7560-517: The condition that after a few months I would resign." Verdi was elected on 3 February 1861 for the town of Borgo San Donnino ( Fidenza ) to the Parliament of Piedmont-Sardinia in Turin (which from March 1861 became the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy ), but following the death of Cavour in 1861, which deeply distressed him, he scarcely attended. Later, in 1874, Verdi was appointed a member of
7686-414: The country has become a mania, madness, rage, and fury—anything you like that is exaggerated. He gets up almost with the dawn, to go and examine the wheat, the maize, the vines, etc....Fortunately our tastes for this sort of life coincide, except in the matter of sunrise, which he likes to see up and dressed, and I from my bed." Nonetheless, on 15 May, Verdi signed a contract with La Fenice for an opera for
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#17327874489107812-533: The couple attended a performance of Alexander Dumas fils ' s play The Lady of the Camellias ; Verdi immediately began to compose music for what would later become La traviata . After his visit to Rome for Il trovatore in January 1853, Verdi worked on completing La traviata , but with little hope of its success, due to his lack of confidence in any of the singers engaged for the season. Furthermore,
7938-682: The creation of twenty operas (excluding revisions and translations)—followed over the next sixteen years, culminating in Un ballo in maschera . This period was not without its frustrations and setbacks for the young composer, and he was frequently demoralised. In April 1845, in connection with I due Foscari , he wrote: "I am happy, no matter what reception it gets, and I am utterly indifferent to everything. I cannot wait for these next three years to pass. I have to write six operas, then addio to everything." In 1858 Verdi complained: "Since Nabucco , you may say, I have never had one hour of peace. Sixteen years in
8064-702: The critic Théophile Gautier praised the work, the composer Georges Bizet was disappointed at Verdi's changing style: "Verdi is no longer Italian. He is following Wagner." During the 1860s and 1870s, Verdi paid great attention to his estate around Busseto, purchasing additional land, dealing with unsatisfactory (in one case, embezzling) stewards, installing irrigation , and coping with variable harvests and economic slumps. In 1867, both Verdi's father Carlo, with whom he had restored good relations, and his early patron and father-in-law Antonio Barezzi, died. Verdi and Giuseppina decided to adopt Carlo's great-niece Filomena Maria Verdi, then seven years old, as their own child. She
8190-570: The cultural capital of northern Italy, where he applied unsuccessfully to study at the Conservatory . Barezzi made arrangements for him to become a private pupil of Vincenzo Lavigna [ it ] , who had been maestro concertatore at La Scala , and who described Verdi's compositions as "very promising". Lavigna encouraged Verdi to take out a subscription to La Scala, where he heard Maria Malibran in operas by Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini . Verdi began making connections in
8316-486: The day he himself believed he was born. Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. She is said to have been his closest friend during childhood. From age four Verdi was given private lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi, and at six he attended the local school. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents finally provided him with
8442-461: The death of his mother in June 1851. The fact that this is "the one opera of Verdi's which focuses on a mother rather than a father" is perhaps related to her death. In the winter of 1851–52, Verdi decided to go to Paris with Strepponi, where he concluded an agreement with the Opéra to write what became Les vêpres siciliennes , his first original work in the style of grand opera . In February 1852,
8568-555: The explorer, exhausted, "without money and in rags", was accommodated together with her companion at the Macdonald home for a fortnight. She managed to reach Northern India through Sikkim thanks partly to the 500 rupees she borrowed from Macdonald and to the necessary papers that he and his son-in-law, captain Perry, obtained for her. In Calcutta, dressed in the new Tibetan outfit Macdonald had bought for her, she got herself photographed in
8694-490: The face of death, from which she first learned of the ferocity of humans. Two years later, the Davids emigrated to Belgium. Since before the age of 15, she had been exercising austerities such as fasting and corporal torments drawn from biographies of ascetic saints found in the library of one of her female relatives, to which she refers to in Sous des nuées d'orage , published in 1940. At the age of 15, spending her holidays with her parents at Ostend , she ran away and reached
8820-429: The famous Prajnaparamita . David-Néel preferred to eat vegetarian food throughout her life but whilst traveling in Tibet would often eat meat dishes as a guest at monasteries. Disguised as a beggar and a monk, respectively, and carrying a backpack as discreet as possible, Alexandra David-Néel and Yongden then left for the Forbidden City. In order not to betray her status as a foreigner, David-Néel did not dare to take
