Verdi : the man revealed /

The author of Beethoven: The Man Revealed (2013) and Mozart: The Man Revealed (2017) this time reveals Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest of all Italian operatic composers and a patriotic advocate of Italian independence. Like many composers, Verdi the man was a complicated individual. He would often proclaim that he hated composing only to write another opera. He couldn't wait to leave his small hometown, but he eventually acquired property nearby and built an estate and farm. He advocated for Italian independence and was elected to office, but he never served. Verdi's private life was full of drama. In less than two years, he suffered the tragic deaths of his wife and their two infants, and he later conducted a longstanding and scandalous love affair. Suchet sums up his subject this way: He was a man who rejected adulation, had a certain contempt for formality and officialdom, and was truly happy only when he was pursuing one of his two passions: agriculture and music. Music lovers and opera aficionados will applaud Suchet's skillfully orchestrated biography.--Mulac, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

A compact, sumptuously illustrated, insightful biography of the Italian composer.As with his three other exemplary introductory biographies of famous composers, British broadcaster Suchet's (Mozart: The Man Revealed, 2017, etc.) goal is always to reveal the composers for readers who may not be familiar with themwarts, genius, and all. He admits to a bit of a challenge recounting the life of curmudgeonly Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) because he was "enormously protective" of his privacy, but the author still does a masterful job capturing the life and times as well as explaining the maestro's significant contributions to music history. There was no music in young Verdi's family, but when he began to exhibit musical talent, his parents scraped enough money together to buy him a small keyboard when he was 8. At 10, they sent the "rather withdrawn, isolated boy" away to be educated. He gave his first public performance at 13, and at 18, thanks to a benefactor, he tried to enter the Milan Conservatory but was rejected. He married and continued to compose with little success, but his 1842 opera, Nabucco, "changed his life." As Suchet writes, here was original "music on an altogether different level." At this point, a "new Verdi" pursued his career with confidence. "Thirteen operas in under a decade; twenty-seven operasin a lifetime." It is a "phenomenal achievement," writes the author. "I can think of no other operatic composer of true stature who can come close to equaling such a record"not even "Verdi's rival Wagner." Rigoletto, with a ruler as villain, a hunchback jester as hero, "eclipsed all who had gone before him." With Il travatore, "Verdi was creating something entirely new." After its premiere, an ecstatic, torch-carrying crowd escorted him back to his hotel. Obsessed with Shakespeare, Verdi wrote three operas based on the plays. Otello, writes the author, "is without doubt one of Verdi's greatest works."Once again, Suchet hits his mark. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.