Verdi remains to this day the most popular composer in the 400-year-old history of opera. His operas are produced more than any other composer’s.
What are the treasures of creativity that account for this popularity? This course unpacks them in detail, examining Verdi’s life and exploring both his famous and not-so-famous operas.
You trace his development from a more or less conventional composer of operas in the traditional Italian bel canto (“beautifully sung”) style to a creator of truly innovative musical dramas in which the power of music to intensify and explore human emotion is exploited to the fullest degree.
You hear musical analysis and excerpts from operas including Nabucco, Macbeth, La traviata, Il trovatore, Rigoletto, Aida, Otello, and Falstaff.