8946-407: The fatherland cannot be evil-minded". Verdi had intended to return to Italy in early 1848, but was prevented by work and illness, as well as, most probably, by his increasing attachment to Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi left Paris in July 1849, the immediate cause being an outbreak of cholera , and Verdi went directly to Busseto to continue work on completing his latest opera, Luisa Miller , for
9072-625: The fighters of the Risorgimento...this time the composer had given the movement its own opera" It was not until 1859 in Naples, and only then spreading throughout Italy, that the slogan "Viva Verdi" was used as an acronym for Viva V ittorio E manuele R e D ' I talia ( Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy) , (who was then king of Piedmont ). After Italy was unified in 1861, many of Verdi's early operas were increasingly re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden Revolutionary messages that perhaps had not been originally intended by either
9198-413: The first opera he wrote without a specific commission (apart from Oberto ). At around the same time he began to consider creating an opera from Shakespeare's King Lear . After first (1850) seeking a libretto from Cammarano (which never appeared), Verdi later (1857) commissioned one from Antonio Somma , but this proved intractable, and no music was ever written. Verdi began work on Il trovatore after
9324-405: The following spring. This was to be Simon Boccanegra . The couple stayed in Paris until January 1857 to deal with these proposals, and also the offer to stage the translated version of Il trovatore as a grand opera. Verdi and Strepponi travelled to Venice in March for the premiere of Simon Boccanegra , which turned out to be "a fiasco" (as Verdi reported, although on the second and third nights,
9450-469: The galleys." After the initial success of Nabucco , Verdi settled in Milan, making a number of influential acquaintances. He attended the Salotto Maffei , Countess Clara Maffei 's salons in Milan, becoming her lifelong friend and correspondent. A revival of Nabucco followed in 1842 at La Scala where it received a run of fifty-seven performances, and this led to a commission from Merelli for
9576-584: The government of Emilia was subsumed under the United Provinces of Central Italy , and Verdi's political life temporarily came to an end. Whilst still maintaining nationalist feelings, he declined in 1860 the office of provincial council member to which he had been elected in absentia . Cavour however was anxious to convince a man of Verdi's stature that running for political office was essential to strengthening and securing Italy's future. The composer confided to Piave some years later that "I accepted on
9702-414: The illiterate peasants from which Verdi later liked to present himself as having emerged... Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his son's education...something which Verdi tended to hide in later life... [T]he picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by an ambitious father and of a sustained, sophisticated and elaborate formal education. In 1823, when he was 10, Verdi's parents arranged for
9828-615: The library of the British Museum , and met several members of the Theosophical Society. The following year, back in Paris, she introduced herself to Sanskrit and Tibetan and followed different instructions at the Collège de France and at the Ecole pratique des hautes Etudes (practical school of advanced studies) without ever passing an exam there. According to Jean Chalon , her vocation to be an orientalist and Buddhist originated at
9954-403: The management insisted that the opera be given a historical, not a contemporary setting. The premiere in March 1853 was indeed a failure: Verdi wrote: "Was the fault mine or the singers'? Time will tell." Subsequent productions (following some rewriting) throughout Europe over the following two years fully vindicated the composer; Roger Parker has written " Il trovatore consistently remains one of
10080-534: The municipal music school and co-director of the local Società Filarmonica (Philharmonic Society). Verdi later stated: "From the ages of 13 to 18 I wrote a motley assortment of pieces: marches for band by the hundred, perhaps as many little sinfonie that were used in church, in the theatre and at concerts, five or six concertos and sets of variations for pianoforte, which I played myself at concerts, many serenades , cantatas ( arias , duets, very many trios) and various pieces of church music, of which I remember only
10206-447: The music for Nabucco , the libretto of which had originally been rejected by the composer Otto Nicolai : "This verse today, tomorrow that, here a note, there a whole phrase, and little by little the opera was written", he later recalled. By the autumn of 1841 it was complete, originally under the title Nabucodonosor . Well received at its first performance on 9 March 1842, Nabucco underpinned Verdi's success until his retirement from
