Verdi was the greatest Italian opera composer – the best Verdi works feature 10 masterpieces including ‘Rigoletto,’ ‘La Traviata,’ and ‘Aida.’ Aida, one of Verdi’s best operas, is a timeless story of ...

Verdi’s Requiem is one of the most famous and enthralling settings of the Catholic funeral mass. The work was composed in memory of the Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni, who was profoundly ...

Music for many people is the most powerful art form. It can quickly evoke a range of emotional responses, change models and mindsets, and enhance a call to battle or a cry for help. DISCLOSURE: This ...

2013 marks the bicentennial of the legendary Italian opera composer’s birth, making it a perfect time to explore the remote countryside that saw his beginnings as a musician and a man. “I have been, I ...

Richard Fairman explores Verdi's creative process, Sir Mark Elder reflects on Verdi's masterpiece, plus we give a guide to the greatest recordings We have been writing about classical music for our ...

Verdi’s operas are well known – but what about his work as a member of parliament and fervent supporter of Italian unification? On the eve of the composer’s 200th anniversary, Clemency Burton-Hill ...

This week we turn to the Shakespeare of opera, a composer whose glorious gift for melodies and compassionate gaze celebrates life in all its variety Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) is one of the greatest ...

In many ways, Wagner and Verdi were markedly different. Wagner has been called a “racist ass” by Leon Botstein, a music authority, orchestra conductor, and president of Bard College. William Berger ...

This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. A writer named Gianrinaldo Carli told a story that became famous in Italy in the 1760s: A stranger walks ...