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Verdi: Operas
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In 1890 Verdi began Falstaff, the miracle of his old age and his last opera. For it Boito fashioned a libretto from portions of Henry IV and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Verdi had not written a comic opera since the very beginning of his career. When Falstaff was triumphantly mounted in 1893 in Milan, Verdi was 80 years old.
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Verdi had begun an opera and tried to arrange a performance in Parma or Milan. He was unsuccessful but had some songs published and decided to settle in Milan in 1839 where his Oberto was accepted at La Scala and further operas commissioned. It was well received but his next, Un giorno di regno, failed totally and his wife died during its composition. Verdi nearly gave up, but was fired by the libretto of Nabucco and in 1842 saw its successful production, which carried his reputation across Italy, Europe and the New World over the next five years.
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Verdi had become very famous by now, and was asked to compose for the Opéra in Paris. He had to write operas in the French style: operas with five acts and a ballet based on a serious story. None of the operas he wrote at this time for Paris belong to his best works. He was more inspired when writing for the Italian theatres. Simon Boccanegra has a very complicated plot, but the characters are described beautifully by the music. Un ballo in maschera (The masked ball) was about the murder of King Gustav III of Sweden.
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Verdi's first opera, Oberto, was brought to the stage at La Scala in November 1839 and ran for multiple performances. The noted Ricordi firm published Oberto and, based upon his initial operatic effort, Verdi won a contract for three additional operas. He began work on his next opera, Un Giorno di Regno, but was interrupted when, one by one, the Verdis fell ill. Over the course of a few weeks, Verdi lost his son, his daughter, and his beloved wife to illness. Unfortunately, Un Giorno was a complete failure.
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Having relocated to Genoa, Verdi composed Aida in the years 1870-1871. Its Cairo premiere in 1871 was a success, but the composer then gave up opera, at least for a time. His String Quartet (1873) and Requiem (1874) showed his creative juices were still very much alive. His next opera, Otello, came finally in 1886, Verdi working slowly and getting sidetracked revising earlier operas. One more opera came from his pen, Falstaff, in 1893, which scored a stunning success. Critical opinion has it that his last three operas are his finest, that the elderly composer became bolder and more imaginative in his later years.
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Verdi left Milan to return to his home province, competing for and winning the post of Teacher of the Municipal School of Busseto. There he married Margherita, daughter of Mr. Barezzi. Verdi soon resigned his post and returned to Milan. Sadly, both children and Margherita died soon after his move to Milan, leaving him to start his operatic composition career alone.
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