10332-701: The name Alexandra Myrial. She interpreted the role of the Violetta in La traviata (by Giuseppe Verdi ), then she sang in Les Noces de Jeannette (by Victor Massé ), in Faust and in Mireille (by Charles Gounod ), Lakmé (by Léo Delibes ), Carmen (by Georges Bizet ), and Thaïs (by Jules Massenet ). She maintained a pen friendship with Frédéric Mistral and Massenet at that time. From 1897 to 1900, she
10458-454: The next twenty years. This included major work on a square room that became his workroom, his bedroom, and his office. Having achieved some fame and prosperity, Verdi began in 1859 to take an active interest in Italian politics. His early commitment to the Risorgimento movement is difficult to estimate accurately; in the words of the music historian Philip Gossett "myths intensifying and exaggerating [such] sentiment began circulating" during
10584-474: The nineteenth century. An example is the claim that when the " Va, pensiero " chorus in Nabucco was first sung in Milan, the audience, responding with nationalistic fervour, demanded an encore. As encores were expressly forbidden by the government at the time, such a gesture would have been extremely significant. But in fact the piece encored was not "Va, pensiero" but the hymn "Immenso Jehova". The growth of
10710-527: The only Buddhist in Paris, and surprised him by telling him that the Gyatcher Rolpa , a sacred Tibetan book, had been translated by Phillippe-Édouard Foucaux , a professor at the Collège de France. She asked for many additional explanations that the Dalai Lama tried to provide, promising to answer all her questions in writing. In late May, she went to Lachen , where she met Lachen Gomchen Rinpoche ,
10836-413: The opera, and rehearsed the tenor separately. For several months Verdi was preoccupied with family matters. These stemmed from the way in which the citizens of Busseto were treating Giuseppina Strepponi, with whom he was living openly in an unmarried relationship. She was shunned in the town and at church, and while Verdi appeared indifferent, she was certainly not. Furthermore, Verdi was concerned about
10962-508: The period 1849–1853 ( La battaglia, Luisa Miller, Stiffelio, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata ), have, uniquely in his oeuvre, heroines who are, in the opera critic Joseph Kerman's words, "women who come to grief because of sexual transgression, actual or perceived". Kerman, like the psychologist Gerald Mendelssohn, sees this choice of subjects as being influenced by Verdi's uneasy passion for Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi moved into Sant'Agata on 1 May 1851. May also brought an offer for
11088-603: The philosopher Ekai Kawaguchi who had managed to stay for eighteen months in Lhasa as a Chinese monk in disguise a few years earlier. David-Néel and Yongden subsequently left for Korea and then Beijing , China . From there, they chose to cross China from east to west, accompanied by a colourful Tibetan Lama. Their journey took several years through the Gobi, Mongolia, before a break of three years (1918–1921) at Kumbum Monastery in Tibet, where David-Néel, helped by Yongden, translated
11214-468: The photograph of David-Néel and Aphur sitting in the area before the Potala, taken by Tibetan friends, was a montage. She pretended that David-Néel's parents were modest Jewish storekeepers who spoke Yiddish at home. She went as far as to accuse David-Néel of having invented the accounts of her voyages and of her studies. Back in France, Alexandra David-Néel rented a small house in the hills of Toulon and
11340-637: The port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands to try and embark for England. Lack of money forced her to give up. At the age of 18, David-Néel had already visited England, Switzerland and Spain on her own, and she was studying in Madame Blavatsky 's Theosophical Society . "She joined various secret societies – she would reach the thirtieth degree in the mixed Scottish Rite of Freemasonry – while feminist and anarchist groups greeted her with enthusiasm... Throughout her childhood and adolescence, she
11466-481: The premiere on 22 July 1847 at Her Majesty's Theatre , as well as the second performance. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attended the first performance, and for the most part, the press was generous in its praise. For the next two years, except for two visits to Italy during periods of political unrest, Verdi was based in Paris. Within a week of returning to Paris in July 1847, he received his first commission from
11592-399: The reception improved considerably). With Strepponi, Verdi went to Naples early in January 1858 to work with Somma on the libretto of the opera Gustave III , which over a year later would become Un ballo in maschera . By this time, Verdi had begun to write about Strepponi as "my wife" and she was signing her letters as "Giuseppina Verdi". Verdi raged against the stringent requirements of
11718-482: The region and began to leave Lombardy, although they remained in control of the Venice region under the terms of the armistice signed at Villafranca . Verdi was disgusted at this outcome: "[W]here then is the independence of Italy, so long hoped for and promised?...Venice is not Italian? After so many victories, what an outcome... It is enough to drive one mad" he wrote to Clara Maffei. Verdi and Strepponi now decided on marriage; they travelled to Collonges-sous-Salève ,
