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Few composers have made their mark on the world of opera like Giuseppe Verdi. He wrote a host of eminently hummable tunes as he rose to fame, paralleling the growing sense of identity which Italy was forging for itself in the 19th century, and establishing himself as the most successful Italian composer of his generation. Tracing his life is riddled with difficulties however, due to the artistic licence Verdi himself used when taking about his own history. Donald Macleod pieces together the truths as he traces Verdi's life and music and finds a story of shrewd investments, run-ins with the authorities, driving ambition, and emotional tragedy.
In Monday's episode, Donald explores Verdi's youth and early musical experiences in Busetto including the Busseto "civil war" which erupted over his proposed appointment to the post of town music master and organist, his marriage to Margherita Barezzi - the daughter of his patron, and the early operas he produced for La Scala in Milan which would make his name.

La Forza del Destino - Overture
Philharmonia Orchestra
Giuseppe Sinopoli (conductor)

Tantum Ergo in G
Kenneth Tarver (tenor)
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi
Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

Deh, pietoso, oh addolorata
Renata Scotto (soprano)
Vincenzo Scalera (piano)

Simon Boccanegra - Act 1 - Orfanella il tetto umile m'accogliea d'una meschina... ; Figlia! A tal nome io palpito
Kristine Opolais (Amelia)
Thomas Hampson (Doge)
Wiener Symphoniker
Massimo Zanetti (conductor)

Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio - Act 2 - Eccolo!; Vili all'armi a donne eroi

Samuel Ramey (Oberto)
Maria Guleghina (Leonora)
Violeta Urmana (Cuniza)
Stuart Neill (Riccardo)
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
London Voices
Neville Marriner (conductor)

Nabucco - Act 2 - Chi s'avanza
Renata Scotto (Abigaille)
Robert Lloyd (Gran Sacerdote)
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti (conductor)

Producer: Sam Phillips