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Giuseppe Verdi

Composer of Ernani and Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi was born in the Italian village of Le Roncole in 1813. He spent his early years studying the organ and after music school and studies in composition he was named maestro of the Busseto Philharmonic in 1836.

On the 9th of March 1844, Verdi's opera Ernani - based on Hugo's Hernani - was performed in Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Verdi was disappointed; the first male tenor Carlo Guasco and first female soprano Sofia Löwe couldn't sing, he complained. And Hugo was furious - he openly condemned the way his drama had been arranged by Verdi. Even so, Ernani gained it's audience and was quite a success for a decade. It then had a short revival in the 1920's and returned to the main repertoire in the 1950's.

Verdi's road to immortality began the 11th of March 1851 when Rigoletto premiered on Teatro La Fenice. Based on Hugo's The King Takes His Amusement, the opera was an instant success. I don't know what Hugo thought of it, but it is regarded as a masterpiece of classical music and has been on the main repertoire since its first performance.

Verdi continued to compose: La Traviata and, in 1871, Aida, after which he just stopped and didn't produce anything for fifteen years. He returned in 1887 with Otello and in 1893 Falstaff premiered at La Scala in Milan. He retreated to his country home and after the death of his wife, he moved to the Grand Hotel in Milan, where he died in 1901 from a massive stroke.

There are numerous recordings of Rigoletto and Ernani on the market - I guess you can visit your local CD shop and pick one anytime. And if you have access to a retailer specializing in classical music, you'll probably get help chosing a good one.

You can also find both operas on VHS and probably DVD - I've listed the following under TV Adaptations: Rigoletto 1981 (Italy), 1982 (West Germany), 1982 (UK) and 1989 (Spain), Ernani 1982 (Italy) and 1983 (US).