11844-404: The regions once visited by her. Yongden died suddenly on 7 October 1955. According to Jacques Brosse, Yongden, seized by a strong fever and sickness, which David-Néel attributed to a simple indigestion, fell into a coma during the night and died carried off by kidney failure according to the doctor's diagnosis. Just having turned 87, David-Néel found herself alone. Yongden's ashes were kept safe in
11970-425: The reworked opera was now called, with a libretto rewritten by Temistocle Solera ) in November 1839. It achieved a respectable 13 additional performances, following which Merelli offered Verdi a contract for three more works. In 1838-1839 Verdi published his first music with the Milan publisher Giovanni Canti . While Verdi was working on his second opera Un giorno di regno , Margherita died of encephalitis at
12096-414: The same vein to Countess Maffei he stated: "I'm not doing anything. I don't read. I don't write. I walk in the fields from morning to evening, trying to recover, so far without success, from the stomach trouble caused me by I vespri siciliani . Cursed operas!" An 1858 letter by Strepponi to the publisher Léon Escudier describes the kind of lifestyle that increasingly appealed to the composer: "His love for
12222-515: The second time to India to further her study of Buddhism . In 1912, she arrived at the royal monastery of Sikkim , where she befriended Maharaj Kumar (crown prince) Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal , the eldest son of the sovereign (Chogyal) of this kingdom (which would become a state of India), and traveled in many Buddhist monasteries to improve her knowledge of Buddhism. In 1914, she met young Aphur Yongden in one of these monasteries, 15 years old, whom she would later adopt as her son. Both decided to retire in
12348-513: The subject for these very qualities...if they are removed I can no longer set it to music. Verdi substituted a Duke for the King, and the public response and subsequent success of the opera all over Italy and Europe fully vindicated the composer. Aware that the melody of the Duke's song " La donna è mobile " ("Woman is fickle") would become a popular hit, Verdi excluded it from orchestral rehearsals for
12474-435: The superior ( gomchen ) of the town's monastery, with the improvised interpreter M. Owen (E. H. Owen), a reverend who replaced the absent Kazi Dawa Samdup. In Lachen, she lived for several years close to one of the greatest gomchens of whom she had the privilege to be taught, and above all, she was very close to the Tibetan border, which she crossed twice against all odds. In her anchorite cave, she practiced Tibetan yoga. She
12600-747: The theatre, twenty-nine operas (including some revised and updated versions) later. At its revival in La Scala for the 1842 autumn season it was given an unprecedented (and later unequalled) total of 57 performances; within three years it had reached (among other venues) Vienna, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and Hamburg; in 1848 it was heard in New York, in 1850 in Buenos Aires. Porter comments that "similar accounts...could be provided to show how widely and rapidly all [Verdi's] other successful operas were disseminated." A period of hard work for Verdi—with
12726-563: The three or four most popular operas in the Verdian repertoire: but it has never pleased the critics". In the eleven years up to and including Traviata , Verdi had written sixteen operas. Over the next eighteen years (up to Aida ), he wrote only six new works for the stage. Verdi was happy to return to Sant'Agata and, in February 1856, was reporting a "total abandonment of music; a little reading; some light occupation with agriculture and horses; that's all". A couple of months later, writing in
12852-482: The twenty-year-old Arrigo Boito and Franco Faccio . Verdi had been invited to write a piece of music for the 1862 International Exhibition in London, and charged Boito with writing a text, which became the Inno delle nazioni . Boito, as a supporter of the grand opera of Giacomo Meyerbeer and an opera composer in his own right, was later in the 1860s critical of Verdi's "reliance on formula rather than form", incurring
12978-515: The young Lama Aphur Yongden, whom she would make her adopted son in 1929. Legend has it that her husband was also her patron. The truth is probably quite different. She had, at her marriage, her own personal fortune. During that time, she wrote for journals and lectured about controversial subjects in the cities of Europe. She advocated in favour of Buddhism, Zionism and radical feminism . Her marriage started to unravel, as her travels kept her apart from her husband. Alexandra David-Néel traveled for
13104-494: Was able to reduce his operatic workload and sought to establish himself as a landowner in his native region. He surprised the musical world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida (1871), with three late masterpieces: his Requiem (1874), and the operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). His operas remain extremely popular, especially the three peaks of his 'middle period': Rigoletto , Il trovatore and La traviata . The bicentenary of his birth in 2013
