In this third edition of the classic Verdi, renowned authority Julian Budden offers a comprehensive overview of Verdi the man and the artist, tracing his ascent from humble beginnings to the status of a cultural patriarch of the new Italy, whose cause he had done much to promote, and demonstrating the gradual enlargement over the years of his artistic vision. This concise study is an accessible, insightful, and engaging summation of Verdi scholarship, acquainting the non-specialist with the personal details Verdi's life, with the operatic world in which he worked, and with his political ideas, his intellectual vision, and his powerful means of communicating them through his music.
In his survey of the music itself, Budden emphasizes the unique character of each work as well as the developing sophistication of Verdi's style.
He covers all of the operas, the late religious works, the songs, and the string quartet. A glossary explains even the most obscure operatic terms current in Verdi's time.
Illustrations Key to Sigla PART I THE LIFE 1. Early Life at Busseto 2. Success and Failure in Milan 3. The Journeyman 4. Florence, London and Paris 5. Return to Busseto 6. Viva V.E.R.D.I. 7. The New Order 8. The Dark Decade 9. Indian Summer 10. The Last Years 11. Verdi as Man and Artist PART II THE MUSIC 12. The Background 13. From Oberto to Ernani Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio, Un giorno di regno, Nabucco, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Ernani 14. The Prison Years I due Foscari, Giovanna d'Arco, Alzira, Attila, Macbeth, I masnadieri, Jérusalem, Il corsaro, La battaglia di Legnano, Luisa Miller 15. The High Noon Stiffelio, Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata 16. Towards Grand Opera Les vêpres siciliennes, Simon Boccanegra, Aroldo, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlos, Aida 17. The Final Masterpieces Otello, Falstaff 18. Miscellaneous Operatic Compositions 19. Chamber Compositions 20. Choral and Religious Works Appendices A. Calendar B. List of Works C. Personalia D. Select Bibliography E. Glossary of Nineteenth-Century Operatic Terms Index
Julian Budden (1924-2007) served as the Chief Producer for Opera at BBC Radio as the President of the Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini, Lucca, Italy. In addition to his Master Musicians volume on Verdi, he is also the author of the Master Musicians biography of Puccini (OUP, 2002) as well as the three-volume The Operas of Verdi (OUP, 1978-1981, revised edition 1992).
