Almost immediately after the premiere of Oberto in 1839, a contemporary critic considered the question of Verdi’s personal musical style. “Many salient features of this style are not Signor Verdi’s own,” he wrote. “The crescendo and the use — not

Giuseppe Verdi, Oberto, Tutto ho perduto! (Leonora) Scholars have suggested that the inherent pathos and drama of Verdi’s operas was the direct result of the composer attempting to cope with the cruel loss of his two infant children and the

Giuseppe Verdi was a painfully private individual. Details about his romantic encounters are sketchy, and for the most part rely on his own and somewhat inconsistent recollections later in life. We do know, however, that Verdi went to live in