13230-518: Was an Italian composer best known for his operas . He was born near Busseto , a small town in the province of Parma , to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron, Antonio Barezzi. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini , Vincenzo Bellini , and Gaetano Donizetti , whose works significantly influenced him. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated sympathy with
13356-404: Was an awkward factor in their relationship until they eventually agreed on marriage. After successful stagings of Nabucco in Venice (with twenty-five performances in the 1842/43 season), Verdi began negotiations with the impresario of La Fenice to stage I Lombardi , and to write a new opera. Eventually, Victor Hugo's Hernani was chosen, with Francesco Maria Piave as librettist. Ernani
13482-414: Was associated with the French geographer and anarchist Elisée Reclus (1820–1905). This led her to become interested in the anarchistic ideas of the time and in feminism, that inspired her to publish Pour la vie ( For Life ) in 1898. In 1899, she composed an anarchist treatise with a preface by Reclus. Publishers did not dare to publish the book, though her friend Jean Haustont printed copies himself and it
13608-625: Was chosen by Verdi as one of the executors of his will but predeceased the composer in 1890. After a period of illness, Verdi began work on Macbeth in September 1846. He dedicated the opera to Barezzi: "I have long intended to dedicate an opera to you, as you have been a father, a benefactor and a friend for me. It was a duty I should have fulfilled sooner if imperious circumstances had not prevented me. Now, I send you Macbeth , which I prize above all my other operas, and therefore deem worthier to present to you." In 1997 Martin Chusid wrote that Macbeth
13734-464: Was correspondence between Sidkeong and Alexandra David-Néel. In a letter by Sidkeong written at Gangtok on 8 October 1912, he thanked her for the meditation method she had sent him. On 9 October, he accompanied her to Darjeeling , where they visited a monastery together, while she prepared to return to Calcutta . In another letter, Sidkeong informed David-Néel that, in March 1913, he was able to enter Freemasonry at Calcutta, where he had been admitted as
13860-513: Was eventually translated into five languages." In 1891, she visited India for the first time, and met her spiritual preceptor, Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati of Varanasi . According to Raymond Brodeur, she converted to Buddhism in 1889, which she noted in her diary that was published under the title La Lampe de sagesse (The Lamp of Wisdom) in 1896. She was 21 years old. That same year, to refine her English, an indispensable language for an orientalist's career, she went to London where she frequented
13986-515: Was finally unmasked (due to too much cleanliness – she went to wash herself every morning at the river) and denounced to Tsarong Shape, the Governor of Lhasa. By the time the latter took action, David-Néel and Yongden had already left Lhasa for Gyantse . They were told about the story only later, by letters of Ludlow and David Macdonald (the British sales representative in Gyantse). In May 1924,
14112-558: Was in company of Lachen Gomchen Rinpoche, Alexandra David-Néel encountered Sidkeong again on an inspection tour in Lachen on 29 May 1912. These three personalities of Buddhism, thus reunited, reflected and worked together to reform and expand Buddhism, as the Gomchen would declare. For David-Néel, Sidkeong organized a one-week expedition into the high areas of Sikkim, at 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) of altitude, which started on 1 July. There
14238-486: Was interrupted by her departure, alone, for her third trip to India (1911–1925) (the second one was carried out for a singing tour) on 9 August 1911. She did not want children, aware that motherhood was incompatible with her need of independence and her inclination to education. She promised to return to Philippe in nineteen months, but it was fourteen years later, in May 1925, when they met again, separating after some days. David-Néel had come back with her exploration partner,
14364-556: Was listening to Alexandra David-Néel's advice, and before returning to his occupations, he left behind the Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup as a guide, interpreter and professor of Tibetan. After that, Sidkeong confided in Alexandra David-Néel that his father wished for him to renounce the throne in favor of his half-brother. Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup accompanied Alexandra David-Néel to Kalimpong , where she met with
14490-420: Was living together with the guitarist Jean Haustont in Paris, writing Lidia with him, a lyric tragedy in one act, for which Haustont composed the music and David-Néel the libretto. She left to sing at the opera of Athens from November 1899 to January 1900. Then, in July of the same year, she went to the opera of Tunis . Soon after her arrival in the city, she met a distant cousin, Philippe Néel, chief engineer of
14616-832: Was looking for a home in the sun and without too many neighbors. An agency from Marseille suggested a small house in Digne-les-Bains ( Provence ) to her in 1928. She, who was looking for the sun, visited the house during a rainstorm, but she liked the place and she bought it. Four years later, she began to enlarge the house, called Samten-Dzong or "fortress of meditation", the first hermitage and Lamaist shrine in France according to Raymond Brodeur. There she wrote several books describing her various trips. In 1929, she published her most famous and beloved work, Mystiques et Magiciens du Tibet ( Magicians and Mystics in Tibet ). In 1937, aged sixty-nine, Alexandra David-Néel decided to leave for China with Yongden via Brussels , Moscow and
14742-511: Was musical director) to oversee a production of Nabucco . The older composer, recognising Verdi's talent, noted in a letter of January 1844: "I am very, very happy to give way to people of talent like Verdi... Nothing will prevent the good Verdi from soon reaching one of the most honourable positions in the cohort of composers." Verdi travelled on to Parma, where the Teatro Regio di Parma was producing Nabucco with Giuseppina Strepponi in
14868-457: Was paid 12,000 lire (including supervision of the productions); Attila and Macbeth (1847), each brought him 18,000 lire. His contracts with the publishers Ricordi in 1847 were very specific about the amounts he was to receive for new works, first productions, musical arrangements, and so on. He began to use his growing prosperity to invest in land near his birthplace. In 1844 he purchased "Il Pulgaro", 62 acres (23 hectares) of farmland with
14994-629: Was published in 1929. Her teachings influenced the beat writers Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg , the popularisers of Eastern philosophy Alan Watts and Ram Dass , and the esotericist Benjamin Creme . In 1871, when David-Néel was two years old, her father Louis David, appalled by the execution of the last Communards , took her to see the Communards' Wall at the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris; she never forgot this early encounter with
15120-432: Was received like an official figure, with guard of honor, by Sidkeong on 3 December 1913. On 4 January 1914, he gave her, as a gift for the new year, a lamani's (female lama) dress sanctified according to the Buddhist rites. David-Néel had her picture taken with a yellow hat completing the ensemble. On 10 February 1914, the Maharaja died, and Sidkeong succeeded him. The campaign of religious reform could begin, Kali Koumar,
15246-482: Was sometimes in tsam , that is to retreat for several days without seeing anyone, and she learned the technique of tummo , which mobilized her internal energy to produce heat. As a result of this apprenticeship, her master, the Gomchen of Lachen, gave her the religious name of Yeshe Tome, "Lamp of Wisdom", which proved valuable to her because she was then known by Buddhist authorities everywhere she went in Asia. While she
15372-452: Was staged." On hearing the news of the "Cinque Giornate", the "Five Days" of street fighting that took place between 18 and 22 March 1848 and temporarily drove the Austrians out of Milan, Verdi travelled there, arriving on 5 April. He discovered that Piave was now "Citizen Piave" of the newly proclaimed Republic of San Marco . Writing a patriotic letter to him in Venice, Verdi concluded "Banish every petty municipal idea! We must all extend
15498-524: Was successfully premiered in 1844 and within six months had been performed at twenty other theatres in Italy, and also in Vienna. The writer Andrew Porter notes that for the next ten years, Verdi's life "reads like a travel diary—a timetable of visits...to bring new operas to the stage or to supervise local premieres". La Scala premiered none of these new works, except for Giovanna d'Arco . Verdi "never forgave
15624-547: Was the only one of Verdi's operas of his "early period" to remain regularly in the international repertoire, although in the 21st century Nabucco has also entered the lists. Strepponi's voice declined and her engagements dried up in the 1845 to 1846 period, and she returned to live in Milan whilst retaining contact with Verdi as his "supporter, promoter, unofficial adviser, and occasional secretary" until she decided to move to Paris in October 1846. Before she left Verdi gave her
15750-606: Was to marry in 1878 the son of Verdi's friend and lawyer Angelo Carrara and her family became eventually the heirs of Verdi's estate. Aida was commissioned by the Egyptian government for the opera house built by the Khedive Isma'il Pasha to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The opera house actually opened with a production of Rigoletto . The prose libretto in French by Camille du Locle , based on
15876-846: Was widely celebrated around the world in broadcasts and performances. Verdi, the first child of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini, was born at their home in Le Roncole , a village near Busseto , then in the Département Taro and within the borders of the First French Empire . The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo and Luigia as "innkeeper" and "spinner" respectively. Additionally, it lists Verdi as being "born yesterday", but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Following his mother, Verdi always celebrated his birthday on 9 October,
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